As part of their ongoing working visit to Israel, a group of Da Nang’s leaders, led by municipal Party Committee Deputy Secretary Vo Cong Tri, recently met with Ms Hedva Almog, the Deputy Mayoress of Haifa City.  They together discussed with representatives from the Haifa Economic Corporation and the Authority of the Matam Hi-Tech Park in Haifa City about hi-tech industries.

Deputy Secretary Tri (left) and Deputy Mayoress Hedva Almog

Ms Hedva Almog briefed her Da Nang guests on the development potentials and strengths of her city.  Haifa is the third-largest city in the State of Israel, followed by Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.  It is also a hub of hi-tech and technological innovations with the effective operation of the Matam Hi-Tech Park and Haifa Biotechnology and the Haifa Biotechnology Park.  Most notably, the world’s leading technology corporations including Apple, Intel, IBM, Microsolf, Cissco and Philips have set up their research and development centres in the Matam Hi-Tech Park.  This seaport city is now home to world-renowned universities, and medical research institutes which are famous for their 3 Nobel laureates. 

Ms Hedva Almog hoped that her city would boost the bilateral cooperative ties with Da Nang in hi-tech industries, media, culture, tourism and supportive experiences for start-up businesses.  She proposed that the 2 sides should promote their mutual information exchanges, discuss possible cooperation programmes in hi-tech and tourism, as well as enhance cultural exchanges, and cooperation between universities of the 2 cities in the years ahead.  In particular, she underscored that the 2 localities should make necessary preparations for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bolstering bilateral cooperation in recognition of the 25^th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Viet Nam and Israel next year.

In reply, Deputy Secretary Tri remarked, “Da Nang has always made great efforts to enhance its investment and business environment to attract more domestic and foreign investors, including those from Israel”.  He recommended that the Haifa authorities, Israeli businesses involved in the hi-tech industries, especially those from Haifa, should share their valuable experiences in promoting this aspect.  In addition, assistance should be given to the city in developing more effective investment promotion policies and mechanisms in the years ahead.  He also pledged that the Da Nang authorities would facilitate Israeli businesses to operate effectively in the city.

Earlier, on 23 and 24 July, the visiting group had met with representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haifa and the North, the HiCenter Ventures, the Pluristem Therapeutics Inc and the Telco Systems.

Deputy Secretary Tri (left) and a representative from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haifa and the North

The leaders of the Israeli businesses enthusiastically introduced their Vietnamese guests to the development process of hi-tech industries and the key factors that determine the success of Israel’s hi-tech sector.

Ms Yael Mittelman, the CEO of HiCenter Ventures which is an entrepreneurial campus, briefed the Da Nang guests on the Israeli government-issued mechanisms and polices for start-up businesses, as well as on her company’s experiences in developing business incubation programmes and operating venture capital funds.

During his meeting with the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel, Deputy Secretary Tri asked this agency to help the city to boost bilateral cooperation with Haifa City, and to appeal for more Israeli investors to Da Nang to seek investment opportunities in hi-tech, IT, technology transfer, hi-tech agricultural production, and especially assist the city become a ‘smart’ city in the near future.

In reply, the Vietnamese Ambassador in Israel vowed that he would assist Da Nang in realising its ambition for accelerating the bilateral cooperation with Haifa.