“Investing in Vietnam: Access to 65 of the World’s Top Markets”

At the seminar, delegates acknowledged that the friendly relations between the two countries are extremely important, creating vast opportunities for businesses on both sides. To materialize the commitments and common perceptions of the high-level leaders of the two Parties and two states, the role of the Chinese and Vietnamese business communities is of utmost significance.

Over the past decade, trade between the two countries has increased more than fourfold, making China the largest import market for Vietnam and Vietnam the largest trading partner of China in ASEAN. Chinese investment in Vietnam has increased over sevenfold, becoming the sixth-largest foreign investor out of 148 countries investing in Vietnam. In 2023, China emerged as the leading partner in terms of new investment projects in Vietnam.

Regarding Chongqing, the delegates acknowledged its significant location. In recent years, friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between Chongqing and Vietnamese localities have been increasingly promoted. Two-way trade in the first nine months of 2024 reached 4.2 billion USD, with Vietnam being Chongqing’s largest trading partner in ASEAN for many consecutive years. The potential for cooperation between Chongqing and Vietnamese localities remains vast and promising.

Notably, during the Prime Minister’s visit, with the official confirmation of the establishment of the Vietnamese Consulate General in Chongqing, exchanges and cooperation in various fields between Chongqing, neighboring localities, and Vietnamese localities will reach new heights, with deeper, more substantive, and more effective developments, bringing significant benefits to businesses and people on both sides.

At the seminar, investors from both sides shared their experiences and development potentials, as well as proposed many recommendations to the Government and Prime Minister in fields such as railways, aviation, seaports, and logistics.

In the field of telecommunications, Mr. Huynh Quang Liem, CEO of VNPT Group, shared that China is currently the world’s largest logistics market, based on logistics opportunities and business platforms with an extensive network of warehouses, transportation infrastructure, and storage facilities, combined with advanced information technology services. With the digital transformation and the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and cloud computing, and the remarkable strides in applying high technology to logistics management, China has shifted from labor-intensive to autonomous and from traditional to smart logistics in many fields.

Mr. Huynh Quang Liem added that VNPT will become an integrator of infrastructure, hardware, software, and services to realize technological solutions in the process of digital transformation in Vietnam. VNPT pays special attention to customizing technology products and localizing solutions to suit the demands and realities of the Vietnamese market. VNPT is willing to explore technology transfer opportunities in the field of digital logistics platforms to contribute to promoting digital transformation solutions faster and more effectively in Vietnam.

Speaking at the seminar, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the similarities and closeness between Vietnam and China in terms of nature, culture, and history.

Accordingly, the two countries have “mountains connected to mountains, rivers connected to rivers,” a long history of relations, and a friendship that is “both comrade and brother.” Especially after the recent mutual visits of high-level leaders of the two Parties and two countries, the Vietnam-China Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership is now on a solid political foundation, with similar cultures, favorable legal frameworks, open markets, and the building of a Vietnam-China Community with a Shared Future, which holds strategic significance.

The Prime Minister stated that with such foundations, it is necessary to promote economic, trade, and investment cooperation more intensively, robustly, and effectively. As of the end of October 2024, China had nearly 5,000 valid investment projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of nearly 30 billion USD. In the first nine months of 2024, China continued to lead in the number of new investment projects and ranked second in total registered investment capital.

Bilateral trade in 2023 reached nearly 172 billion USD. In the first nine months of 2024, import and export turnover between China and Vietnam reached 190.9 billion USD, up 14.5% compared to the same period in 2023. However, the Prime Minister believed that these results are not yet commensurate with the fine relations, opportunities, and vast potential for cooperation between the two countries.

The Prime Minister took the time to share the fundamental factors and major orientations of Vietnam in socio-economic development, foreign affairs and integration, ensuring national defense and security, cultural development, and social welfare…

Vietnam pursues an independent, self-reliant foreign policy, diversifying and multilateralizing its relations, and being a trustworthy friend and partner and a responsible member of the international community, for peace, cooperation, and development. Vietnam identifies economic development as the central task, building an independent, self-reliant economy associated with proactive, active, and effective international integration; ensuring national defense and security, implementing a defense policy of “not taking sides, not aligning with any country against a third country, not allowing any country to establish a military base in Vietnam, not relying on military alliances, not relying on the use of force, but on peaceful means and diplomatic and legal processes to handle disputes and differences”; focusing on cultural development as the internal strength and spiritual foundation of society, internationalizing cultural values, and nationalizing world cultural quintessence; and paying attention to social welfare, building a social security network, and not sacrificing progress, equality, and social welfare and the environment for mere economic growth.

Vietnam is promoting three strategic breakthroughs in institutional building, strategic infrastructure development, and high-quality human resource training, following the orientation of “open institutions, smooth infrastructure, and intelligent governance”; improving the business investment environment, creating a public, transparent, equal, and healthy business environment, and reforming administrative procedures towards simplicity and speed, reducing logistics costs, input costs, and compliance costs, and enhancing the competitiveness of products and enterprises.

The Prime Minister emphasized the view of “harmonizing interests and sharing risks,” harmonizing the interests of the State, businesses, and people, “listening and understanding together, sharing vision and action, doing together, winning together, enjoying together, and developing together, sharing joy, happiness, and pride.”

Up to now, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with nearly 200 countries, signed 17 free trade agreements with 65 top markets globally. Therefore, investing in Vietnam will have opportunities with these 65 markets worldwide, said the Prime Minister.

In 2023, Vietnam attracted nearly USD 36.6 billion in FDI, up 32.1% compared to 2022; FDI realization reached USD 23.2 billion, the highest ever. In the first ten months of 2024, FDI attraction reached USD 27.3 billion, up 2.0%, and FDI realization reached USD 19.6 billion, up 8.8%.

With the above fundamental factors, the Prime Minister suggested that businesses of the two countries promote investment and business cooperation, play a role in connecting the two economies, both in terms of hard and soft connections, transportation infrastructure, telecommunications infrastructure…, contributing to concretizing the agreements, commitments, and common perceptions of the highest leaders of the two Parties and two countries, bringing benefits to businesses, the two countries, and the people of the two countries, and together developing a strong and prosperous country, bringing a warm and happy life to the people.

At the seminar, enterprises of the two countries signed 7 Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) in many fields, including the MOU between the Vietnam Railway Corporation, the Vietnam Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel), and the New Land-Sea Corridor Operation Company; the strategic cooperation framework agreement between Railway Transport and Trade JSC and Yuxinou Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.; MOU between Viettel Post and Sunwah Group; MOU between Vietnam Maritime Corporation and Sinotrans Company; and between T&T Energy Group (Vietnam) with Cospowers Co., Ltd. and Goldwind International Holdings Co., Ltd…