Responsible investment under discussion at Da Nang seminar

Themed “responsible investment and smart urban development”, the event was jointly held by the municipal People’s Committee and the Dutch Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Ho Ky Minh said the event aims to promote cooperation in investment, smart city development and innovation between Da Nang and Dutch partners.

Da Nang has carefully prepared infrastructure and human resources, and policies to facilitate cooperation with Dutch partners, he noted. 

In 2017, the city recorded remarkable economic growth. Its gross regional domestic product and budget revenue respectively increased by 9% and 17.96% compared to the previous. The city’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in the year was 6.6 times higher than 2016. Meanwhile the tourism sector saw strong development, with a year-on-year rise of 20.6% in total revenue.

According to Minh, the city officially launched its e-government system in 2014, which prove effective in managing and providing information to local people and enterprises. The model was expanded to many localities nationwide.

 From 2009 to 2016, the city led the country on the Vietnam ICT Index - the rankings on the readiness for information and communications technology development and application. It also won the first prize of ASEAN ICT Award 2016 on application of information technology and communication for the public sector. 

Carel Richter, Dutch Consul General to HCM City said people, enterprises, governments, scientists and investors worldwide are seeking solutions to the two global key trends of urbanization and climate change. 

According to him, Dutch businesses attach special importance to sustainable development and social responsibility, with many of them having developed revamped economic models that help minimise negative impacts on the environment.

Elmar Bouma from the Investment Promotion agency of the Netherlands said the country is advocating and facilitating responsible investment from enterprises.  

He stressed that factors that help build a quality investment environment include a stable legal system, good infrastructure, human resources and connection among educational institutions, of which the legal system is the most important. 

Representatives from Dutch enterprises highlighted contributions made by enterprises to sustainable development in their country.