HCM City (VNA) – The administration of Ho ChiMinh City and the British Business Group Vietnam (BBGV) held a conference onOctober 14 to seek ways for removing difficulties facing British investors.

Pham Thiet Hoa, Director of the municipalInvestment and Trade Promotion Centre, said the UK is an important partner inmultiple spheres of Vietnam, including HCM City.

In 2018, trade between the two countries hit6.74 billion USD (up 9.5 percent year on year), turning the UK the thirdbiggest EU trade partner of Vietnam.

In the first eight months of this year,bilateral trade reached 4.53 billion USD, including 3.08 billion USD of exportsand 557 million USD of imports by Vietnam, up 1.7 percent and 4.84 percent,respectively.

Meanwhile, by the end of August, the UK hadinvested in 366 projects worth 3.64 billion USD in Vietnam, ranking 15th amongthe 132 countries and territories directly investing here. In HCM City alone,there are 153 valid investment projects of the UK at present, with a combined capitalof over 600 million USD.

Hoa said the British business community inVietnam has been growing in both the size and quality of their projects,showing the huge potential for investment partnership between the UK and HCMCity.

Local authorities wish to listen to Britishfirms’ opinions to help the city devise suitable solutions and policies tofacilitate operations of foreign investors, including those from the UK, headded.

Neill James, Deputy Consul General of the UK inHCM City, said Vietnam is assessed as one of the most dynamic economies inAsia, and it has attracted great attention from foreign businesses andinvestors. British businesses also consider the country an important market andpotential investment destination.

Therefore, the BBGV has organised manyactivities to introduce Vietnam to the business community in the UK to fosterbilateral trade and investment, he noted.

At the conference, local officials informedBritish companies of the projects HCM City wants to attract investment to,mainly in urban landscape improvement, water supply and drainage, and transportinfrastructure. They also fielded the firms’ questions about difficulties andobstacles relevant to labour contract and social insurance procedures, alongwith tax and customs regulations.

According to Kenneth Atkinson, a BBGV leader,British businesses are investing in various fields in HCM City, includingeducation, finance – banking, hotel, real estate and service business.

The BBGV hopes the city will continue creatingfavourable conditions for their investment and business activities through moreinformation exchange and difficulty removal so that British enterprises canfurther contribute to the development of the city as well as the Vietnam – UKcooperation, he added./.