U.S. firms help HCMC resolve urban issues: AmCham

U.S. firms help HCMC resolve urban issues: AmCham

The Saigon Times Daily

HCMC – The U.S. business community will help HCMC tackle pressing urban issues, especially transport infrastructure and waste treatment, to bolster the city’s economic growth, according to Amanda Rasmussen, chairwoman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.

Rasmussen was in talks with the city’s vice chairman, Le Thanh Liem, while meeting on December 13, reported the Vietnam News Agency.

Cooperation between Vietnam and the United States has made significant progress since normalizing relations. Over the past 25 years, their leaders and people have made efforts to boost the comprehensive development of bilateral relations, according to Liem.

He noted that the American business community has made positive contributions to the ties between HCMC and the United States. To date, AmCham members have invested in 400 projects worth more than US$1 billion in HCMC, ranking 10th among foreign investors in the city.

The city government is striving to reform its administrative procedures and streamline the local investment environment, in an effort to make business easier for foreign investors, including those from AmCham, he added.

He called upon U.S. firms to become involved in projects on smart city, innovative city, waste and effluent treatment, as well as urban infrastructure.

Meanwhile, AmCham’s Rasmussen revealed that the chamber has attracted more than 1,500 member firms, which play a role in stimulating trade and investment between the two nations.

She noted that the members highly value efforts by the municipal government in innovating its management methods and reforming administrative procedures.

She added that they hope to help the city solve urban issues, such as transport infrastructure, environmental treatment and energy, in order to stimulate local economic growth and innovation, while raising living standards for residents.

Also, representatives of U.S. firms told the vice chairman that the city remains very attractive to many investors, including those from the United States.

They noted that the city’s infrastructure facilities, particularly those in the transport sector, are becoming overstretched, and fail to meet everyday needs.

For the sake of attracting investments, they urged the local government to prioritize the upgrade and completion of transport infrastructure, especially in the gateways to industrial parks, export processing zones and ports.

As for waste treatment, investors could fund high-tech waste treatment services to generate electricity and gas, rather than the current practice of depositing waste in landfill. However, the city needs to bring in measures to classify waste at their sources.

The investors also called on the city authority and the Vietnamese Government to develop a fair, transparent and open legal system for the management and use of databases, and complete the public-private partnership mechanism.

The move is intended to enable foreign investors to provide cooperation and support for the city to carry out strategic projects and schemes.