HCMC seeks French investment to spur riverbank service economy

Ho Chi Minh City has asked the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF) to encourage French companies to invest in service economy development alongside the Saigon River.

MEDEF is the largest employer federation in France.

HCMC Party chief Nguyen Van Nen, who is leading a business mission to France, made the request at a meeting with MEDEF executives in Paris Tuesday (local time).

He said the city was focusing on economic restructuring, infrastructure improvement and urban development to become a green and smart city, balancing urban and rural growth.

In doing this, the city was according top priority to boosting the service economy along the Saigon River, he added.

Nen said his visit to France aimed to glean valuable lessons from the planning of economic activities along the Seine River banks so that they can be applied to the Saigon River.

French firms at the meeting said they hoped that the Vietnamese Government and HCMC administration would create favorable conditions for them to do business in this lucrative market.

Nen responded that HCMC offered suitable conditions for foreign companies, including French businesses, to invest in the megacity.

Francois Corbin, vice president of MEDEF International, said Vietnam was a highly potential and strategic market in Asia, therefore, French businesses paid close attention to this market for mutual development opportunities.

The HCMC mission also held a working session the same day with Nicolas Bauquet, Director of the Paris Planning Institute, and associated experts.

The HCMC Party chief said he hoped the planning institute will propose feasible ideas for planning embankment and service economy development along the Saigon River.

Nen also said that he expected that the memorandum of understanding signed by the HCMC Department of Planning and Architecture and the Plan Urbanisme Construction Architecture (PUCA) in Paris will provide a framework for boosting the growth of sustainable urban projects, including developing the service economy on both banks of the Saigon River.