Speaking at the opening of the conference, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Sinh Nhật Tân emphasised that 2024 is an important year for the localities to complete economic development goals for the 2021-2025 period.

The 10th industry and trade conference of the 28 northern provinces and cities opened in Hà Nội on Friday. —Photo tapchicongthuong.vn

The ministry has issued many policies to promote developments in industry and trade between the regions, following on the success of closer cooperation developed at their 2023 conference.

Lê Hồng Sơn, vice chairman of Hà Nội People's Committee, said that coordination among localities in the Northern region still had many limitations.

For sustainable development, these localities' industry and trade departments needed to further strengthen the coordination to contribute to improving efficiency in production and business activities, Sơn said.

Quách Tấn Liêm, vice chairman of Hoà Bình Provincial People's Committee, proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) create links based on the strengths of each locality.

Ngô Quang Trung, director of MoIT's Department of Local Industry and Trade, said he expected delegates and departments to focus on solutions to improve connections among local industry and trade sectors.

Phạm Văn Hóa, director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Nghệ An Province, said that the ministry could increase support for trade promotion programmes and expand production and business in mountainous and border areas.

Nghệ An also suggested that regional connectivity could be strengthened by the inclusion of large centres such as Hà Nội, Nghệ An and Quảng Ninh.

Also at the conference, Hoàng Chí Hiền, director of Lào Cai Province's Department of Industry and Trade, said a review needed to be undertaken of logistical development mechanisms and policies, which contributed to perfecting the legal framework for logistics services.

Conference participants also discussed other issues such as improving the business environment and competitiveness and developing industrial production, especially in priority industries. They also talked about management and development of industrial clusters, work on developing night-time economies and exploiting the advantages of existing signed free trade agreements.