Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong (R) presents a gift to UAE Ambassador Obaid Saeed Al Dhaheri at the meeting on July 4 (Photo: thanhuytphcm.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh CityPeople’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong had a meeting on July 4 with Ambassadorof the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Vietnam Obaid Saeed Al Dhaheri to discusscooperation opportunities between the two sides, especially in economy.
At the event, they highly valued recent positivestrides in relations between the UAE and Vietnam, including HCM City.
The UAE diplomat said Vietnam is a beautifulcountry, and HCM City boasts huge potential for tourism development.
He shared Phong’s view that there remainenormous potential for tourism cooperation between the two sides. However,Vietnam’s tourism promotion in the UAE remains modest.
The ambassador expressed his hope for moredirect flights so as to increase the number of UAE visitors to Vietnam and viceversa. He also expected stronger collaboration with tourism and trade agenciesto popularise HCM City as a destination in the region.
For his part, Phong said HCM City is calling forforeign investment in such fields as urban infrastructure, smart city building,seaport and renewable energy so as to develop it into a trade centre of theregion.
The chairman pledged that concrete policies willbe issued to attract investors from the Middle East.
He asked the Foreign Ministry of the UAE to opena consulate general as well as trade and tourism offices in HCM City and otherVietnamese localities in order to create more chances for bilateral partnership.
Trade between Vietnam and the UAE now stands at276 million USD a year, which is too low compared to the cooperation potential,the official noted, voicing his belief that with the ambassador’s support,bilateral ties will develop more strongly.-VNA
VNA
