Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang emphasised that Da Nang identified economic diplomacy as one of its spearhead economic sectors in his remarks at closing ceremony of the City Partnership Forum - Da Nang 2025 on Friday.

He said that the forum was held right after many important events were organised by the city on January 16, namely the inauguration of the Da Nang Software Park No. 2 and the organisation of the international conference "Developing international financial centre in Viet Nam". These were events of great significance, affirming the economic potential of the city.

Through the field programme yesterday morning, the bilateral and thematic meetings in the morning, and the sharing in the agenda in the afternoon, the delegates had a closer and clearer view of the potential, advantages, development goals and international cooperation needs of the city. In particular, the areas that the city is interested in and attracting investment included tourism, innovative startups, information technology, semiconductors and digital transformation.

Mr. Quang also highlighted that the forum provided the opportunity for Da Nang in particular and international cities in general to meet; exchange experiences, cooperation initiatives and sustainable socio-economic development goals; strengthen friendship; and build sustainable relationships. In particular, the direct participation of more than 20 localities around the world coming to Da Nang was extremely important.

And even greater joy was that at this forum, Da Nang connected with two new friends, namely the city of Aktau from Kazakhstan and the beautiful city of Genoa from Italy.

After today, Da Nang's international cooperation map will be expanded to 50 countries in 24 countries and territories, he noted.

The city Party chief Quang remarked 2025 was an important and a pivotal year entering a new era and Da Nang set out specific goals.

Firstly, Da Nang's foreign policy goals in the new era need to be based on the foundation of sincere feelings, solid trust, equal respect and the goal of developing prosperity together.

With that spirit, Da Nang is always willing to welcome all international friends, together building sustainable relationships for peace and common development. Da Nang wishes to become a solid bridge, connecting cultural and economic flows from all over the world, and converging and spreading good values.

Secondly, the city identifies economic diplomacy as the spearhead, promoting science and technology diplomacy as the focus. With the special policy mechanism and incentives assigned by the Central Government such as building an international financial centre, the first Free Trade Zone model in Viet Nam and other preferential policies for science and technology, innovation, digital infrastructure and emerging industries, the city's international cooperation will make breakthroughs towards substantive and effective cooperation on the basis of mutual benefits.

Therefore, the city hopes to receive connections and companionship from localities with friendly and cooperative relations in introducing to strategic and large investors. Da Nang commits to creating an open, transparent investment environment, and providing maximum support for foreign enterprises to effectively invest and do business in Da Nang.

Thirdly, Da Nang always attaches importance to bilateral cooperation by maintaining a dialogue mechanism, and deepening the city's local-level international cooperation in all political - economic - cultural fields. Diverse cooperation projects, from infrastructure investment, sustainable urban development to cultural, educational and tourism cooperation, have brought about positive results, contributing to fosterting the city's socio-economic development.

In the coming time, Da Nang will continue to strengthen international cooperation, focusing on priority areas such as science and technology, innovation, knowledge economy and sustainable development.

Fourthly, on a multilateral level, Da Nang will always be ready to promote a proactive and active role in networks and forums of which Da Nang is a member. Accordingly, Da Nang always welcomes and prioritizes the implementation of cooperation programmes with members in the same network, especially in the fields of environment and climate change response, for the goal of sustainable development.

Fifthly, positioning itself as a growth pole and integration pole of Central Viet Nam, Da Nang needs to mobilise resources in trade and investment, update development trends and economic linkages, and utilize the strength of the era of scientific and technological revolution, digital transformation, and knowledge economy as a foundation to boost the "rise" of the city in the new era.

Reporting by T.PHUONG, M.QUE, Q.CUONG - Translating by M.DUNG