France will support and cooperate with Vietnam’s capital city in a spate of projects in the time ahead, newly-appointed French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery said at a meeting with Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung on November 26.

Nicolas Warnnery expressed his delight at the strong relationship between France and Vietnam in general, and between Hanoi and French localities in particular.

Newly-appointed French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery said meets with Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung. Photo: HNM

Talking about a number of cooperation projects in the near future, the ambassador suggested Hanoito soon put the Hanoi urban railway 3 connecting Nhon and Hanoi station into operation, and extend it from Hanoi station to Hoang Mai district.

Regarding the renovation of centuries-old Long Bien bridge, Nicolas Warnery said this is an urgent and symbolic project, thus, the French side wishes to be actively involved in, adding that the renovation of Long Bien bridge will highlight the value of Hanoi's heritage in particular and Vietnam’s in general.

The ambassador noted that his embassy will hold a food festival named "Balade en France" in the pedestrian area at Hoan Kiem Lake in early 2020. The French embassy expects the Hanoi government's support for the event to take place successfully.

For his part, Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung said that the Hanoi urban railway 3 is being completed and expected to be put into operation in 2020.

Besides, the Hanoi People's Committee intends to include the renovation of Long Bien bridge in the list of investment portfolio for the period of 2021-2025. Thereby, the municipal government expects the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to conduct a pre-feasibility study for the project.

At the meeting, the two sides also exchanged contents related to the expansion project of the Noi Bai International Airport, a cooperation project between Hanoi and Ile-de-France (the Paris region) on developing a startup incubator model in Hanoi, the implementation of another project on wholesale market, and a technical cooperation project on sustainable city, among others.