Attending the meeting were Mr. Vo Van Minh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (PPC); Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the PPC; leaders of Central diplomatic missions, representative of Consulate Generals, Trade Offices and Business Associations of countries in Ho Chi Minh City; leaders of departments, committees, branches, districts, towns and cities together with representatives of domestic and foreign enterprises operating in Binh Duong province.
The meeting is a special event to express gratitude for the support and deep affection that international friends have given to Binh Duong province in the past year; at the same time, strengthen friendly relations and cooperation with diplomatic missions, international economic and trade organizations, and further promote foreign activities to serve the province's socio-economic development.
Welcome cultural program
At the meeting, Permanent Vice Chairman of the PPC Mai Hung Dung informed about the province's socio-economic development situation in 2022, the province's development orientation, guidelines and policies in enhancing foreign activities and boosting investment promotion.
In 2022, the socio-economic situation of Binh Duong province continued to prosper and achieve many positive and comprehensive results in all fields. Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) was estimated to increase by 8.01%; GRDP per capita was 166 million VND; Index of industrial production (IIP) was estimated to increase by 8.9% compared to 2021; total import-export turnover reached 61.5 billion USD, trade surplus reached nearly 10 billion USD.
Over the past year, Binh Duong has attracted an additional 3.1 billion USD in foreign direct investment. Accumulated to December 15, 2022, the province currently has 4,084 investment projects from 65 countries and territories such as Japan, Singapore, Korea, Denmark, etc. with a total registered capital of 39,7 billion USD. Binh Duong is currently ranked 2nd in the country in attracting foreign investment, after Ho Chi Minh City.
Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the PPC speaks at the meeting
Foreign activities in the province continues to take place excitingly and diversely, combining well between Party diplomacy, State diplomacy and people's diplomacy. Binh Duong province successfully organized large-scale and particularly important international events and conferences such as: Horasis India Meeting, Event honoring Top 7 of Intelligent Community Forum, Meet Korea 2022 and National Innovative Entrepreneurship Day 2022 (Techfest Vietnam 2022) in order to attract commercial investment, exchange, share and learn experiences in science and technology, management, construction planning and urban development for the goal of socio-economic development and the goal of smart city building.
Along with that, Binh Duong province held 20 direct and online seminars on investment promotion with Japan, the United States, Canada, China, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Taiwan, and Thailand, etc. Thereby, maintaining cooperative relationships, promoting economic diplomacy and inviting foreign investment. The province also welcomed nearly 70 international delegations to visit, work and learn about the socio-economic situation, investment environment, trade and cultural exchange.
Along with economic diplomacy activities, welcoming international delegations, cultural diplomacy activities were also promoted and took place excitingly with sports activities and cultural exchanges. The province has established friendly cooperative relationships with 11 foreign localities and is an official member and reliable partner of 3 international organizations, including: Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), Horasis Asia Meeting and World Trade Centers Association (WTCA). For 4 consecutive years from 2019 to 2022, Binh Duong has been honored by ICF as one of 21 cities with typical smart city development strategies of the world – SMART 21. In particular, Binh Duong province was honored by ICF in TOP 7, as one of 7 communities with typical smart development strategies in the world for two consecutive years 2021 and 2022.
It can be affirmed that one of the important factors that helps Binh Duong province achieve good results in foreign affairs is thanks to the close cooperation and enthusiastic support of Consulate Generals, Trade Offices, Associations, foreign enterprises, etc. in promoting, providing information and introducing to investors and the international community about a friendly and dynamic Binh Duong province in the development process; creating opportunities for Binh Duong to consolidate and strengthen friendly relations and cooperation with countries and territories around the world for the goal of sustainable development.
On behalf of the provincial leaders, Permanent Vice Chairman of the PPC Mai Hung Dung thanked and wished that the diplomatic missions and the diplomatic posts would continue to support and accompany in the construction of Binh Duong province to develop more stable and better in the coming time.
Mr. Kho Nge Seng Roy - Consul General of the Republic of Singapore in Ho Chi Minh City speaks at the meeting
On behalf of the Consular Posts, Mr. Kho Nge Seng Roy - Consul General of the Republic of Singapore in Ho Chi Minh City congratulated the outstanding achievements achieved by Binh Duong in the past year; and highly appreciated Binh Duong province's development strategy and investment attraction orientation in the future. He thanked the provincial leaders for their enthusiastic support to foreign missions and investors.
The Consular Posts wished to continue to work and cooperate with Binh Duong in various fields. Cooperation can take many forms such as supporting economic development, cultural and art exchanges, cooperation in education, sustainable development, state management, health care, digital economy, etc. Thereby, contributing to the economic development of Vietnam in general and Binh Duong in particular.
Leaders of Binh Duong province and Consul Generals, representatives of foreign missions take a souvenir photo
Reported by Doan Trang- Translated by Thanh Tam