Prime Minister: Vietnam aspires to become a global logistics center

The discussion between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and some leading Dutch businesses on the afternoon of December 11 (local time) lasted nearly an hour compared to the schedule. The Prime Minister listened to and answered and removed the problems faced by businesses investing in Vietnam.

Shipbuilding enterprises want to invest another 100 million USD in Vietnam

Mr. Dolfvan den Brink, Global General Director of Heineken, acknowledged that Vietnam has made strong commitments to respond to climate change, reaching the target of zero emissions by 2050. Affirming the desire to make a positive contribution. In this field, he proposed to promote the direct electricity purchase and sale mechanism and submit some content related to solar power...

Leaders of Boskalis Maritime Group assessed that Vietnam can become a leading maritime transshipment center in the world. He suggested that Vietnam study establish a legal framework for sustainable sea sand mining and affirmed that Boskalis could provide policy advice in this area.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh listened to leading Dutch businesses to inform them about their investment plans in Vietnam, and proposed mechanisms and policies in cooperation.

Meanwhile, Mr. Arnout Damen, CEO of Damen Shipyards Gorinchem, announced his plan to invest an additional 100 million USD in shipbuilding in Vietnam, and wished to support Vietnam in developing its transportation system. through reducing carbon emissions.

Mr. Maarten de Vries, Director of AkzoNobel Paint Group, mentioned intellectual property and investment in logistics. He said he is ready to accompany Vietnam in implementing climate change response goals.

Regarding sustainable development and implementation of the net zero emission target by 2050, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that many measures must be taken simultaneously, such as reducing greenhouse gas and metal emissions in agriculture, pushing Strongly planting forests, converting energy from using fossil energy to using clean energy such as solar and wind... In this process, there must be global cooperation and international solidarity.

Offer preferential loans to develop renewable energy

Regarding energy conversion, the Prime Minister analyzed that Vietnam is a tropical monsoon country with great potential for wind and solar energy.

But as a developing country that has to do the same work as developed countries in responding to climate change, Vietnam calls for a fair and just approach, with the support of developed countries.

"In developing renewable energy, Vietnam needs the support of the international community in terms of capital, technology, human resource training, governance, and institutional building and improvement," the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the seminar.

Particularly for electricity development, the Prime Minister said that it is necessary to calculate in total 5 factors: Electricity source, electricity load, distribution, use, and electricity price must be appropriate.

“In order to reduce the price of electricity, the input must decrease, so it is recommended that international partners lend Vietnam loans to develop renewable energy with preferential interest rates, supporting Vietnam to build a clean energy industry.

“We firmly believe that we can do it, because this is an indispensable and objective requirement. If we get support, we will do it faster," the Prime Minister pledged.

The Prime Minister said that Vietnam welcomes the direct electricity purchase and sale mechanism in the spirit of harmonizing benefits and sharing risks between parties. He suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade continue to promote this mechanism, and encourage investors to develop rooftop voltage…

Talking about the development orientation of seaports, leaders of the Government analyzed the advantages of Vietnam having a coastline of 3,260km. Therefore, Vietnam wishes to cooperate with the Netherlands in building seaports, contributing to the goal of turning Vietnam into an international logistics and transshipment center.

"Currently, with the volume of goods traded with the world reaching the top 20 in the world, we are very aware of how important logistics is," said the Prime Minister.

Regarding human resources, he said that Vietnam is making efforts to train human resources and foster talents with specific policies. The Prime Minister suggested that Dutch businesses investing in Vietnam can "order" with Vietnamese universities on human resource training, ensuring output.

Earlier, meeting with the President of the Dutch Federation of Owners Ingrid Thijssen, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the Netherlands is a major trading partner. With an investment of 14 billion USD, the Netherlands became the European country with the largest investment in Vietnam.

Appreciating the Dutch "Airport, Seaport, Brainport" tripod model, the Prime Minister wanted the Netherlands to support Vietnam in developing a green and circular economy.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Federation of Dutch Owners hopes that Vietnam will further improve the business investment environment, especially policy institutions.

According to Ms. Ingrid Thijssen, the two countries are both interested in areas where the Netherlands has strengths and Vietnam has needs such as logistics, high-tech agriculture, food, and seaports... Therefore, the two sides need to promote working together to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.