Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen receives Minister of External Affairs of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VNA)

HCM City, India seek broader cooperation

Nguyen Van Nen, secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, hosted a reception on October 17 for Minister of External Affairs of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who is on a working visit to the southern city.

He said that over the past five decades, despite the volatile and complex global situation, the traditional friendship between the nation and India founded by President Ho Chi Minh and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been carefully nurtured by generations of leaders and people of the two countries, thereby continuously being consolidated and developed.

The official also congratulated the guest on the outcomes of the 18th meeting of the Vietnam-India Joint Committee for Economic, Trade, Science and Technology Cooperation that he co-chaired on October 16 in Hanoi.

He said the southern city has been launching co-operative activities with India and will strive to actively contribute to the early realization of the bilateral trade target of US$20 billion that the joint committee recently approved.

Over the last few years the relationship between the city and India has continuously been strengthened and developed in the fields of trade ties, investment, and people-to-people exchanges, he said, adding that room remains to build ties with Indian partners.

The official expressed his hope that India will continue to facilitate businesses from both sides to seek opportunities and boost co-operation in fields such as trade, tourism, science - technology, and education, cited VOV.

For his part, the Indian Minister said that the two countries are both trying to overcome difficulties and challenges, although they share the desire to promote their relationship whilst ensuring peace and stability in the region.

He hailed Ho Chi Minh City's economic development and its role in enhancing tourism, trade, and investment linkages between the two countries.

Minister Jaishankar went on to thank the southern city for supporting and facilitating the activities of the Indian Consulate General locally, saying he hopes that India and the city will further promote economic, trade, and investment, especially focusing on strengthening the co-operative relationship between both sides’ businesses.

He said that many Indian businesses are keen to learn about and seek collaboration opportunities in fields such as pharmaceuticals and infrastructure construction.

Vietnam-Algeria Business Forum held in Hanoi

Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi and Algerian Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production Ali Aoun co-chaired the Vietnam-Algeria Business Forum in Hanoi on October 17.

Speaking at the event, Nghi said that the forum, an important activity within the framework of the 12th Vietnam-Algeria Inter-Governmental Committee, is a substantive and important opportunity for both sides to exchange information and learn about each other’s trade and investment incentives, priority areas and potential projects.

Ali Aoun informed participants about the direction that Algeria is taking to develop its economy and attract investment.

Currently, Algeria has many policies for industry, mining, agricultural processing, tourism, renewable energy, housing, basic infrastructure, and offers incentives for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and startups, he added.

At the forum, the countries' experts clarified mechanisms and policies for businesses in both Vietnam and Algeria, according to VNA.

At Vietnam-Algeria Business Forum (Photo: VNA)

A representative from the Import-Export Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade said that in order to create favourable conditions for domestic and foreign investors, Vietnam has reformed administrative procedures and simplified investment and business conditions.

In addition, the Government has issued policies to attract foreign investment in promoting green growth, and sustainable import and export, and supported businesses to overcome barriers.

Ahmed Berrich from the Algerian Investment Promotion Agency shared that Algeria is prioritising investment in stone mining, agro-fisheries, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, tourism, construction, information technology and communications.

Tropical depression about 160 km from Hoang Sa Archipelago

A tropical depression is expected to move in a northwest direction at speed of around 10 km per hour, is likely to develop into a storm and impact the sea from Quang Tri province to Da Nang.

According to details given by the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF), at 1 p.m. on October 17 the tropical depression was located at about 15.7 degrees north latitude and 110.6 degrees east longitude, roughly 160km from the Hoang Sa archipelago to the southwest.

By 1 p.m. on October 18, the tropical depression will likely head northwest with a constant wind speed of 10 kilometres per hour. The strongest winds near the centre will be at level eight, with shock at level 10.

The tropical depression will then continue to move to the west-northwest. At around 1 p.m. on October 19, the strongest winds near the eye will be at level eight, with shock at level 10, reported VOV.

Photo: VOV

Over the next 48 to 72 hours, the weather event is likely to head to the west-northwest, at a speed of between five and 10 kilometres per hour.

Due to the influence of the tropical depression, from October 17 to October 19 the sea from Quang Tri to Quang Nam provinces will experience heavy rain.

From October 19, the northeast and northcentral regions are forecast to face strong showers and thunderstorms.

State President arrives in Beijing for third Belt and Road Forum

State President Vo Van Thuong and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport around the noon of October 17, starting a trip to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping.

At the airport, the President and the delegation were welcomed by Chinese Minister of Housing and Urban - Rural Construction Ni Hong and Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo, among others.

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong (front, right) is welcomed at Beijing Capital International Airport on October 17. (Photo: VNA)

This is the first visit to China by and also the first multilateral diplomatic activity of Thuong as the State leader of Vietnam.

During the third BRF, President Thuong is scheduled to attend the forum’s opening ceremony, a high-level session on digital economy, and bilateral meetings with leaders of some countries and international organizations.

He will also have meetings with leaders of China and receive executives of some leading Chinese businesses in the fields of technology and telecommunications, cited VNA.

Amid many complex and unpredictable developments in the international situation and strong changes in the world’s economy, President Thuong and the Vietnamese delegation’s attendance in the third BRF is considered a practical activity helping implement the country’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversification and multilateralisation of external relations, and proactive, comprehensive, flexible and effective integration into the world. It is also meant to send out a message about Vietnam being a friend, trustworthy partner, and active and responsible member of the international community contributing to regional and global peace, stability, development, and cooperation.

HCM City tourism growing strong in 2023

HCM City welcomed nearly 27 million domestic visitors in the first nine months of 2023, up 24.9 per cent year-on-year, and about 3.6 million foreign visitors, a 69 per cent year-on-year increase.

For the first nine months of 2023, tourism has been one of the key economic sectors of HCM City with many of the industry's goals set at the beginning of the year having almost been achieved.

The city earned VND125.5 trillion (US$5.1 billion) in revenue from tourism from January through September, an increase of 35.8 per cent over the same period last year.

It welcomed nearly 27 million domestic visitors, up 24.9 per cent year-on-year, and about 3.6 million foreign visitors, a 69 per cent increase.

The number of passengers traveling to and from the city by air and train increased 37 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively. The volume of public passenger transport increased by 22.8 per cent to around 300 million passengers.

"The tourism industry's revenue is a very important contributor to the city's economy. Therefore, this year, we set a target for the industry's revenue to reach VND160 trillion, 10-15 per cent higher than 2019. We expect this year's tourism revenue to achieve the set targets and have breakthroughs in the last months of the year and before the Lunar New Year holiday," Le Truong Hien Hoa, deputy director of city's Department of Tourism, said.

The above stats show that the city has been able to attract tourists and gradually recover its tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2019, the city welcomed over 8.6 million international visitors and 32.8 million domestic tourists with total revenue of over VND140 trillion.

New tours, such as Saigon River tour, are chosen by many tourists.

However, at the beginning of the 2021 - 2026 term, the growth of the city's tourism was almost zero due to the pandemic.

It seemed that the city's tourism would take a long time to recover, but, in reality, it happened quickly.

When the pandemic was controlled, the city embraced opening back up and gradually restored safe tourism.

After the pandemic, in order to attract more tourists, the city's tourism industry immediately launched the programme "Welcome to HCM City” and “Each district has at least one attractive tourism destination”.

The city's tourism authority has cooperated with relevant agencies to survey and create many new tours and routes to upgrade and bring new experiences to tourists.

Local tourist sites such as Ben Thanh Market, Saigon Central Post Office, and the War Remnants Museum have been favoured among the visitors.

Currently, domestic and foreign tourists coming to HCM City can select new tours, such as a helicopter tour over HCM City, and the Saigon River tour to watch the sunset and see the beauty of the city at night.

Many foreign tourists are interested in discovering the beauty of the Saigon River. To facilitate the travel of passengers, the city authority has deployed three tram lines that connect quickly from the Bạch Đằng wharf to tourist landmarks in the city.

By 2025, it aims to develop at least 10 waterway tours and programs linking seaports and river routes.

The city is striving to welcome about 500,000 visitors a year to the waterway tourism programs in the 2023-24 period, and increase this number by 10 per cent in the following years, VNS reported.

In addition, suburban districts are also promoting the development of agri-l and eco-tourism.

For example, Can Gio is the only district of HCM City that has 23km of coastline, an immense network of rivers and a unique mangrove ecosystem that provides the locality with a cool and fresh climate year round.

Going to Can Gio ecotourism area, visitors can mingle with nature and enjoy wonderful landscapes.

Cu Chi District is also considered the green space of the city, suitable for developing ecotourism and garden tourism.

When visiting the district, tourists can visit the orchard gardens along the Saigon River, green farms, high-tech agricultural areas and the Cu Chi guerrilla-warfare tunnels, or try to work as a farmer for one day in the gardens.

Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa said in order to attract more visitors, the city will survey the market to develop its tourism brand, while enhancing communications campaigns to popularise its images both locally and internationally.

The city is now focusing on developing more types of entertainment tourism, cuisine and services at night to create many new and unique tourism products to meet the increasing needs of tourists.

Also, the city continues to focus on the development of healthcare and wellness, and waterway tourism offerings, which have great development potential and bring in much revenue for the city.

The city's Department of Tourism has worked with 50 units, including hospitals, healthcare facilities, spas, travel companies and accommodation facilities to create 30 unique service packages that combine healthcare with visiting famous destinations to meet the needs of tourists.

In addition, with Vietnam's new visa policy since August, the number of foreign tourists is expected to continue to increase, especially in the last months of the year - the peak period of tourism.

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