The third Meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC III) and its related events are scheduled to take place in Hai Phong City from July 15 to 18, 2025. The event is expected to welcome around 250 delegates from Vietnam and other countries, including ABAC members and trade and investment promotion agencies from 21 APEC economies. Prior to the event opening, Vietnam Business Forum Magazine has an interview with Mr. Tran Van Quan, Vice Chairman of the Hai Phong People’s Committee, on the city’s preparations and expectations for this important event.

The upcoming third ABAC Meeting will be a major milestone for Hai Phong. Could you share more about the preparation efforts the city has undertaken, especially in terms of coordination among agencies and branches to make sure that this event will be successful?

The third ABAC Meeting in Hai Phong is not only a highlight in ABAC's 2025 agenda but also a major opportunity for Vietnam to demonstrate its role and responsibility within APEC. It is likewise a chance for Hai Phong to assert its position and promote itself as a dynamic city with strong socioeconomic development, rich historical and cultural identity, hospitality, and great potential for investment and tourism development.

To make sure that the event is organized successfully, professionally, and solemnly, the city has been urgently and comprehensively making meticulous preparations with close coordination among agencies and branches.

Specifically, the Department of Finance and the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority were assigned to work with other relevant agencies to develop a thorough and detailed plan for organizing ABAC III event series and the Investment Promotion Conference. The city will host the Investment Promotion Conference with the participation of over 700 domestic and international delegates, an exhibition of Hai Phong's economic achievements and flagship products, and a welcome dinner and networking session between ABAC members and local and international organizations. It will also organize tours to outstanding economic models and iconic tourism sites in the locality.

To ensure the timely and effective coordination of the third ABAC Meeting, we will hold regular meetings for related agencies and VCCI to review and align specific task assignments, as well as to promptly address any arising issues.

Additionally, the Investment Promotion Conference, held on the sidelines of the third ABAC Meeting, will be opened at the city's Convention and Performing Arts Center in Bac Song Cam New Urban Area. This is a key multipurpose venue capable of hosting large-scale events, including international conferences and professional performances.

The close and meticulous collaboration between related agencies and VCCI is the key to presenting Hai Phong as a professional and attractive destination for delegates and businesses, contributing to the overall success of the meeting. We are confident that this event, and in particular the conference themed “Hai Phong - Strategic Destination for the New Era,” will leave a strong impression on international delegates and partners.

ABAC III is expected to help Hai Phong affirm its role as a center for industry, seaports, and logistics. What specific opportunities will this event create to attract multinational corporations to invest in Hai Phong, and what incentive policies or commitments does the city offer to welcome potential investors?

The third ABAC Meeting offers Hai Phong and its businesses a direct platform to meet with international partners and ABAC members (comprising presidents and CEOs of major global corporations) to promote the city’s investment environment and connect entrepreneurs. These international partners will directly witness Hai Phong’s achievements in infrastructure, industry, seaports, and logistics. The city is concentrating its resources on expanding economic space, creating a solid foundation with the 20,000-ha Southern Coastal Economic Zone, and developing a green, eco-friendly, modern economic zone model with priority given to enticing high-tech, renewable energy, and smart logistics industries in line with Net Zero goals. Hai Phong is also exploring the development of a free trade zone and new green industrial parks; accelerating the construction of container terminals 7 and 8 at Lach Huyen; upgrading Cat Bi International Airport; and pushing forward the procedures to start the investment in for Tien Lang Airport; actively working toward the construction of Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong Railway to support the city’s logistics development and facilitate investors to do business in the city.

Hai Phong’s industrial parks are highly attractive to investors, especially foreign investors, thanks to their strategic location, well-developed infrastructure, and appealing incentives

During the Investment Promotion Conference on the sideline of the third ABAC Meeting 2025, the city plans to hand over investment licenses, decisions and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with a total value of over US$15 billion. This event substantially demonstrates the city’s dynamic, attractive, and reliable investment environment in the new era to investors.

Also within the ABAC III event series, Hai Phong will have the opportunity to introduce its investment environment to Hyosung Group, the third-largest South Korean FDI investor, which has invested around US$4 billion in Vietnam and is planning to invest another US$4 billion in the country. This will further help us attract investment capital from multinational corporations and elevate Hai Phong’s standing on the regional and global economic map.

Desiring to lure many more major firms, Hai Phong invites and welcomes investors to explore opportunities in developing large-scale modern logistics centers with smart warehousing systems, high-tech and source technology projects, supporting industries, green and modern marine economy projects, renewable energy projects, circular production projects, and more.

Hai Phong is committed to listening and partnering with investors, maintaining its strong position in the Provincial Competitiveness Index, providing maximum support through specific mechanisms and policies in its economic and free trade zones, maintaining a transparent and stable business environment, improving workforce quality to meet the demand of investors, speeding up digital and green transformation, and investing in synchronized modern infrastructure and efficient smart logistics systems.

Besides driving economic development, the third ABAC Meeting is also a chance for Vietnam to reinforce its role in the region and boost domestic enterprise growth. What will Hai Phong do to help local businesses capture this opportunity, especially in engaging and cooperating with international partners?

At the Investment Promotion Conference themed “Hai Phong - Strategic Destination for the New Era” and during the third ABAC Meeting, the city has proactively arranged spaces for side meetings for domestic and international investors through exhibition booths showcasing products and services, as well as post-conference business-matching sessions. Consequently, local businesses can present their capabilities to multinational corporations and potential APEC partners, capture many opportunities to see partners and expand markets, particularly in supplying supporting industrial products.

Local businesses participating in exhibition booths and business-matching sessions are guided and supported in developing multilingual promotional materials, making full use of digital technologies, and ensuring professionalism, appeal, and international integration.

In addition, the city is organizing tours to exemplary economic models and key tourist attractions in the new Hai Phong for ABAC delegates and accompanying members. These visits will offer a direct and comprehensive view of the city’s investment potential in production, business, tourism, and services.

From opportunities offered by this event series, along with concrete mechanisms and policies derived from the Politburo’s Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW dated May 4, 2025 on private sector development, Hai Phong City is well-positioned not only to help local businesses fully leverage the benefits of ABAC III but also to enhance their competitiveness, deeply integrate into global value chains, and contribute to the sustainable development of both the city and the nation.

The success of the third ABAC Meeting in Hai Phong will serve as a stepping stone for APEC 2027 when Vietnam hosts the forum. How does Hai Phong plan to utilize ABAC III to enhance its organizational capacity, promote its image, and lay a solid foundation for future large-scale international events?

Hai Phong expects the third ABAC Meeting is a strategic stepping stone to demonstrate the city’s capacity to host large-scale international events, lay a solid foundation for APEC 2027 and other major international events in the future.

Organizing ABAC III presents a valuable opportunity for us to gain knowledge and experience in managing and coordinating international-scale events, from logistics, security, and protocol to media and communications, and enhance our capabilities and professionalize our external affairs and international cooperation. These experiences will be extremely valuable when Vietnam hosts APEC 2027.

Moreover, ABAC III is an effective platform to promote the image of Hai Phong, a dynamic city with a strategic location as a northern economic gateway, a center for industry, seaports, and logistics that is emerging as a hub for high-tech investment and sustainable green development. The ABAC welcome and networking dinner on the evening of July 15, 2025, hosted by the city, will be a highlight of cultural diplomacy, showcasing Hai Phong’s hospitality and reinforcing its image as an attractive destination for economic, investment, and cultural-tourism cooperation.

As a key growth engine in northern Vietnam, what long-term and sustainable impacts does Hai Phong expect ABAC III to bring to the city's socioeconomic development, not just in the short term, but from a long-term perspective?

This event will help Hai Phong attract a greater amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) and focus on FDI quality. Multinational corporations participating in ABAC are major players with advanced technologies, modern management practices, and strong commitments to sustainable development. This will enable Hai Phong to draw in projects in key sectors such as high technology, semiconductors, smart logistics, and clean energy instead of labor-intensive or environmentally harmful industries using outdated technologies. High-quality FDI projects will have a ripple effect on local businesses, spurring the growth of supporting industries and enhancing the production and management capacity of local businesses, thereby enabling them to participate more deeply in global value chains.

At the same time, by stepping up efforts to attract investment in smart seaport and logistics infrastructure such as automated warehouses and AI/IoT-enabled supply chain management systems, Hai Phong will further strengthen its position as a leading logistics hub in the region. This will help reduce transportation costs and time and boost the competitiveness of Vietnam’s import-export goods. Rather than serving solely as a transit point, Hai Phong can evolve into a provider of value-added logistics services such as distribution, repackaging, light assembly, air or sea transshipment hubs, and ports to power up its economic growth engines.

The key initiatives presented at the third ABAC Meeting 2025 such as sustainable development (including circular economy, climate change adaptation, and green business) and digital transformation are fully aligned with the city’s development vision. Through ABAC III, Hai Phong hopes to catch the fancy of leading tech firms from APEC economies, thereby facilitating technology transfer and the application of digital solutions in urban management, industrial production, and services in a green and sustainable manner. This will help form a dynamic digital economy, narrow the development gap between economies, and unlock new opportunities for growth in the new era.

Thank you so much!