EU Directs Vietnamese Businesses to Medium and Long-term Vision

In a bid to assist enterprises raise their awareness about the business environment and competition in the light of Vietnam’s deeper integration into the world economy following the WTO entry, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in Ho Chi Minh City cooperated with the Delegation of European Commission to Vietnam to open a seminar on “Corporate Innovation – EU’s Support to Enhance Competitiveness of Vietnamese Enterprises.”

 

The concept of doi moi (reform) was commonly used when Vietnam was determined to reform and open its economy in the 1980s. Vietnam expects to become an industrialised nation by 2020. With the expansion of the business community, especially after the enactment of the Law on Enterprises and with increasing pressure for competition in the home market following the country’s deeper integration into regional and global economies and under context of worsening global economic crisis, corporate innovation has become a matter of urgency.

 

Corporate innovation is a major topic and this seminar is one of the first efforts to increase the interest of Vietnamese enterprises in medium- and long-term vision. Within the framework of this seminar, lecturers shared an overview of the business climate with Vietnamese enterprises in a bid to help them determine their positions in the national economy and outline reform roadmaps.

 

Discussing scenarios of Vietnam’s economy in general and export activities in particular, Mr Antonio Berenguer, trade counsellor of the Delegation of European Commission to Vietnam, put forth some of his innovations in enhancing competitiveness of Vietnam. He shed light on major factors affecting export and investment in Vietnam such as product quality, production cost, infrastructure, legal environment, hygiene safety and quarantine and tariff before pointing out disadvantages of several Vietnamese exports which are excluded from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) list - a programme designed to promote economic growth in the developing world.

 

Dr. Phan Dang Tuat presented the picture of Vietnamese industry together with several major national industrial policies until 2020 to provide useful information for enterprises to review their activities and make strategic steps in the upcoming time.

 

Delegates put forth many proposals concerning international trade and human resource training. Representatives for Vietnamese enterprises expressed their concerns over EU’s many tariffs and expressed their hopes to see easier policies from the EU to boost exports to this region.

 

The seminar brought in many useful recommendations for enhancing competitiveness of Vietnam to attract investment and boost trade with the EU in the coming time. At the same time, it helped Vietnamese enterprises pick up successful corporate reform models for application.
M.C