Speaking at the meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and his entourage in HCM City yesterday, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said the UK ranked 8th in investment out of the 74 countries and territories investing in the city. Among them include many large-scale projects.

He mentioned the 86-storey, US$1.2 billion observation tower complex project in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in HCM City as an example of co-operation between businesses on the two sides.

In 2015, two-way bilateral trade between HCM City and the UK reached $875 million, a 20 per cent increase compared with 2014.

The British Business Group in HCM City had 450 members. This was a dynamic group, and their investment results and trade co-operation made important contributions to the city’s development, Phong said.

Phong also informed the UK diplomat about the city’s development vision to become a big training centre for economics and trade, science and technology, and education in the ASEAN region.

Phong expressed hopes that the UK, which has strengths in education, would help the city train high-quality human resources through co-operation between universities on both sides.

Hammond said he appreciated the development of Vietnam in general and HCM City in particular, as well as the strategic partnership between the two counties.

He said he had met representatives of UK companies working in HCM City before the meeting. They reported to him that they were optimistic about the future development of Vietnam, especially HCM City.

In their bilateral relationship, relations in trade and investment are the most important fields right now, said the diplomat.

He said the UK expected to learn more about the city’s development focuses in the future, at which time the two sides could take concrete action.

He said UK businesses would invest more in the future – not only through individual projects, but also through the city’s socioeconomic development plans.