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Euro-Cham experts and representatives of Vietnamese departments and agencies discussed at the launch of the white book. Photo: N.H

Ho Chi Minh City - a connection between Vietnam and EU

The content of the 2019 White Book focuses on the future of economic development in Vietnam. This white book launch in Ho Chi Minh City addresses the most important issues that ensure the success of Vietnam's next phase of development, the most notable of which is the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement ( EVFTA). After being approved and implemented, EVFTA will promote trade and investment activities between the EU and Vietnam, creating new opportunities for businesses and consumers on both sides. Experts predict that Vietnam's GDP will increase by 7% to 8% by 2025 with the promotion of trade and investment from EVFTA.

At the White Book briefing in Ho Chi Minh City, representatives of the Industry Sub-Committees of EuroCham shared their experiences and recommendations with the city’s leaders, through a discussion on the success of policies recently in HCMC and the city's efforts to attract international investment and trade.

According to Euro-Cham members, businesses are very interested in Vietnam, especially HCMC, because this city has many attractive policies with FDI enterprises. Here, there are many operating businesses, having good profit margins. Moreover, Ho Chi Minh City as well as Dong Nai and Binh Duong are areas which have a young, smart and well-trained workforce.

Mr. Nicolas Audier, Co-Chair of Euro-Cham said that many Euro-Cham members chose Ho Chi Minh City as the place to build their business base in Vietnam shows the success of the city as well as the city leaders. Ho Chi Minh City makes itself become an attractive destination for businesses and continues to attract trade and investment from all over Europe.

Mr. Nicolas Audier emphasized that the city is approaching opportunities to go further and enhance its position in the international market, becoming a bridge between Vietnam and Europe. If HCMC continues to invest in large infrastructure projects, capture digital initiatives and smart cities, build a favorable business environment for businesses, HCMC can take full advantages of EVFTA, attracting more investment and trade from Europe in the future.

“Through the annual edition of the White Book, now the 11th edition, we look forward to sharing the knowledge and experience of our members with local and Vietnamese leaders. If the recommendations of Euro-Cham members are considered and removed, they will help Vietnam move further and faster on the path of growth and development. These recommendations also contribute to improving the legal framework and business environment of Vietnam, thereby, improving the living standards of millions of Vietnamese citizens," said Mr. Nicolas Audier.

Adding motivation from EVFTA

The representative of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment said that there are more than 1,100 projects of European enterprises in HCM City with a total investment of about 3.86 billion USD. Ho Chi Minh City chose 2019 to be the breakthrough year of administrative reform and implementing drastically the Resolution 54 of the National Assembly. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City is looking forward to the contribution of FDI enterprises in the process of developing smart urban areas.

Mr. Dinh Ngoc Thang, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department also said that Ho Chi Minh City Customs has determined that facilitating customs procedures for enterprises is an important task. Regarding the issues proposed by enterprises in the White Book, the Customs authorities are actively coordinating with departments and agencies to come up with the fastest solutions, especially on specialized inspection procedures to reduce clearance time for goods. Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City Customs committed to reduce the clearance time for goods from 50-70%.

According to Mayte Pernas, Director of the European-Vietnam Business Network Program, when EVFTA is in effect, the trade between Vietnam and the EU will increase sharply, because many tariff lines will return to zero %. This will motivate operating businesses in Vietnam to import more quality machinery products, with a 0% tax rate, to improve production capacity and product quality. Then it is possible to export these products back to the EU market with preferential rates.

Regarding Vietnamese business community, Mr. Tran Ngoc Liem, Deputy Director of VCCI, Ho Chi Minh City branch, said that the EU is a market with high standards. Therefore, Vietnamese enterprises that want to penetrate deeply into this market need to innovate production and improve product quality.

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Currently, the Vietnamese business community is also afraid of regulations on technical standards and rules of origin. Therefore, VCCI is strengthening the dissemination of rules of origin when we export goods to the EU for businesses to help enterprises understand to meet standards, creating competitive advantages, bringing higher value.