The pledge was confirmed by Maria Aparici Gonzalez, Deputy Director General of the Department on Trade Policy with Europe, Asia and Oceania of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain during her working session with the city’s leaders on November 25.

According to Gonzalez, the Spanish Government will offer a 15 million EUR credit scheme and Ho Chi Minh City could access the sum for additional finance for the metro line No.5 project. 

Deputy Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Hong praised the Spanish government’s support and vowed the city would create favorable conditions for Spanish enterprises to invest in the city.

In the first 10 months of this year, HCM City and Spain posted a trade value of 300 million EUR. 

HCM City is currently home to 13 projects from Spanish investors.

The two sides should bolster trade promotion activities to intensify collaboration in other fields, like culture, education, and tourism, according to Gonzalez. 

The largest economic hub is embarking on the construction of metro lines in a bid to address traffic congestion, which as estimated by Siemens and Arup, could have a direct cost to the city’s economy of about 97 billion USD between 2015 and 2045.