Vietnam, France boast huge cooperation opportunities: business forum
More than 500 managers, scientists and businesspeople from Vietnam and France gathered at a business forum in Hanoi on April 15 as part of the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference.
Hanoi (VNA) – More than 500 managers,scientists and businesspeople from Vietnam and France gathered at a businessforum in Hanoi on April 15 as part of the 12th Vietnam-France decentralisedcooperation conference.
The forum offered an opportunity to connect authoritiesof cities, investors and enterprises of the two countries, said Vice Chairmanof the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen.
The sides also exchanged views, initiatives and solutionsto raise mutual understanding and promote cooperation, while expanding exchangeand collaboration between Vietnamese and French partners, he continued.
Quyen briefed the participants on Hanoi’s situation,with its GRDP growing 5.8% in the first quarter of this year, 1.7 times higherthan the national average, and its budget collection reaching 128 trillion VND(5.48 billion USD), equivalent to 40% of the estimate.
For cooperation with France, he said since 1989 thecapital city has attracted about 494.4 million USD in foreign direct investmentfrom the country, including 7.8 million USD in 2022 and 0.92 million USD in thefirst three months of this year.
In his remarks, French Ambassador Nicolas Warnerynoted that the year 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the bilateraldiplomatic ties and 10 years of the establishment of the strategic partnership betweenthe two countries.
Over the past three days, the conference looked intosolutions and projects on smart cities, sustainable urban and ruraldevelopment, heritage and tourism, the diplomat said.
The French embassy will work to promote mutualunderstanding and deepen the bilateral relations across spheres, he pledged.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and InvestmentNguyen Thi Ngoc Bich noted that the two countries boast huge cooperationopportunities in the time ahead, explaining that Vietnam is an active,responsible member of ASEAN while France is a key member of the European Union.Both are members of the Francophone community as well as the EU-Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement./.
A seminar on building smart and digitalised cities was held in Hanoi on April 14, as part of the 12th Vietnam-France decentralized cooperation conference.
An art performance celebrating the ongoing 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference was held at the pedestrian spaces in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem district on April 14 night.
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At the forum (Photo: VNA) 
