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| At the meeting (Photo: thanhuytphcm.vn) |
He made the statement on May 22 while receiving Ms. Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, on her business trip to Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Mr. Hoan, Ho Chi Minh City always considers Slovenia a potential partner. Although the current trade and investment relations between the two sides are still not commensurate with the wishes of the two sides, he said he believed that businesses of the two sides will take advantage of the Europe – Vietnam free trade agreement to access the mutual market, thus helping trade exchange to develop strongly in the coming time.
Introducing the potential and strengths of Ho Chi Minh City, he added that the city currently has a strategy to develop into a smart city. In addition, it has a seaports system such as Cat Lat, Hiep Phuoc and is currently investing in Can Gio port. Slovenia has achieved many successes in the smart specialization strategy, the digital national strategy in 2020 and artificial intelligence (AI). As digital transformation and creativity is an area the city is very interested in, Mr. Hoan asked Ms. Tanja Fajon to support and introduce agencies and experts for Ho Chi Minh City to exchange experiences and potential cooperation.
Regarding logistics and shipping, he said that this is a high potential field of cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City and Slovenia, suggesting that businesses of the two sides meet and exploit the potential of cooperation in this field. He also committed to creating all favorable conditions for foreign businesses, including Slovenian businesses, to invest and participate in business activities in the city, and the city will make efforts to improve the investment environment to welcome Slovenian businesses to invest in Ho Chi Minh City.
On this occasion, Mr. Hoan invited Ms. Tanja Fajon to attend the 2023 Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum, scheduled to be held in September, with the theme "Green growth - A journey towards zero emissions”.
For her part, Ms. Tanja Fajon emphasized that this visit was an opportunity to enhance political understanding and cooperation between businesses. Although the economic and trade relations between the two countries are still modest, Slovenia is always open to welcome Vietnamese businesses to Slovenia. This visit includes many large Slovenian enterprises, and is an opportunity for businesses of both sides to learn and promote cooperation.
Regarding the proposals of the city's leaders, she said that seaports are a potential area for cooperation between the two sides. Slovenia has many companies with experience in seaport development and has a center for artificial intelligence, which can introduce cooperation with Ho Chi Minh City./.