City talks links with St Petersburg
City talks links with St Petersburg
HCM City and Saint Petersburg have great potential for co-operation in many sectors, a seminar heard in HCM City on Thursday.
Speaking at a seminar held to discuss such co-operation, Elena Fedorova, deputy chairwoman of the St Petersburg Committee for Industrial Policy and Innovation, said the city is among Russia’s most innovative regions.
The energy, mechanical engineering, pharmaceutical, shipping, electronics, automobile, and IT sectors are its leading ones, she said.
“We seek to boost software exports. We want co-operation with Vietnamese firms in this field.
“Investment and trade relations between Viet Nam and Russia have increased significantly in recent years, with more Vietnamese companies investing in Russia and vice versa. We want to boost co-operation with you.”
She also listed the incentives her city offers foreign investors in its special economic zones or industrial parks, including preferential rental rates, tax breaks and others.
Many executives from St Petersburg-based firms in sectors such as water supply and treatment, information technology, telecom, and bio-technology spoke to delegates about their companies and the potential for co-operation with Vietnamese firms.
Potable Dmitry Serov of SUE Vodokanal, which supplies water to the city’s 5.2 million population, said his company has experience and advanced technologies in water treatment and is willing to share them with HCM City.
Pham Thiet Hoa, director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City, said Russian firms have invested more than US$35 million in 28 project in the city, mainly in processing, manufacturing, automobile repair, and IT.
Trade between HCM City and Russia was worth $329.9 million as of mid-June, a year-on-year increase of 58.3 per cent, he said.
As a young and dynamic city with quality human resources, HCM City wishes to enhance co-operation with Russian cities, he said.
Sergey Katanandov, special envoy of the St Petersburg government, said through the seminar his city wanted to introduce its potentials and strengths to Vietnamese companies.
Many Vietnamese officials have visited his city to exchange information and explore business co-operation, he said.
The St Petersburg delegation, which is visiting HCM City from June 27 to 30, is hoping “the trip will create a firm foundation for the two sides to understand each other and so intensify co-operation,” he added.
