The Dragon Bridge in Đà Nẵng City. The central city of Đà Nẵng is seeking greater investment from the United Kingdom (UK) enterprises in its key sectors. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The central city of Đà Nẵng is seeking greater investment from British enterprises in its key sectors, including tourism, technology, finance, education and health.

A delegation from Đà Nẵng led by Vice Secretary of its Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Council Lương Nguyễn Minh Triết paid a working visit to the (United Kingdom) UK between September 6-8 to promote trade and investment cooperation with the UK’s partners and businesses.

The “Đà Nẵng Business Roundtable” was held on September 7 in London, attracting many potential investors such as KPMG, Barclay Bank, PLP Architecture, KI Partnerships, Versehub, E&P Legal and CFTE Fintech Start-up London, as well as Vietnamese businesses and UK organisations. The Vietnamese city’s leader introduced the investment, trade and tourism environment along with key projects that call for investment.

Speaking at the event, Triết said Đà Nẵng was home to 933 FDI projects with total registered capital of US$3.92 billion. However, only 21 came from the UK, amounting to $1.9 million. They were mainly concentrated in the service and education sectors. The number of UK tourists to Đà Nẵng was still modest.

Therefore, to further strengthen the economic cooperation between the two sides, Triết said the city’s authority wanted to invite British businesses and Vietnamese expatriates to the city to learn more about its potential.

Triết emphasised the areas in which UK businesses have strength are also the fields that the city wishes to attract investment, such as information technology, high technology, finance, education and tourism.

Ambassador of Việt Nam to the United Kingdom and Ireland Nguyễn Hoàng Long said the UK was one of the most important trade and investment partners of Việt Nam in Europe. The UK-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), which officially took effect in May last year, was important leverage to lift the two-way trade and FDI inflows from the UK into Việt Nam.

“With its potential, available strengths and a dynamic government that always supports investors, Đà Nẵng has been and will continue to be an attractive destination for UK investors,” Long said, noting the embassy was committed to connecting UK enterprises and Vietnamese overseas to come and explore the beautiful coastal city.

The UKVFTA is broad, covering market liberalisation for goods, services and investments. Việt Nam has committed to higher standards of treatment for UK service suppliers and investors under the UKVFTA than those currently applied for other foreign service providers and investors under its WTO commitments.

Under the UKVFTA commitments, Việt Nam is to open many non-service sectors to UK investors without any restrictions on the share of capital, size, or types of activity.

At the event, the Vietnamese city’s leader pledged to create favourable conditions for UK investors doing business in the city while improving the business and investment climate, upgrading infrastructure and increasing the quality of services to make Đà Nẵng a more attractive destination.

Đà Nẵng has witnessed a strong post-pandemic rebound across various fields, especially in tourism and investment.

In June this year, it hosted an investment forum for 600 delegates, including managers, researchers, investors and businesspeople at home and abroad. As a result, the city is calling for investment in seven key projects, including Liên Chiểu Post, a complex of financial, commercial and entertainment centres, Đà Nẵng Creative Space, the international trade centre, the international hospital, the international nursing home and international school.

The city is aiming to become one of the major socio-economic centres of Việt Nam and Southeast Asia at large by 2045 with the three main functional centres – namely high-quality tourism and services, IT and hi-tech and international finance. — VNS