Vietnam looks to boost trade with China’s special administrative region

Participants at the workshop (Photo: VNA)

A workshop discussing measures to promote business cooperation between Vietnam and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China was held in Hanoi on January 10.

The event was jointly organised by the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC), the GBA Union, and the Hong Kong - Vietnam Chamber of Commerce (HKVCC) .

It focused on introducing Hong Kong's recent development, and Vietnam's investment environment and incentives, aiming to call on Hong Kong enterprises to increase their investment in Vietnam.

In his opening speech, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong highlighted the significance of the workshop as offering a chance for the two sides to share new investment and trade trends and solutions to improve Vietnam's investment environment, and presenting an opportunity to propose measures to better the efficiency of cooperation between the two sides.

The MPI will always create favourable conditions for foreign investors, including those from Hong Kong, to invest and do business effectively in Vietnam, he said.

The official expressed the hope that the economic relations between Vietnam and Hong Kong will develop to new heights, towards prosperity and sustainable development of their business community.

Jonathan Choi, Chairman of the CGCC, HKVCC, and Union, said cultural and geographical proximity also facilitates cooperation between Vietnam, Hong Kong and the Hong Kong – Guangdong - Macau region in many fields, especially trade, investment and tourism.

There will be ample room for bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of farm produce, financial services, technology and innovation, he stressed.

On the occasion, the FIA inked a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in trade and investment promotion with the CGCC, GBA Union and HKVCC.

According to the MPI, the trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Hong Kong has greatly contributed to strengthening bilateral economic relations.

Vietnam is Hong Kong's eighth largest trading partner. In 2021, the two-way trade reached 13.5 billion USD. By November 2022, Vietnam raked in 10 billion USD from exporting goods to Hong Kong, while spending 1.78 billion USD on importing from it.

Meanwhile, Hong Hong remains the fifth largest foreign investor in Vietnam with 2,164 projects worth nearly 29.5 billion USD, mainly in processing, manufacturing, real estate, production and distribution of electricity, gas, and water./.