Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Võ Văn Hoan speaks at the conference on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — A conference was held in HCM City on September 24 with a view to promoting cooperation between Chongqing City of China and the southern hub of Việt Nam in the New Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Võ Văn Hoan said HCM City is a special metropolis that posts relatively stable growth and serves as the nucleus and growth powerhouse of Việt Nam’s southeastern region. It is also sufficiently equipped with modern road, railway, waterway, and air transport infrastructure conducive to connecting with regional and international logistics and trading networks.

He went on to say that Chongqing is one of the four centrally-run cities of China and a strategic economic hub in the country’s southwestern region while playing an important role in the Belt and Road Initiative as well as the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

With a developed and inter-connected transport system, Chongqing is an ideal destination for developing bilateral economic ties, helping cut transportation costs, improving competitiveness, and expanding opportunities for businesses, Hoan added.

Chongqing Vice Mayor Zheng Xiangdong noted Chongqing City boasts natural advantages for rail, road, waterway, and air transportation. In recent years, it has fully brought into play its role as a transport and logistics centre linking western provinces of China with ASEAN and European countries.

The New Land-Sea Trade Corridor has shaped three main logistics organisation models, namely rail-sea intermodal transport, cross-border road transport, and international sea transport, connecting 72 cities and 154 train stations in 18 provincial-level localities in China, and reaching 538 ports in 125 countries and regions worldwide, he continued.

Zheng viewed Việt Nam as a crucial point on the New Land-Sea Trade Corridor, whose three logistics organisation models are organically connected with Việt Nam and provide a new stepping stone for win-win partnerships between Việt Nam and the western part of China, as well as Europe.

The corridor considerably helps improve the timeliness of economic and trade exchanges between the West of China and ASEAN countries like Việt Nam while boosting the sharing of the large Asia-Europe market. Famous products of Việt Nam like rice, coffee, natural rubber, and fruit could be delivered through this corridor to Chongqing and then distributed to other places in China and Europe, according to the Vice Mayor.

An exporter of Vietnamese farm produce said China is the largest importer of agricultural products from Việt Nam. The cooperation between HCM City and Chongqing in the New Land-Sea Trade Corridor is a positive sign, promising further facilitation of bilateral exports and imports and reduction of both time and cost for businesses. — VNS