Speaking at the event, deputy chairwoman of the association Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung highlighted the growing friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and France in recent years, with the two countries having elevated relations to a strategic level under the motto “friendship, comprehensive, long-lasting and reliable cooperation in the 21st century”.
She noted that Ho Chi Minh City has set up productive social and economic affiliations with France’s Rhone Alpes region and Lyon.
The city has seen a range of projects and programmes on trade, health, education, agriculture, HIV/AIDS fight, and the environment, run by French investors and non-governmental organisations.
Emmanuelle Ly Batallan, French Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, said that the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Union, which will come into effect in 2018, will open up more economic opportunities for the two countries.
France now is ranked tenth out of 73 countries and territories investing in Ho Chi Minh City with 179 projects worth US$841 million. Last year, the city welcomed more than 107,300 French visitors.
