On Monday as part of their ongoing working trip to London, a group of Da Nang’s leaders, led by municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung visited Asia House, which is a non-profit, non-political, pan-Asian organisation in the UK, to meet with British businesspeople.

Vice Chairman Dung (left) and one of the British businesspeople

Also present at the event were Asia House CEO Michael Lawrence, British diplomats, and representatives from some British financial and consultancy corporations including KPMG, HSBC, Lloyds Bank and Maybank.

The Da Nang guests briefed the participants on the city’s geographical position, its development potential, and its favourable policies.  They appealed for more British businesses to invest into such local priority aspects as tourism, trade, hi-tech, IT, support industries, health and education.

Vice Chairman Dung highly praised the fruitful economic and political relationships and friendship between Viet Nam and the UK over the past 4 decades.  He also noted that the cooperative ties between his city and British businesses have recorded some definitely positive results.  As of June, Da Nang had attracted 10 FDI projects from the UK, with a total investment worth over 1.6 million USD.

The city leader affirmed that the UK is now one of Da Nang’s most important partners in Europe because it boasts financial and technological development potential.  He also pledged that even more favourable conditions would be created for British businesses to operate effectively in the city.

Also at the meeting, the Da Nang guests answered questions raised by the participating businesspeople about the vital role of the East-West Economic Corridor and the impacts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement on the city’s economic growth, as well as its investment and tourism environment.

Some of the participants affirmed that they would visit Da Nang as soon as possible to learn more about its business environment and to seek cooperative opportunities.

On Tuesday, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh played host to a group from logistics businesses from Hong Kong, led by Hong Kong Shippers' Council Chairman Willy Lin.

Chairman Lin (left) and Vice Chairman Minh

Vice Chairman Minh remarked that, over recent years, top priority has been given to promoting the development of tourism, trade and hi-tech industries, and to building a synchronous infrastructure system in order to attract more domestic and foreign investment into the city.

With regard to the local logistics sector, the focus has been on developing local seaports, transport systems, and warehouses for logistics services.  Most notably, the municipal authorities have approved a project to further develop local logistics services with a vision to 2020, with a focus on making this aspect one of the city’s spearhead economic sectors.

The host said he would like Chairman Lin to encourage more Hong Kong logistics businesses to invest in Da Nang.

In reply, Chairman Lin spoke highly of the city’s logistics development potential, and said he hoped that the city would gain more success in this aspect.  He also invited representatives from the city authorities to attend the 2016 Asian Logistics and Maritime Conference, which will take place on 22 and 23 November at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.  The conference will be an opportunity to share experiences in maritime transport and logistic management chains.

The Hong Kong guests also discussed the future development potentials of Da Nang International Airport, the local policies about delivering cargoes by air, and some local priority aspects for future investment from both home and abroad.