Top government officials were on hand to witness the impressive and profitable Techmart start as the proceedings got underway.

 Politburo member To Huy Rua, chief of the Party’s Propaganda and Education Committee, Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan, and Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Van Phong, all participated in the opening ceremony.

 Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan commented: “This Techmart, with the presence of eight ASEAN countries and Japan, China and South Korea, shows the great effort of the Ministry of Science and Technology in the process of international integration. On behalf of the Government, I praise them and the People’s Committees of Hanoi and HCM City for organising this event.”

 At the end of the opening ceremony, guests witnessed the signing of technology contracts believed to be worth millions of US dollars.

 Minister Hoang Van Phong said this Techmart offers an opportunity to bring foreign technology into Vietnam and vice versa as well as boosting further economic and technological cooperation between ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea.

 Techmart is an annual event started in 2003 with the aim of promoting scientific and technological market in Viet Nam.

 In 2003 businesses signed technological transfer contracts worth more than $64 million. Last year’s Techmart saw contracts exchanged worth over $76 million.

 Techmart 2009 has 680 stalls showcasing Vietnamese enterprises and 50 from ASEAN, South Korea, Japan and China.