The forum was initiated by the Vietnamese Embassy in China to cope with the global financial crisis.

Present at the forum were deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Doan Xuan Hung, vice mayor of Chongqing City Zhu Mu Bing and leaders from the six Vietnamese provinces of Ninh Binh, Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan and Ca Mau as well as hundreds of Vietnamese and Chinese business leaders.

Speaking at the forum, Mr Hung outlined the measures Vietnam has taken to deal with the global financial crisis and summarised the relations between Vietnam and China in recent years, especially in economics, trade, investment and tourism. Mr Hung said that Chongqing ranks third in China in terms of growth rate with total GDP in 2008 of USD75 billion. It has great potential in automobile and motorbike manufacturing and assembling, infrastructure development, construction materials, hydroelectricity and mining.

Mr Hung said the Vietnamese Government always welcomes and assists Chinese investors to do business in Vietnam.

Mr Zhu praised Vietnam’s participation in Chongqing’s development strategy and said that Vietnam is an important gateway for Chongqing businesses to enter ASEAN markets. Over the past few years, economic and trade ties between Chongqing and Vietnamese provinces have grown and flourished. Vietnam will be an important destination for Chongqing businesses to invest overseas, Mr Zhu insisted.

Provincial Vietnamese leaders then provided information to the Chongqing business leaders about Vietnam’s current policies and investment environment.