A delegation of Da Nang’s officials, led by municipal Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang, had their official working trip in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday.

Secretary of the Da Nang Party Committee Nguyen Van Quang and Ms. Alya Al Zarouni, Chief Operating Officer at DIFC Authority. Photo: Working Group

On the morning, the city delegation had a working session with the Board of Directors of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Secretary Quang highly appreciated the results that DIFC has achieved over the past time, which served as a foundation for the city to build a development strategy for the Da Nang International Financial Centre.

He proposed that the two sides continue to expand cooperation in the coming time, especially in implementing training programmes and exchanging officials to share experiences and knowledge in operating the international financial centre.

Secretary of the Da Nang Party Committee Nguyen Van Quang (left) presented a souvenir to a representative of Al Tamimi & Company. Photo: Working delegation

According to Ms. Alya Al Zarouni, Chief Operating Officer at DIFC Authority, DIFC Authority highly appreciated Da Nang for its potential and opportunities in developing an international financial center.

She underlined the must-do for the central coastal city to identify its own strengths compared to existing models in the region to mobilize and effectively exploit resources, thereby successfully building a financial centre.

DIFC is willing to share its experience in building a financial centre and cooperate with Da Nang to train human resources to serve the operations of the financial centre, she noted.

DIFC is one of the world's most advanced financial centres, and the leading financial hub for the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA). The Centre connects these fast-growing markets with the economies of Asia, Europe, and the Americas through Dubai. DIFC has a 20-year track record of facilitating trade and investment flows across MEASA.

DIFC is an internationally recognised, independent regulator and a proven judicial system with an English Common Law framework. It is the region’s largest financial ecosystem with over 46,000 professionals working across over 6,920 registered firms.

The Da Nang delegation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Photo: Delegation

In the afternoon of the same day, the Da Nang delegation worked with members of the Board of Directors of Al Tamimi & Company to discuss issues related to the development of a favourable and effective legal framework for the operation of the international financial centre.

Secretary Quang said that the purpose of the working trip was to concretise the policies of the Politburo and the Government in building and developing an international financial centre in Viet Nam.

The city is closely coordinating with central agencies to develop relevant mechanisms and policies for the operation of this model in Viet Nam, he added.

The city leader highly appreciated the company’s discussions on attracting investment from fund management companies, developing a comprehensive ecosystem, and resolving disputes at the international financial centre.

At the same time, he requested the company to continue consulting on the development of a jurisdictional mechanism, legal framework and suitable development model for Da Nang, especially connecting with the Da Nang Free Trade Zone.

For his part, Mr. Naief Yahia, Director of the Judicial Department of Al Tamimi & Company, emphasised that what a financial centre needs is a strong, transparent, reliable governance and legal environment in line with global standards. This will create trust for businesses and investors in protecting investments and resolving disputes fairly.

Additionally, senior members of Al Tamimi & Company proposed that Da Nang exploit the resources of small and medium-sized investment funds aside from calling for large-scale investment funds.

During the working programme, the city delegation paid visits to the Expo City Dubai and Nakheel - a leading real estate developer in Dubai. These are the units that manage and develop Dubai's strategic infrastructure projects such as the Dubai South, and the Dubai Palm Islands with Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira islands.

Reporting by Working Delegation - Translating by M.DUNG