The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has recently held a meeting for business leaders and newly appointed ambassadors in the capital of Hanoi. At the meeting, business leaders had straightforward sharing about difficulties with new ambassadors who are expected to help Vietnamese businesses deal with information in foreign markets. Like meetings in previous years, major concerns sent to ambassadors are involved in market and partner information. Proposals of enterprises still focus on elements of market information, partner.
Vietnam now has around 300,000 enterprises, regardless of millions of individual business households and about 300 business associations, including 80 associations with operating network throughout the country. All businesses and associations are willing and ready to cooperate with foreign partners in production activities or to be customers of each other. Contact signing is the demand of enterprises and associations in the country. Before this fact, Dr Vu Tien Loc, President of VCCI, suggested ambassadors to provide more information about markets, partners, economic structure, strengths and technologies of target countries. According to Mr Loc, in the restructuring strategy, the restructuring of technology is crucially important and each country has its own strengths. If Vietnamese companies can acquire these strengths, they will capably enhance much of their competitiveness.
He also requested that the ambassadors, apart from the aforementioned activities, will support operations of Vietnamese enterprises and protect their legitimate benefits when they do business in foreign nations.
Respecting VCCI’s activities, Mr Loc expressed: “VCCI signed about 100 cooperative contracts with chambers of commerce in other nations and VCCI is advancing to sign more. We hope to receive supports of the ambassadors with this matter.”
Mr Nguyen Hong Son, Chairman of Hanoi Business Association, said: The association has received many supports from the ambassadors. However, he hoped the ambassadors will provide information about target countries more frequently to facilitate Vietnamese enterprises to approach those markets, especially in market surveys. “In 2010, to celebrate the 1,000th birthday of Thang Long - Hanoi, we are preparing for the Capitals Business Forum expected to take place in October or November. We hope the ambassadors to help invite businesses in capital cities where they are working.”
Mr Nguyen Huu Doan, Chairman of Hai Duong Business Association, hoped the ambassadors to pay more attention to popularise Vietnamese enterprises; act as an actual bridge for the enterprises to mine information, promote trade and seek partners in shortest time and at least cost; help the enterprises understand more about target markets and actual capacities of partners; and directly introduce partners and guarantee the Vietnamese enterprises in foreign markets.
Also concerning this matter, Mr Do The Dung of Thanh Hoa Importing and Exporting Company, expected the ambassadors to help Vietnamese enterprises check information about foreign business partners; support the enterprises to work with their partners in foreign nations; timely inform the Vietnamese enterprises of the intention of foreign organisations to erect antidumping barriers to prevent the opportunity of Vietnamese enterprises.
In respond to requests and expectations of the enterprises, Mr Tran Trong Toan, the Vietnamese Ambassador in South Korea and Head of Ambassador Delegation, said: The diplomacy is effectively exercising the function of protecting the [Vietnamese] citizens and legal entities in foreign countries, protect their rights and interests, particularly the Vietnamese enterprises. He added: “The enterprises should regard Vietnamese representative agencies in foreign nations as a member of their body. With regard to information and problem-shooting, the enterprises should look for support in representative agencies. Therefore, each enterprise should have a list of representative agencies, consulates general and embassies to contact in case of necessary when it travels to work in that country.”
Mr Toan added that there are many areas of information and news agencies but many enterprises did not know to mine them. He asserted that no representative agency could provide specific information for every single enterprise; thus the enterprises should send direct questions to Vietnamese embassies and chambers of commerce in foreign nations.
N.Thoa
Vietnamese
