Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc (Photo: MPI)

Hanoi – The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment will create all possible conditions for foreign investors, including those from France, to operate effectively and sustainably in Vietnam, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc has affirmed.

Addressing the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference, which took place in Hanoi from April 13-16, Ngoc noted that Vietnam has launched the national strategy on green growth and stepped up economic restructuring in tandem with growth model reform, environmental sustainability and social equality.

As a result, great potential and opportunities remain for Vietnam and France to boost their cooperation in the time ahead, she said.

Vietnam also encourages and prioritises quality, focused foreign investments, especially in high-tech, innovation, green energy, renewable energy, finance, banking, health care, high-quality personnel training, infrastructure, health care and pharmaceuticals.

They are the areas where France has strengths, and the two economies would be reciprocal, the official added.

Briefing the participants on Vietnam’s socio-economic development, Ngoc said it has been named among the top 20 countries in terms of FDI attraction and the 20 biggest economies worldwide.

Regarding the Vietnam-France relationship, Ngoc called trade, economic and investment ties as pillars of their strategic partnership and traditional friendship.

France ranks 16 out of the 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with more than 3.8 billion USD. Their two-way trade reached 5.33 billion USD last year, of which Vietnam’s export to the European nation was valued at 3.7 billion USD.

France is also one of Vietnam’s first and biggest official development assistance (ODA) suppliers in Europe, she said, stressing that Vietnam is an active, responsible member of ASEAN and Asia-Pacific, while France is a key member of the European Union, and both are members of the Francophone community and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

These are important foundations and premises for the two countries to expand cooperation and boost trade and investment ties between the two countries, Ngoc continued.

The official stressed that the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference has offered effective solutions to raise the role of localities in promoting investment links between the two countries.