Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung meets with representatives from 30 French enterprises on November 3 as part of the official visit by French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe to Vietnam from November 2 – 4. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Chairman of the Hanoi People’sCommittee Nguyen Duc Chung met with representatives from 30 French enterprisesin various sectors in the capital city on November 3 to discuss potentialcooperation between the two sides.
The meeting was part of the official visit by FrenchPrime Minister Édouard Philippe to Vietnam from November 2 – 4.
In his welcoming remarks, Chung gave his guests anoverview of Hanoi’s advantages and potential as well as promising areas forcooperation between the two sides.
He said Hanoi is a fast-growing city and idealdestination for investment, adding the capital city posted an annual economicgrowth of over 8 percent and currently leads Vietnam in Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) inflow, accounting for 22 percent of the country’s total FDI.
As of October this year, France had operated 102 FDIprojects with a total registered capital of 273.6 million USD in Hanoi, mostlyin manufacturing, construction services, trade, real estate, finance andbanking.
France has also provided the city with 515.39 million EUR(586.96 million USD) in funding for three other projects. Notably, Hanoi hasset up close ties with France’s Ile-de-France region and Toulouse city in thefields of culture, tourism, healthcare personnel training and most recently,urban metro rail system. The cooperation has strengthened mutual understandingand expanded trade relations between Hanoi and French cities.
The official further said Hanoi expects more Frenchinvestment in transport infrastructure development, education, healthcare andculture; and hopes to cooperate with French businesses to develop the capitalcity towards a smart city by 2025, with a vision to 2030.
The city’s poor infrastructure and noise pollution havechallenged the development of local freight transport, so Chung wants theFrench firms to join the city in addressing these issues.
At the same time, the city’s treatment of 95 percent ofdaily waste with the use of old technology is causing a big risk for the city,he said, calling for French investors to bring advanced technology to this workof the city.
Chairman Chung and French representatives later witnessedthe signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on a joint survey and feasibilitystudy for construction of an international wholesale market for agriculturalproducts between the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, Vietnam’s VinGroupand France’s Semmaris Group. –VNA
VNA
