The mayor made her remark during her reception fornew Vietnamese Consul General in Texas Nguyen Van Hoa as he began hisworking tenure in the state.
Mayor Parker said asthe fourth biggest city in the US , Houston is strong on energyindustry, especially oil and gas, biomedicine, transport, agricultureand education, adding that the city’s GDP in 2012 reached 449 billionUSD.
She noted that talks are already underway on adirect air route between Houston and Vietnam , and the city hassent several business delegations to the Southeast Asian country formarket survey and seeking investment opportunities.
The mayor recognised the contributions made by the Vietnamese overseascommunity in Houston over the past years, saying that they are apotential resource for the city’s development, as well as for the tiesbetween the city and Vietnamese partners.
For hispart, Consul General Hoa thanked the local government for facilitatingthe Vietnamese Consulate General’s operation. He affirmed that he willwork to further all-round ties between the two countries in general andbetween Vietnam and Texas State in particular.
Hoa also suggested setting up twin relations between Houston and alocality in Vietnam and invited Mayor Parker to visit Vietnam in thenear future.-VNA