More than 80 French businesses and 300 Vietnamese partners in various sectors will take part in a business forum to be held in Hanoi from Nov. 25-26.

Many of French businesses participating in the event have been doing successfully in Vietnam, including Total oil and gas group, Groupama insurance company, Geodis and Michelin.

A Groupama representative in Vietnam said on the occasion, the company will introduce its new office in Hanoi. Meanwhile, Geodis Wilson, a global group operating in good transport and delivery, said that the Vietnamese market will become its new focus in the coming time.

According to a Michelin representative, the group will speed up the marketing of auto tyres in the Vienamese market. It also pledges to protect the environment through offering leading technologies in saving energy and reducing CO2 emissions.

The forum is an important activity during the French Week in Hanoi from Nov. 23-27 that aims to promote the image of France in Vienam and develop the relationship between the two countries.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vienam and France have seen continous increases in trade and investment cooperation with two-way trade reaching 1.5 billion EUR in the first nine months of 2010, up 18 percent compared to the same period last year.

Since the Foreign Investment Law took effect in 1988, 305 French projects have been licensed in Vietnam with a total investment of over 2.94 billion USD, ranking 15th among 93 foreign investors in the country. The projects mainly focus on cosmetics and perfume, software production and service./.