HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City is calling forinvestment into 197 projects in ten key areas, including infrastructuredevelopment, agriculture, industry, trade and services, healthcare, tourism,education and housing, an official told the Vietnam – Europe Business Forum in thesouthern largest economic hub on June 30.

Dao Minh Chanh, Deputy Director of the municipal Departmentof Planning and Investment, said EU countries are investing in 2,724 projects in HCM City,mostly in the fields of manufacturing and processing, retaile andwholesale, motor and automobile repair and maintenance, and information and communications. Worth a total of 7.69 billion USD, they account for 10.27% of FDIin the city, he said.

HCM City has constantly improved its business climate andadopted various incentives to encourage more FDI, he said, addingthat most notably among the incentives include reductions in corporate incometax, import-export duties and land lease.

Vo Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’sCommittee, highlighted the importance of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement(EVFTA) which has entered into force, saying it has brought great and balancedbenefits to both sides and there is a huge opportunity for Vietnam and the EUto step up bilateral economic cooperation.

With the EU’s technical and financial support, many projectsin urban transport, agriculture, climate change mitigation and others have beenimplemented in HCM City, contributing to the development of the city andVietnam at large, Hoan noted.

Philipp Rosler, head of the EU business delegation, spoke highly of Vietnam’s robust growth, noting that there has been a huge volume ofsearch for information and opportunities in trade and investment in Vietnamfrom European enterprises.

EU firms are particularly interested in production, R&Dand innovation projects in HCM City, which will not only help the two sidesmake the most of the EVFTA but also give EU companies access to other majormarkets in Southeast Asia and Asia, he added./.