Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the Hong Kong-Vietnam Business and Investment Forum (Source: VNA)
Hong Kong (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has noted his hope that Hong Kong - a leading financial centre of the region and the world – can help with credit mobilisation for Vietnam’s development, especially investment in the local infrastructure.
Speaking at the Hong Kong-Vietnam Business and Investment Forum on September 14, the PM promised that Vietnam will create the best possible conditions for Hong Kong businesses to invest in such areas as banking, finance, insurance, maritime transport services, infrastructure, electronic components, support industry, processing and farm produce consumption.
“The Vietnamese Government considers your success our own success,” PM Phuc said.
Briefing the forum on Vietnam’s socio-economic situation, he said the country’s trade turnover has been growing by an average 15 percent a year for many consecutive years, hitting 330 billion USD last year.
More than 110 countries and territories worldwide have poured investment in Vietnam with over 21,000 projects with total registered capital of nearly 300 billion USD, he said.
He highlighted the fact that Vietnam has engaged in 12 free trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the Vietnam-EU agreement.
The country is negotiating other four trade deals, including a free trade agreement between ASEAN and Hong Kong.
The PM also cited the World Bank’s assessment that showed the country moved three places in the ranking of business climate, noting that the country is striving to be in the top four of ASEAN in 2017 in this regard.
“Vietnam has stable socio-political situation and the Vietnamese Government is exerting efforts to build a healthy business and investment climate and drastically streamline administrative procedures,” he said.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc briefed the forum on the outcomes of his meetings with Chinese leaders, saying that they reached consensus on strategic orientations to elevate the bilateral cooperation to a new level of development, focusing on economic and trade links with better quality and sustainable results.
Vietnam and China aims to raise their bilateral trade to 100 billion USD this year, he said, stressing that Vietnam will be one of China’s largest trade partners in ASEAN.
Permanent Honorary President of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Jonathan Choi, who is also Chairman of the Hong Kong-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce, appreciated the Vietnamese Government’s solutions and resolve to boost the country’s economic growth over the years.
Vietnam plays an increasingly important role in development of countries in East Asia and is one of the fastest-growing economies in ASEAN with GDP edging up 6.7 percent in 2015, he said, describing an abundant and young workforce as Vietnam’s special advantage.
According to him, Hong Kong has favourable conditions to promote trade cooperation between China and ASEAN member countries.
Jonathan Choi expressed his hope that Hong Kong and Vietnamese businesses will support each other to make the best use of opportunities afforded by the “One Belt, One Road” initiative and the “Two Corridors, One Economic Belt” framework.
Rimsky Yeun, Acting Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, hailed the comprehensive cooperation between Hong Kong and Vietnam.
He said Vietnam was Hong Kong’s ninth largest trade partner in 2015 with two-way trade reaching nearly 11 billion USD in the year.
He called on Vietnamese businesses to step up cooperation with their Hong Kong partners, and the Vietnamese Government to create all possible conditions for Hong Kong investors in the country in order to raise the efficiency of the collaboration across fields, particularly in capital and intellectual property.
Last year, Hong Kong is the sixth largest foreign investor in Vietnam, Rimsky Yeun said, reassuring that Kong Kong will continue to expand its investments in the Southeast Asian nation and assist Vietnamese businesses in accessing the Hong Kong market and China mainland.
The forum witnessed the signing of ten agreements and contracts valued at 10 billion USD between the participating businesses.
On the occasion, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry also inked cooperation agreements with the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.-VNA
