HCM City Hosts Vietnam-UK Trade & Investment Fair

A trade and investment fair is being co-organized in Ho Chi Minh City by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Innovatory of the UK to advance bilateral trade between Vietnam and the United Kingdom, as well as boost UK investment in Vietnam.

 

The "EU/Vietnam Creative and IT Trade and Investment Fair", which opened in Ho Chi Minh City on April 27, is part of a support program for Vietnamese businesses undertaken by the European Commission through the Asia Invest project No. 3.

 

The fair was designed to create a venue for both business circles of Vietnam and the UK to exchange information and discuss commercial cooperation opportunities, with a focus on such promising sectors as shipbuilding, banking, insurance, information technology and sciences.

 

At the fair, the representative of the UK's Trade and Investment Ministry Neil Barklem briefed local businesses about the UK's and the EU's financial assistance programs in the coming years as well as their market demands.

 

The UK, with 53 licensed projects worth over $2 billion, has become the biggest investor in Vietnam among EU members and ranked 11^th among 61 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. In 2004, two-way trade between Vietnam and the UK exceeded over $1.2 billion.

 

The Vietnamese Government has an action blueprint to intensify Vietnam-EU relations by 2010 and toward 2015, and has already ratified the VCCI's project on establishing a Vietnam-EU business forum. VNA