Secretary of northern Bac Ninh provincial Party Committee Nguyen Nhan Chien hosted a local reception on October 2 for a delegation from the Russia – Vietnam Friendship Association led by General Director of Russia’s Yaroslav Region Export Support Centre Bagrova Natalia.

Chien expressed his wish that Russia and Bac Ninh would explore cooperation opportunities in fields other than economy, such as socio-culture, thus strengthening ties between Vietnam and Russia, and between Bac Ninh and Russia in particular.

Natalia, for her part, spoke highly of Bac Ninh’s development over the past years, particularly incentives for Russian firms, including those from Yaroslav.

As Yaroslav is one of the 14 largest Russian industrial hubs, Russia is willing to share its experience in smart city development with Vietnam, she said.

The official hoped that more incentives will be provided for Russian enterprises in the near future, thus contributing to Bac Ninh’s economic development.

Representatives from the two countries’ firms raised questions about market and export-import tariff in Bac Ninh and Yaroslav.

As of the late 2018, Bac Ninh is home to 16 concentrated industrial parks with a total area of nearly 6,400ha and an occupancy rate of about 67 percent. The per capita gross domestic product in Bac Ninh neared 6,500 USD, ranking second nationwide. The State budget collection surpassed 22 trillion VND (956 million USD) in the first nine months of this year, over 6.7 trillion VND of which was from the foreign direct investment sector.

As of September 2019, Bac Ninh granted investment licenses to more than 1,400 projects worth upwards 18 billion USD. Foreign-invested projects are from 36 countries and territories, including the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Japan, mostly in manufacturing and processing.

In the near future, Bac Ninh plans to attract Russian investment to high-tech, education, health care and environment.