HÀ NỘI — Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyễn Đức Tâm met on April 28 with Zhu Wei, Deputy Director of the Guangdong provincial Development and Reform Commission, and a delegation from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Office in a bid to deepen economic and trade ties.

During the meeting, Tâm welcomed the goodwill and proposals from the Greater Bay Area delegation aimed at enhancing economic and trade collaboration, developing joint Việt Nam-Guangdong industrial parks, and strengthening supply chain linkages between the two countries.

He underscored that Việt Nam places great importance on advancing cooperation with the Greater Bay Area, particularly in the sectors based on Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as ICT, digital technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, new materials, pharmaceuticals, high-tech agriculture, environmental technology and clean energy.

He noted that Guangdong, home to several cities with twin relationships with Vietnamese provinces, has long been a focal point for trade and investment promotion activities from Việt Nam. This, he emphasised, illustrates the significant potential for expanded collaboration between Guangdong and Vietnamese localities.

The Deputy Minister identified several priority areas for deeper cooperation, including the development of joint industrial zones, trade in agricultural products, infrastructure investment (especially railways), science - technology and digital transformation.

For his part, Zhu highlighted that the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is one of China's comprehensive opening-up strategies, designed to enhance the country's competitiveness in the global market. The Bay Area contributes to 11 per cent of China’s GDP and is positioned as a hub for economic and technological innovation.

Expressing a keen interest in sharing the region’s reform and innovation experiences with Việt Nam, he further noted growing interest among Greater Bay Area enterprises in exploring investment opportunities in the country, aiming for long-term and sustainable partnerships that will contribute to Việt Nam’s economic growth in the coming years.

Zhu held that Việt Nam’s ongoing efforts to streamline its administrative apparatus present a timely opportunity for both sides to exchange experiences in developing the "two countries, two industrial parks" model, with a focus on sectors such as electronics, display technology and automotive components.

Tam affirmed that Việt Nam’s development priorities now hinge not only on traditional growth drivers but also on new ones which are science, technology and innovation. He lauded the office's cooperation proposals, which are appropriate to Việt Nam's goals.

He considered the "two countries, two industrial parks" model as a good proposal, expressing confidence that the two sides will soon translate this idea into tangible results, opening up more cooperation opportunities between Việt Nam and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. — VNS