The HCMC Chairman met representatives of the Vietnamese Australian Scholars & Experts Association (VASEA), an Australian-based Not-For-Profit (NFP) Organisation registered with the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC). It is home to scholars and experts of Vietnamese heritage living and working in Australia.
VASEA is a bridge in the exchange of information, solutions and technology between Australia and Vietnam as well as assists with market development in both countries.
At the meeting, VASEA representatives talked about programs and activities that are being implemented in Vietnam expecting to make a contribution to Vietnam generally and HCMC particularly to help solve existing problems, especially in digital transformation, green transformation innovations, human training and support for small and medium enterprises.
Chairman Mai highly valued VASEA activities and programs in HCMC and other localities in Vietnam.
He expected that VASEA would continue to have programs to effectively contribute to the southern metropolis’ development. Specifically, with its experience of Australian educational standards, VASEA will help train Ho Chi Minh City's young generations to become global citizens, helping the city achieve its goal of building an educational training center.
Regarding science and technology, the Chairman hoped that experts would contribute experiences and initiatives for the city’s successful implementation of innovation, digital transformation, and green development programs. At the same time, he also hoped that VASEA would provide advice on policy so that Ho Chi Minh City could achieve the effectiveness of the above programs and build Ho Chi Minh City into an educational training center of the region.
On the same day, Chairman Phan Van Mai and his delegation attended the Investment and Tourism Promotion Conference between Ho Chi Minh City and Victoria State, with the participation of more than 200 Australian businesses.
In his speech, Chairman Phan Van Mai shared that Australia is the seventh largest trading partner of Vietnam and Vietnam is the 10th largest trading partner of Australia. Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Australia in 2023 reached nearly USD$13.8 billion.
Australia currently has 644 investment projects in Vietnam, with a total capital of more than US$2 billion. Australia is having 318 investment projects in Ho Chi Minh City ranking 19th out of 125 countries and territories investing in the city. Regarding tourism, in 2023, Vietnam's total tourism revenue posted more than AUD36 billion. Ho Chi Minh City alone welcomed 5 million international visitors, including more than 240,000 visitors from Australia.
Within the framework of the conference, the Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee wanted to discuss cooperation and investment opportunities between businesses in Ho Chi Minh City and Victoria State in fields such as health, education and infrastructure development, digital transformation and innovation, green economy, promoting tourism between the two countries.
At the conference, representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), the City Department of Science and Technology, and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications introduced the potential and strengths of Ho Chi Minh City while representatives of businesses at the conference shared their activities and investment-related issues in Ho Chi Minh City.
Director Julius Wei of BMYG Investment Group Fund voiced his interest in emerging industries such as digitalization, and energy conversion. He expressed his desire to learn about investment opportunities in Vietnam including Ho Chi Minh City in the field of cloud computing and online payment. Therefore, he wanted to know the policies of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in these fields for investment.
Director Jonathan van Rooyen of Invest Unlisted Fund said that he is willing to share with Ho Chi Minh City effective experiences and models in waste treatment as well as areas which city administrations are paying attention to.
He affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City will coordinate closely with Victoria state to strongly implement cooperation programs as well as improve the business environment for better trading between Vietnam – Australia and increased the trade turnover between Vietnam and Australia. He hoped to have specific outcomes in cooperation between Victoria State and Ho Chi Minh City in the coming time.
The investment and tourism promotion event between Ho Chi Minh City and Victoria State also ended the business trip in Australia of the Ho Chi Minh City delegation led by Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai, which took place from May 12 to 18.
