Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Spain are set to elevate their economic partnership following Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc’s working trip on July 3 to Barcelona, where he engaged with regional leaders and business executives to accelerate cooperation across green energy, logistics and sustainable finance.

In a meeting with President of Catalonia Salvador Illa, Phoc suggested enhanced cooperation with Vietnamese localities in such domains as tourism, port, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and food processing. The Vietnamese leader also requested further support for the Vietnamese community in Barcelona, which represents the largest concentration of Vietnamese nationals in Spain.

Illa underscored Catalonia’s strategic push for international partnerships, especially in Southeast Asia, expressing keen interest in establishing formal cooperation agreements with Vietnamese localities and setting up a commerce – investment office in Vietnam.

Both sides concurred to accelerate economic and financial cooperation, facilitate cross-border business operations and investment, and explore direct flight connections between Vietnam and Spain, including Barcelona, to boost trade, investment, tourism, and cultural exchanges. They also committed to coordinating activities for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2027, contributing to elevating Vietnam-Spain relations to a new high.

The same morning, he attended the Vietnam – Spain Business Foum where various cooperation initiatives from both nations were highlighted, including those in green transition, high-quality human resources training, supply chain development and Vietnam House Logistics Centre establishment.

Visiting the Barcelona Centre Financer Europeu (BCFE), established in 1991 as a core organisation promoting Barcelona's development as a leading European financial hub, Deputy PM Phoc affirmed that Vietnam has seen developing financial centre as a strategic driver for rapid and sustainable economic growth.

He noted that the National Assembly adopted a resolution on the development of international and regional financial centres in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang city, creating a legal foundation for implementing superior incentive policies to attract financial institutions and strategic investors while developing capital markets and new financial products.

He expressed his hope to bolster substantive collaboration with the BCFE, particularly in sharing experiences in building operational mechanisms, attracting investment, developing fintech, digital assets, green finance, and internationalising financial markets. He proposed building an Asia-Europe financial bridge to promote investment capital flows, innovation, and digital transformation.

As a member of the Financial Centres for Sustainability Network (FC4S), the BCFE has actively promoted sustainable financial standards and hosted Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) workshops to raise public awareness of green transition in the financial sector.

🔯 Later, he had a meeting with President of Barcelona Port José Alberto Carbonell Camallonga. With a 2,000-year history, the port is among the Mediterranean’s largest, handling nearly 4 million TEUs and over 67 million tonnes of cargo annually. It serves as a vital hub for trade between Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and is actively embracing green port initiatives.