Impressive Vietnamese Days in Germany

This is the first time, VCCI has been assigned by the Government to organise such an event in a foreign country. It is considered as an important activity of the Vietnamese Government to promote a multi-faceted co-operation between the two countries in politics, diplomacy, economy, trade, investment and tourism. The event was organised to mark the 30^th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and Germany, within a comprehensive friendship and co-operative ties between Vietnam, Germany and the EU. 

This is a general promotion programme, much bigger than any previous individual trade promotion activity. Around 100 Vietnamese enterprises will attend the ‘Specific Vietnam’ exhibition. These enterprises have prestigious products, which have been exported to many countries around the world. They want to take this occasion to promote their export to Germany. Also, enterprises want to attract investment from Germany to engineering and telecommunication. In addition, a delegation of enterprises, which want to explore the local market and seek opportunities with German partners, will join the event. At the trade and investment forum, apart from introducing the Vietnamese investment and business environment, officials from ministries and agencies will answer questions raised by German businessmen about business mechanisms and policies. Within the event, there will be direct meetings between Vietnamese and German enterprises. So far, we have sent a possible list of enterprises to attend the meetings to Germany to seek potential partners and those enterprises which have the same interest.

 

Financially, those attending the event will receive subsidies equal to 50 per cent of their flight fares and part of their accommodation fees, as stipulated. Also, VCCI will help them introduce their products at the exhibition, and seek partners and investors in Germany and other countries. The support will be still available to enterprises after the programme ends.

However, Vietnamese enterprises should be active in preparing and drafting contracts and co-operation agreements, so as to sign with German partners within the event.

 

Germany is one of Vietnam’s top partners within the EU. However, the two-way trade exchange value has yet to match with the two countries’ potential. Total trade exchange value in 2004 was put at US$1.797 billion, up by 24.79 per cent against 2003. Of the figure, Vietnam earned US$1.017 billion from exports and spent US$679.9 million on imports. This year, the total value is expected to rise by between 18 and 20 per cent against 2004. Vietnam wants to promote trade exchange, in particular, export to Germany and the EU. Germany’s investment in Vietnam remains modest as the country ranks fifth among 25 EU member countries investing in Vietnam with a total capital of US$260 million. The average scale of each project is put at US$4.3 million. German-developed projects concentrate mainly in industry, construction and services in the form of joint venture companies. Germany has great advantage in hi-tech, technology transfer and training. Vietnamese enterprises attending the ‘Vietnamese Days in Germany’ are targeting local hi-tech enterprises for technology transfer. 

 

Apart from enterprises attending the ‘Specific Vietnam’ exhibition, another delegation of around 40 enterprises will attend other activities of the ‘Vietnamese Days in Germany’ and meet with German enterprises. They will have an exploration trip to Italy and Switzerland, which are two potential markets for Vietnam. In Italy and Switzerland, Vietnamese enterprises will join business forums and meet Italian and Swiss enterprises sharing the same interests. This will be an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to introduce the Vietnamese business and investment environment and their export advantages as well as the fields in which they want to attract investment from the two countries.