A bowl of pho and a French chef: Hanoi boosts international integration

Hanoi’s economy has made remarkable and comprehensive development steps

An attractive and efficient investment destination

The capital city’s focus on attending and hosting multilateral cooperation forums allowed it to exchange knowledge and experience with other cities and countries, paving the way to solving common challenges, and offered opportunities to meet international partners to attract more investment for the city’s development.

In 2018, for example, Hanoi hosted a series of major economic events, such as the Hanoi 2018 Investment and Development Cooperation Conference; the Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit; the World Economic Forum on ASEAN; and the Industry 4.0 Summit and Expo 2018. The gatherings and expos provided an opportunity for Hanoi to introduce its preferential investment and cooperation policies and emerge as an attractive and efficient investment destination.

In 2018, Hanoi attracted US$7.501 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), 2.18 times more than in 2017. In the first nine months of 2019, the city continued to lead the country with FDI investment of US$6.23 billion, raising the total registered foreign investment to US$41.3 billion.

These results reflect the willingness of Hanoi’s leaders to connect with foreign corporations and businesses, to provide them with information, suggest cooperation, and answer questions about investment plans. A number of large corporations and multinational companies have been implementing investment projects in Hanoi, such as Sumimoto, Nidec, and AEON (Japan).

As of September 2019, Hanoi had granted certificates to 20,562 newly established enterprises with registered capital of VND263.8 trillion, a year on year increase of 9 percent and 28 percent in the number of enterprises and registered capital, respectively. This enhanced business activity has led to increased economic growth, boosted social security and improved people’s lives.

Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Hai said the capital’s export activities have improved in recent years. The trade deficit has declined from over 200 percent in 2015 to 153 percent in 2017, 119 percent in 2018, and down to 95.98 percent in the first eight months of 2019.

Changing trade promotion form

Hanoi has recently changed the form of its trade and tourism promotion to serve its economic development. The Hanoi business community has also made efforts to explore new markets, and introduce products worldwide, including large markets like the US, Japan, the EU, and China and smaller markets in Africa and East Asia.

One innovative trade promotion event, the Vietnam Agricultural Product Week 2019, was held this past June at the Rungis international agricultural wholesale market in Paris. Famed French chef Fédéric Jaunault honored Vietnamese produce by cooking dishes using Vietnamese agricultural products and fruits brought to France by the Hanoi Promotion Agency (HPA) and a Vietnamese business delegation.

Nguyen Thi Mai Anh, Deputy Director of the HPA said she expected the event would help businesses raise awareness and open more opportunities for them to introduce additional products to the Rungis wholesale market.

Meanwhile in Thailand, after visiting Vietnamese booths at the Vietnamese Goods Week 2019 in Thailand held recently, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand cum Thai Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit spent 30 minutes enjoying Vietnamese Pho and other dishes. Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that the experience in organizing Vietnamese Goods Weeks shows that food products have great prospects for exports to the Thai market.