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Jul 19, 2019 / 08:08

Hanoi wants French investment in urban, environmental development

Hanoi pays special attention to investment attraction and pioneers in creating favorable conditions for enterprises and being their companion.

Hanoi desires to cooperate with French businesses in some prioritized sectors including urban technical infrastructure development, environmental pollution and waste treatment solutions, biotechnologies research, tourism, education and training, and logistics, among others, the Government Portal reported.
 
Hanoi and Ile-de-France signed two MoUs at the conference. Photo by Thuy Linh/VGP.
Hanoi and Ile-de-France signed two MoUs at the conference. Photo by Thuy Linh/VGP.
Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung put forth the idea during a conference on “City and Creativity” with the attendance of France’s Ile de France Chairwoman Valerie Pecresse.

At the event, the Hanoi mayor pointed out some achievements of the city in terms of economy, tourism and investment over the past years.

Accordingly, Hanoi has maintained its economic growth rate of over 7.4% since 2011. In 2018, the city made up 16.63%  of the country's GDP and 17.19% of the budget revenue collection. The city’s tourist arrivals reached 26.4 million, up 10.4%, of which foreign arrivals were recorded at six million, up 21.3% year-on-year.

Hanoi is a transport hub of Vietnam’s North with Noi Bai International Airport located 45 kilometers from the city center while the Hai Phong container port and Cai Lan port are 100 kilometers away. Hanoi is also in the economic corridor of the Greater Mekong sub-region cities. The infrastructure of the city’s industrial parks is almost completed and ready to be operated.

Notably, Hanoi pays special attention to investment attraction and pioneers in creating favorable conditions for enterprises and being their companion, Chung said.

Regarding foreign investment, the city attracted US$14.05 billion in the period of 2016-2018, equaling 55.63% of the whole period from 1986 to 2015, recorded US$7.5 billion in 2018 and US$5.03 billion in the first six months of 2019, the highest in the country.

Since 2016 to the H1 of 2019, there have been 86,000 newly licensed enterprises in the city, increasing 1.09-fold against the 2011-2015 period. Concurrently, Hanoi also collaborated with Israeli experts to put into operation the Hanoi Creative Startup Portal to support creative startups.

On her part, Chairwoman Pecresse said Hanoi and Ile-de-France have effectively cooperated in various fields including heritage conservation, transport infrastructure development, and tourism, among others. The relationship has become a pillar of the overall relations between 38 localities in France and 18 provinces and cities of Vietnam.

She elaborated that in this visit of the French region to Hanoi, many Ile-de-France’s businesses have strength in the fields that Hanoi is paying attention to, especially in establishing a smart city and dealing with climate change.

Representatives from some French businesses also proposed some solutions for Hanoi to develop a smart city, smart transportation, available infrastructure optimization, among others.

At the end of the conference, Hanoi and Ile-de-France signed two documents namely a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a startup incubator between Hanoi, Ile-de-France and the French Development Agency (AFD); a MoU on tourism development cooperation between the French ancient town of Provins and Thang Long – Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center.