HCM City, UK step up all-around cooperation

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai was speaking this during a meeting with Graham Stuart, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, in Hanoi on April 5.

The municipal leader hailed Graham Stuart's working visit to Vietnam as a contribution to restarting and promoting the trade ties between the two countries that was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in recent times.

In the time ahead, when the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control, the southern metropolis wants the UK to accelerate the re-implementation of agreed cooperation programs and projects, coordinate to find new cooperation programs in the fields of the city’s demand and the UK’s strengths such as traffic management, waste treatment, climate change prevention and control, smart city construction, Mai told Stuart.

In addition, the city also wishes to further promote exchange activities between HCM City and UK businesses to enjoy specific, practical and effective cooperation.

Mai also expressed HCM City’s desire to receive the support and cooperation of the UK in introducing reputable and experienced experts and organizations to help the city develop projects and frameworks for operating the Financial Center with the involvement of potential British investors in the construction process.

He also he highly appreciated and supported the UK’s initiative to organize a global education forum in Ho Chi Minh City, and the British Council’s efforts to establish an international training center in line with the southern city’s development orientation in terms of education and training.

Graham Stuart, in turn congratulated Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City on successfully controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and said his working visit aims to enhance trade ties between the UK and Vietnam, including HCM City.

Appreciating the potential for bilateral cooperation, Graham Stuart said that the UK attaches great importance to the position and potential of Ho Chi Minh City and wishes to augment comprehensive cooperation with the city in the fields of shared concern such as green transport development, health care, human resource training, smart city construction, and digital transformation.

Sharing the UK's interest in cooperation with Ho Chi Minh City, the UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy said that the UK is highly interested in education, and human resource training, and is poised to organize a global education dialogue forum in Ho Chi Minh City in a bid to share experience and find ways to promote the field of education, and high-quality human resource training to meet the city’s requirements and challenges in the development process.

Additionally, the UK pays great attention to the project on building a financial center of HCM City and wishes to support activities regarding the exchange of delegations, and experts, and share experience in finance and banking as well as the process of building the project and operating the Financial Center.

The UK has experience in this field and is committed to accompanying and supporting the city in the financial center building process.

Graham Stuart expressed his confidence that with remarkable progress in trade cooperation between the UK and Vietnam, the relationship between the UK and HCM City will continue to be promoted in multiple fields, bringing practical benefits to both sides.