Strengthening cooperation in economic and cultural development between Can Tho and Taiwan (China)

Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Nguyen Thuc Hien (Right) took  photo with Mr. Han Kuo Yao, Chairman of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City.

On the afternoon of  March 22^nd , the delegation of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City had a meeting with Mr. Nguyen Thuc Hien, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee and representative leaders of departments and agencies. This was the first time Mr. Han Kuo Yao, Chairman of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City visited Can Tho City after taking over his term in July 2022.

          At the meeting, Vice Chairman Nguyen Thuc Hien said that this was a valuable opportunity to understand about the land and people of the Mekong Delta region. Through meeting, the two sides expand the cooperation relationship in trade, economy, culture as well as other fields in the coming time.

On this occasion, the Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee also briefly introduced the potential and socio-economic situation of Can Tho City in recent years. In terms of labor, in 2022 Can Tho city had 319 migrant workers in Taiwan (China), accounting for 62% of the total number of laborers working abroad under contract, ranking first in the labour markets with high and stable income. In addition, Can Tho City started operating direct flights to Taipei from January 2020; currently there were 03 return flights (Can Tho – Taipei) every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Taking advantage of this, the city was planning to hold the Can Tho City Tourism Promotion Conference in Taiwan (China) in the third quarter of 2023 and looking forward to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City's support in connecting with the authorities in Taiwan (China) to organize the event.

According to the Vice Chairman, Can Tho and its Taiwanese partners have favorable conditions for further development in the near future although currently the direct investment from Taiwan in Can Tho city was limited with only 05 projects (total registered investment capital of 15.46 million USD). Mr. Hien expressed his desire to develop a more comprehensive cooperation relationship in terms of electronics, processing industry, high-tech agriculture...especially projects of centralized Information Technology Park.

Mr. Han Kuo Yao informed the city leader that the economic cooperation of Taiwanese enterprises in Vietnam continued to increase. By 2022, investment capital of Taiwanese entrepreneurs accounted for about 8% of the total foreign investment capital in Vietnam. With a total accumulated investment capital of 36.4 billion USD, Taipei becomes the 4th largest investment partner in Vietnam. The field of educational exchange between the provinces of Vietnam and Taiwan increased by 26% from 17,000 international students in 2021 to 23,000 international students in 2022.  Chairman of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City hoped that the City People's Committee, departments and agencies would continue to support and create favorable conditions for Taiwanese businesses to operate better and contribute more to the locality.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides expressed their agreement that they would strengthen information exchange and coordinate in organizing events to expand economic, cultural and educational exchanges in the coming time.