During his reception on Wednesday for Ambassador Bruno Angelet, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Viet Nam, Da Nang People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho expressed his delight at the fine development of the bilateral cooperative relationship with the European Union (EU) over recent years.

Ambassador Angelet (left) and Chairman Tho

Chairman Tho noted, “During the 2015 - 2017 period, many groups of visitors from such EU countries as the UK, France and Sweden have visited Da Nang, and vice versa.  Recent years have seen a significant increase in the export and import turnovers of goods between the city and some EU nations, hitting 196 and 110 million USD respectively in 2016.  Most notably, the European Commission has already funded an over-9 billion VND solar energy development project in the city which is scheduled to be implemented from July 2017 to April 2020.”

The city leader also asked Ambassador Angelet to appeal for more businesses from EU member countries to invest in the city’s trading and hi-tech sectors, develop renewable energy sources, and train local human resources.

In reply, the Ambassador said that he was very impressed with the city’s rapid growth.  In addition to healthcare and education aspects, his Delegation of the European Union to Viet Nam has cooperated with the Da Nang Energy Conservation and Technology Consultancy Centre to conduct research into clean energy development, especially solar energy.

He added that he is willing to cooperate with the local authorities to organise seminars on urban management, smarter city building, and the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).