Enhancing trade opportunities and connecting businesses in Ho Chi Minh City

On July 28, more than 100 delegates representing businesses from Ho Chi Minh City, Porto and neighboring European countries, along with Vietnam's economic and trade counselors in the region, gathered at the Economic Cooperation Forum between Ho Chi Minh City and Porto to discuss, share and seek trade and business connection opportunities.

More than 100 delegates representing businesses from Ho Chi Minh City, Porto and European countries attended the Economic Cooperation Forum between Ho Chi Minh City and Porto. (Source: VNA)

This is one of the highlights of the Vietnam-Ho Chi Minh City Festival taking place in Porto from July 28-30, organized by the city's Trade and Investment Promotion Center, in coordination with the Vietnamese Embassy in France and Portugal, and the Porto City government.

At the Forum, leaders of the two cities introduced the economic overview, investment attraction policy environment, as well as the potential for cooperation in the fields of services, tourism, and culture of each locality. The Vietnamese Trade Representative in France, who is also in Portugal, also provided information on the opportunities and challenges of the host market, as well as notes for Vietnamese enterprises wishing to directly invest or conduct trade activities in the European market in general and Portugal in particular.

During the discussion session, businesses from both countries asked many questions, exchanged and shared cooperation experiences, contributing to providing useful information about the potential and cooperation opportunities for the business communities of the two countries and two cities.

Most of the delegates highly appreciated the organization of the event, as well as the effectiveness of the meetings, and believed that the information provided in the forum was very useful, helping to open up new directions for the future.

Ms. Raquel Rodriguez, Director of Asian Markets at the Porto Tourism Council, said she is very interested in these regional markets, including Vietnam. She shared: "Learning about the culture, infrastructure and how services operate is very important to promote Porto as a destination to Vietnamese tourists and vice versa. That is the purpose of my presence here today."

Sharing this view, Ms. Diana Macedo, Sales Director of Oriental Porto, a tourism company, also said that she attended "not just for entertainment, but to find tourism cooperation partners".

Mr. Nuno Figueiredo, in charge of marketing and sales management of Turkish Airlines branch in Porto, expressed hope that in the near future, effective trade activities between Porto and Ho Chi Minh City will contribute to increasing the frequency of Turkish Airlines flights to these two localities.

He said that currently, Turkish Airlines has 10 flights per week between Porto and Istanbul and 4 flights from Istanbul to Ho Chi Minh City. From the French company T&T Food, Ms. Evelyne Thanh Pham, assessed the organization of the event as "excellent" and hoped that T&T Food could organize a similar event in France.

Mr. José Pedro Busano de Sousa Vieira, President of the Portuguese Cultural Association, one of the members of the event's Organizing Committee, said he was honored to welcome the delegation of Ho Chi Minh City leaders to Porto for the first time and was happy to contribute to the success of this event.

He said: "I believe that with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on enhancing cooperation between the two cities, there will be many more events organized to help Porto people know more about Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam, and vice versa, Ho Chi Minh City people know more about Porto and Portugal. And I also hope that Vietnamese people will be warmly welcomed in Porto, just as Portuguese people are warmly welcomed in Ho Chi Minh City".

In his concluding remarks at the Economic Cooperation Forum, Mr. Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, highly appreciated the presence of many leaders and representatives of businesses from the two cities. He said that the enthusiastic contributions expressed the desire to further strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two cities in the fields of investment, trade, tourism and culture, contributing to building and developing a good cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Portugal.

The Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City believes that together with the Free Trade Agreement signed between the European Union and Vietnam (EVFTA), the Economic Cooperation Forum that Ho Chi Minh City organized for the first time in Porto will be an important premise to further enhance the effectiveness of cooperation between the two cities, as well as with other localities of Portugal and the EU.

He affirmed that the city government will continuously improve the investment environment and accompany foreign enterprises in the process of investing in effective, safe and long-term production and business in the locality.

Mr. Duong Anh Duc said that the Forum was a great success thanks to the active participation of both sides, especially the enthusiastic participation of Mayor Rui Moreira in all activities of the Festival, helping Ho Chi Minh City have the opportunity to introduce its strengths to Portuguese partners.

In addition, during the discussion session, businesses from both sides asked questions and frankly discussed issues of mutual concern, which were thoroughly and in detail answered by representatives from both sides. Vice President Duong Anh Duc hopes to soon see a breakthrough in bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of tourism, trade, cultural exchange and sports.

It is hoped that businesses on both sides will take advantage of the opportunities brought by the EVFTA and promote existing advantages to develop the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Portugal in general, as well as between Ho Chi Minh City and Porto in particular.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tang-cuong-co-hoi-giao-thuong-ket-noi-doanh-nghiep-tp-ho-chi-minh-porto-236493.html