Ho Chi Minh City looks to expand cooperation with partner cities
Delegates from Hamburg and Australia identified potential business links in logistics, energy, artificial intelligence and the green economy.
Ho Chi Minh City hopes to broaden collaboration with its international city partners in innovation, sustainable industry and urban planning centred on public transport, municipal People’s Committee vice-chairman Nguyen Loc Ha said at the 2026 Business Partner City (BPC) Roundtable Conference.
The municipal People’s Committee and Japan’s Osaka BPC Council jointly organised the gathering in Binh Duong Ward. At its closing session, Ha reaffirmed the city’s commitment to being a dependable, responsible member of the network, describing international cooperation as a driver of development.
Hamburg Chamber of Commerce representative Lars Anke told Tuoi Tre that the two cities’ roles as ports and logistics centres offered scope for collaboration. He identified shipping, maritime transport, logistics, energy and artificial intelligence as potential areas, saying city partnerships could help companies understand each other’s markets.
Anke also proposed closer links among government, universities and businesses. He said Hamburg’s industry clusters helped start-ups develop and reach markets, and suggested Ho Chi Minh City could adopt a comparable approach while concentrating on sectors with established strengths.
Australian Industry Group executive Shirley Ng said business networks could help companies identify partners and handle language barriers and unfamiliar commercial practices. She highlighted opportunities for Australian firms to share green-economy experience with Vietnamese counterparts and called Ho Chi Minh City an important supply chain partner.
Osaka’s administration established the BPC network in 1988 to foster economic ties between cities and assist smaller and medium-sized businesses seeking overseas expansion.
