On December 11 (local time), the National Assembly Delegation of Ho Chi Minh City led by Ms. Van Thi Bach Tuyet, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Ho Chi Minh City, arrived in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, to begin a visit and work in this country.
Also participating in the working trip were National Assembly deputies: Duong Ngoc Hai, member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Inspection Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee; Major General Dang Van Lam, Deputy Commander of the Military Region 7 Command; Major General Phan Van Xung, Political Commissar of the Ho Chi Minh City Command; Phan Thi Thanh Huong, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union; Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Justice; Nguyen Thanh Sang, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy; Nguyen Minh Hoang, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Veterans Association.
At the beginning of the visit and work in Türkiye, the delegation paid a courtesy call and worked with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. On behalf of the Ho Chi Minh City National Assembly Delegation, Comrade Van Thi Bach Tuyet respectfully thanked Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu for taking the time to receive the delegation.
At the meeting, Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu thanked Vietnam for sending a delegation to Türkiye to provide relief aid during the earthquake that occurred earlier this year, thereby demonstrating Vietnam's solidarity and good feelings for Turkey.
At the meeting, Ms. Van Thi Bach Tuyet informed that Ho Chi Minh City is the economic - cultural - scientific and technological center of Vietnam. The city has an area of over 2,000 km2 , accounting for 0.6% of the country's area, with a population of about 10 million people, accounting for about 9% of Vietnam's population, but is the economic locomotive of Vietnam, contributing about 22% of the total GDP and 28% of the national budget. The average GRDP per capita in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022 will reach about 7,000 USD, twice the national average.
In particular, the Politburo and the National Assembly have issued many important policies to develop Ho Chi Minh City; with the goal of becoming a modern service-industrial center, digital economy, digital society, economic, financial, commercial, cultural, educational, scientific and technological center of Vietnam by 2030, with a position in the Southeast Asian region; with a vision to 2045 to become an economic, financial and service center of Asia.
“To achieve this goal, Ho Chi Minh City always focuses on international integration, strengthening cooperation with partners around the world to attract international resources,” said Ms. Van Thi Bach Tuyet. At the same time, she said that through the recent visit and work of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Turkey, the leaders of the two sides agreed to closely coordinate to achieve the goal of increasing trade turnover to 4 billion USD, through enhancing trade promotion, connecting businesses and resolving trade problems.
With the context of good relations between the two countries as well as the similar relationship between the two cities, he said that it is a favorable foundation for Ho Chi Minh City - the largest city in Vietnam - to strengthen its connection with the vibrant economic and cultural center of Türkiye, Istanbul.
Through this visit and working session, Comrade Van Thi Bach Tuyet hopes that Ho Chi Minh City will increase exchanges and cooperation with Istanbul in many aspects. With the special mechanism of Ho Chi Minh City in the next 5 years, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City National Assembly Delegation Van Thi Bach Tuyet expressed that Ho Chi Minh City welcomes and encourages Turkish companies to invest in Vietnam in the fields of industry, high-tech agriculture, green economy, innovation, renewable energy, infrastructure, logistics, etc.
Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is also a logistics center and this is the direction that the city focuses on. "We are having a project on a transit port in Can Gio and are calling for investment", he introduced and invited businesses in the logistics sector in Istanbul in particular and Türkiye in general to pay attention and invest with Ho Chi Minh City.
Referring to two important areas of tourism and education and training, Ms. Van Thi Bach Tuyet said that Ho Chi Minh City and Türkiye will have many opportunities for cooperation. On behalf of Ho Chi Minh City leaders, she invited Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu to visit Ho Chi Minh City; at the same time, she hoped to welcome business delegations from Istanbul to Ho Chi Minh City to explore other cooperation opportunities.
Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu said that the two cities have many things in common, creating a foundation for good development in the future. Specifically, the two cities both play an important role and have a strategic position for the two countries, this is a great opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City and Istanbul to establish a sister relationship. Mr. Ekrem Imamoglu also suggested many areas for the two sides to promote long-term cooperation in a number of areas such as transportation, infrastructure, culture, tourism; at the same time, he is willing to share experiences in urban management and information in logistics, as well as connect with partners and organizations that Ho Chi Minh City is interested in and desires.
Over the past 45 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations (June 7, 1978 - June 7, 2023), the Vietnam - Türkiye cooperation relationship has been increasingly developing well in many fields such as politics, economy, trade, education and culture. Currently, Türkiye ranks 26th out of 143 countries and territories with investment projects in Vietnam with 36 FDI projects in Vietnam, with a total registered investment capital of 974.29 million USD. In 2022, the total import-export turnover between the two countries reached over 2 billion USD, an increase of 26.2% compared to 2021. In the first 10 months of 2023, this figure was 1.9 billion USD, an increase of 13.6% over the same period in 2022.
THU HUONG (From Istanbul, Türkiye)
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