Vietnam, France hold high-level economic dialogue

The sixth Vietnam – France high-level economic dialogue took place in Paris, France on November 4 under the co-chair of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang and Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.

At the sixth Vietnam – France high-level economic dialogue (Photo: NDO)
At the sixth Vietnam – France high-level economic dialogue (Photo: NDO)

At the official meeting in the morning of November 4, the two sides reviewed the contents of bilateral cooperation in recent years, focusing large-scale and potential ODA projects that the French Government has invested in as well as strategic investment projects with the involvement of French investors.

The two delegations agreed measures to remove difficulties, contributing to further enhance the long-standing cooperation between the two nations in the coming time.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister Thang affirmed that France was one of the leading ODA sponsors in Europe of Vietnam with the signed capital of around EUR3 billion for numerous projects, especially in the fields of agriculture, food security, basic infrastructure, finance, healthcare and education.

The Deputy Minister said that in the context of common difficulties and trade conflicts among major powers, the results of socio-economic development of Vietnam is a bright spot, which was appreciated highly by international organisations.

He also noted that Vietnamese Government has set and adjusted policies and laws to create favourable conditions for foreign investors to Vietnam.

The two sides were pleased to see that the two-way trade between Vietnam and France reached EUR6.65 billion in 2018and expected that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement would contribute to boosting their economic relations.

In the afternoon of the same day, Deputy Minister Vu Dai Thang and Vice President of the France-Vietnam Council of CEOs MEDEF International, Céline Charpiot-Zapolsky, co-chaired a business conference.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister Thang underscored the significance of the connection between Vietnamese State agencies and companies with French enterprises within the framework of the two countries’ annual high-level economic dialogue.

French businesses informed of the achievements in their investment and cooperation in Vietnam and future projects in the future, while proposing measures to promote the cooperation between the two business communities.

At the Vietnam - France Business Conference (Photo: NDO)