Party leader hopes for further investment from French groups

At the meeting, French business representatives highlighted Vietnam as one of the fastest growing economies in the region, with an average growth rate of 7% over the past 30 years and a vast market of more than 90 million people.

In addition, the Government of Vietnam is making every effort to reform administrative procedures, improve the investment environment in order to attract more investors, they said while pledging to strengthen cooperation with Vietnamese partners, thus bringing benefits to both sides and contributing to the further promotion of bilateral ties.

Representatives of major French businesses thanked the Vietnamese Government for helping them carry out investment and businesses projects. They said they hope to improve and expand investment cooperation with new projects in Vietnam.

Representatives of the Vietnamese Government and French businesses discussed specific issues to seek effective cooperation solutions in each area.

Meeting with representatives from the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF) in Paris the same day, Party leader Trong said France has always been the pioneer among western countries in promoting relations with Vietnam over the past 45 years, noting that the bilateral political ties and cooperation and exchanges across multiple fields have been growing steadily. However, the level of economic, trade and investment cooperation is still far from matching the two countries’ sound political ties and their potential, he said.

Therefore, the visit is designed to discuss drastic measures to step up the bilateral collaboration in these realms.

More than 200 French businesses are currently operating in Vietnam and the robust economic growth and the higher number of middle class population in the Southeast Asian country have offered ample cooperation opportunities for foreign investors, including those from France, the Party leader said.

Vietnam is gearing up administrative reform and improving the business environment. As a result, the country moved up five places in competitiveness index and 14 places in the business environment in 2017 according to the rankings of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The macro economy remained stable with gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.81%. The foreign currency reserves and the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) hit a record high, the Party chief said.

He said Vietnam is also a highly open economy and a member of many bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements, including the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). It is finalizing the free trade deal with the EU. Vietnamese and French businesses boast great potential for stronger cooperation, Trong said adding that Vietnam is expediting modernisation and industrialisation as well as restructuring the national economy and changing its growth model towards quality and sustainability.

Vietnam places priority on and incentivizes the development of hi-tech industries, green technology, clean energy, biological and organic agriculture, digital economy, e-government, health care, culture, and education, he said.

The country greatly values foreign investment projects, including French ones in line with its development orientations and investment attraction policies, Trong said while affirming that Vietnamese authorities at all level will offer optimal conditions and ensure the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors in general and French businesses in particular.

President of the MEDEF Pierre Gattaz, in turn, expressed his honour to welcome the Party leader and his high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, saying their presence at the meeting demonstrates the importance of the Vietnam-France relations.

He told Trong that the signing and enforcement of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will make remarkable contributions to enhancing the economic and trade links between Vietnam and the EU and France in particular.

President of the MEDEF Pierre Gattaz expressed his honour to welcome the Party leader and his high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, saying their presence at the meeting demonstrates the importance of the Vietnam-France relations.

He told Trong that the signing and enforcement of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will make remarkable contributions to enhancing the economic and trade links between Vietnam and the EU and France in particular.

Pierre Gattaz said French businesses participating in the event have signed a host of big contracts with Vietnamese partners, adding that Vietnam is on the path to become a tiger of Asia with sustainable economic development as a result of the government policy of extensive and intensive international integration as well as great efforts to reform the institutional system to develop Vietnam into a more appealing market to French companies.

At the headquarters of the Movement of the Enterprises of France, General Secretary Trong witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents between the two countries’ businesses.

Vietnam's budget carrier Vietjet Air and French group Safran – CFM signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on comprehensive cooperation in providing engines and technical and maintenance services worth US$6.5 billion for Vietjet aircraft.

Other cooperation documents included a contract between Vietjet and Gecas France on buying six A321 neo airplanes valued at US$800 million on hire-purchase, an MoU between FPT and Airbus on building capacity and consulting staff and developing the Skywise data platform of Airbus, an MoU between FPT and Geopost on helping to modernise the IT system and improving the operation efficiency of Geopost, and a cooperation agreement between T&T Group and Bouygues on upgrading Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi worth 250 million Euros.

Also the same day, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong received leaders of large French groups such as Airbusm, Bouygues and Total.