A southern Vietnamese province and a Dutch city known for hi-tech agriculture closed Friday a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in many aspects.

The MoU was signed in the southern province of Binh Duong between the provincial administration and its counterpart from Eindhoven, the fifth-largest city in the Netherlands.

The commitment is intended to fortify the friendship between the two localities and expand bilateral cooperation in the fields of planning, infrastructure and economic development, urban construction, technology, healthcare and education.

The two sides will also create conditions for their businesses to study the investment chances in each other’s country and boost trade promotion activities.

Binh Duong and Eindhoven will also set up an “action committee,” which will have experts from the two sides as members, to study and seek investment chances. The committee is required to present specific projects shortly after its foundation.

Binh Duong is an industrial province about 70km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. The province is home to many industrial parks and export processing zones.

Eindhoven, the capital city of the southern Dutch province of North Brabant, is known for its hi-tech agriculture and models such as the “business incubator.”

The Dutch side will assist Binh Duong in developing its own “business incubator,” which will help connect Vietnamese businesses with universities, research institutes and investors in the Netherlands.

At the same signing ceremony, Becamex IDC, the leading corporation in the province, also closed a cooperation deal with Eindhoven-based Brainport. The Dutch company will help its Vietnamese partner in personnel and technology issues, as well as seeking new investors.

Becamex IDC general director Nguyen Van Hung said the firm will allocate a land lot and a prime location with fully developed infrastructure for the Dutch partner to set up the “business incubator” to attract hi-tech investors to Binh Duong.

Becamex IDC is under the management of the provincial administration.

The Netherlands is the eighth largest foreign investor in Binh Duong. There are only 20 Dutch-invested projects in the southern province, but they have a total registered capital of as much as US$478.5 million and are all yielding good investment effectiveness.

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