The City of London, with its world-class expertise in developing financial cities for nearly 30 years, is ready to share experiences with Hanoi in order to help it build a new trade and financial centre.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London , Michael Bear, made the statement at a round table on the development of Hanoi ’s new trade and financial centre, which was held on March 22.

Michael Bear told a Vietnam News Agency reporter on the sidelines of the conference that London will focus on three areas, including infrastructure development through the public-private partnership (PPP) form; financial services, how to build a financial centre and to improve the banking and insurance systems; and education and training.

He added that the development of a new trade and financial centre in Hanoi is part of the UK ’s scheme to double bilateral trade between the two countries to 4 billion USD per year.

The Lord Mayor also emphasised five elements to make a key trade and financial centre, including good tax support policies and legal framework, the strong attraction of a capital city with large financial institutions and groups, an effective and modern service system, skilled human resources and an open culture.

Speaking at the round table conference, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Hoang Manh Hien stressed that Hanoi wishes to learn world-recognised experiences from the UK in building a new trade and financial centre to serve the city’s future development.

Hanoi will create all favourable conditions for foreign investors, especially those from the UK , he affirmed.

Duong Duc Tuan from the Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture told the conference the city’s major orientations on planning, building and developing its new trade and financial centre, under which Hanoi hopes to form a large trade centre to the west of the West Lake or in Dong Anh district, including a 5-ha exhibition facility.

Hanoi planned to develop a new trade and financial centre in 2007, however, due to difficulties in infrastructure and human resources, the plan is yet to be realised, he said.

At the event, jointly held by the Hanoi People’s Committee and the UK Embassy in Vietnam, representatives from the UK’s large financial institutions such as Jardines Group and Standard Chartered Bank shared their experiences in developing financial centres and necessary legal regulation frameworks for such a centre./.