(HBO) - Hoa Binh participated in the annual programme serving the promotion of Vietnamese localities in the UK between October 8 and 14, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist localities involved in enhancing their connection and cooperation with international partners. The Hoa Binh delegation, led by Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Bui Van Khanh, took the occasion to organised a host of investment, trade, and tourism promotion activities to introduce local investment climate, strengths, and potentials to UK investors and businesses.
The provincial delegation visits and learns about the Longdan Group’s distribution of Vietnamese products in the UK. Photo: Tuan Anh from the Hoa Binh Centre for Investment Promotion, Trade, and Tourism.
Numerous activities serving investment, trade, and tourism promotion
In addition to the general activities of the programme, the delegation engaged in various dialogues and meetings with organisations, companies, and investors. They participated in a forum on Vietnam - West Midlands connection as well as bilateral meetings with the Asian House organisation, the strategic, financial, and technological consulting company PwC, and the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC).
They organised a workshop to promote the province’s investment, trade, and tourism, during which the provincial People's Committee and the Vietnam Business Association in the UK (VBUK) signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation to establish a sustainable, long-term, and mutually beneficial partnership. As per the pact, the VBUK will introduce Hoa Binh’s investment, trade, and tourism opportunities to its member businesses, support UK businesses investing in Hoa Binh or collaborating with local companies, and carry out charitable programmes and social welfare activities in the province.
Khanh said that Hoa Binh has already exported some agricultural products to the UK and they are well-received by the market. The signing of the MoU is essential, as it opens up more opportunities for Hoa Binh’s exports.
Enabling access to a demanding market of great potential
The delegation also had a working session with the Longdan Group – one of the leading Vietnamese enterprises in the UK concerning the import and distribution of Vietnamese products in the local market and Europe. At their meeting, the sides signed an MoU on cooperation to give boost to the trade and export of local specialties and goods produced under the OCOP (One Commune One Product) programmes. Longdan Group also inked a new contract with the R.Y.B. joint stock company to import a container of Dien pomelo from Hoa Binh to the UK in the 2023 crop.
Additionally, on the sidelines of the programme, the delegation ran exhibitions and presentations on Hoa Binh’s typical farm produce and 18 OCOP products, as well as the province's tourism strengths and potentials.
Once a mountainous province facing many challenges, Hoa Binh has, after more than a decade of implementing the national target programme on new-style rural area development, emerged as a bright spot in Vietnam’s northern midland and mountainous region. In the first quarter of 2025, the province recorded positive results, paving the way for Hoa Binh to enter a phase of accelerated growth with a proactive and confident mindset.
Hoa Binh province is steadily advancing its agricultural sector through the adoption of high-tech solutions, seen as a sustainable path for long-term development.
The steering committee for key projects of Hoa Binh province convened on May 14 to assess the progress of major ongoing developments
A delegation of Hoa Binh province has attended the "Meet Korea 2025" event, recently held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in Vietnam, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and the People's Committee of Hung Yen province.
Hoa Binh province joined Vietnam’s national "One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme in 2019, not simply as a mountainous region following central policy, but with a clear vision to revive the cultural and agricultural values in its villages and crops.
From just 16 certified products in its inaugural year to 158 by early 2025, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme in Hoa Binh province has followed a steady and strategic path. But beyond the numbers, it has reawakened local heritage, turning oranges, bamboo shoots, brocade, and herbal remedies into branded, market-ready goods - and, more profoundly, transformed how local communities value and present their own cultural identity.