Minister of Finance Ngô Văn Tuấn (third from left) works with Rothschild & Co. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Finance Ngô Văn Tuấn has engaged in a range of activities to promote financial and investment cooperation with and mobilise resources for development from French partners during General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm's official visit to France.

On September 11, the minister had a working session with representatives of Rothschild & Co, an independent financial advisory group headquartered in Paris with a history of more than 200 years and a network of about 1,600 professionals in over 40 countries.

The Rothschild & Co representatives highlighted Việt Nam's economic prospects and proposed five potential cooperation areas, including accelerating the country's path toward investment-grade credit ratings; expanding and diversifying international investor base; developing the domestic capital market; unlocking the value of state assets and mobilising capital for major infrastructure projects; and supporting fiscal and tax reforms.

Tuấn said the proposals align closely with Việt Nam's development needs and goals.

According to him, under the 2026-2030 socio-economic development strategy, total social investment is targeted at more than 40 per cent of GDP, with public investment accounting for one-fifth and the ICOR targeted at 4.5-4.8. This means the amount of capital to be mobilised will be twice that of the 2020-2025 period, making bond-market mobilisation particularly important.

He stressed that sovereign credit ratings are crucial to raising capital at reasonable costs, noting that Việt Nam is working closely with Moody's, Fitch and S&P.

Regarding the restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs), Tuấn said Việt Nam is stepping up the work to improve SOEs' efficiency. He called on Rothschild & Co to work with the Ministry of Finance (MOF)'s State Enterprise Development Department to effectively develop and implement the SOE restructuring scheme.

The ministry is also seeking to improve the efficiency of public assets, particularly housing and land, while enhancing the investment environment through transparent, predictable legal frameworks to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) and promote Vietnamese investment abroad.

France serves as a gateway for Vietnamese businesses to enter the high-purchasing-power European market, while French businesses have strengths in clean energy, oil and gas, high-speed rail, space technology, emerging technologies and AI, the Vietnamese official said, noting that the two sides can work together to leverage their respective strengths and address their shortcomings.

Earlier, on September 10, Minister Ngô Văn Tuấn attended a Việt Nam-France business leaders' forum, co-organised by the MOF and MEDEF International, in the presence of General Secretary and President Tô Lâm and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The discussion, co-chaired by Tuấn and Benoît Clocheret, Chairman of the France-Việt Nam Business Council, focused on five groups of sectors - information technology; infrastructure; aviation – aerospace; energy; and healthcare - chemicals - pharmaceuticals.

The Vietnamese official said Việt Nam stands ready to facilitate French enterprises' stable and long-term operations in the country, noting that economic, trade and investment cooperation plays an important role in the Việt Nam-France comprehensive strategic partnership, with businesses serving as a driving force in realising bilateral cooperation orientations.

Việt Nam is committed to creating favourable conditions for French businesses to invest and operate in the country on a stable, long-term basis, he stressed.

On the occasion, businesses from the two countries exchanged eight cooperation documents in chemicals, energy, aviation, IT and healthcare. — VNA/VNS