On May 28, 2012, Dr Doan Duy Khuong, Executive Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) hosted a meeting with Engineer Ludovit Packo, CEO of Larus Company, Czech Republic, during his official visit to Vietnam. The meeting opened up a plenty of opportunities for aviation cooperation between the two countries.
On the sideline of the talks, Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Engineer Ludovit Packo on specific cooperation plans for the upcoming time. Thu Ha reports.
The aviation market is considered to have many cooperation opportunities. Why has Larus chosen Vietnam as its destination of investment and cooperation?
Vietnam and the Czech Republic have a long-lasting friendly cooperation relationship. Czechoslovakia Representative Agency (former Czech Republic) was officially opened in Hanoi on December 30, 1954 and the Vietnamese Embassy was opened in Prague one year later. This friendly relationship led Larus to choose Vietnam as its destination of investment cooperation.
Another reason is that I know very clearly about the Vietnamese market. I spent a long time cooperating and working with Vietnamese engineers on technologies of aircraft equipment production and assembly. Quite long ago, I myself lectured and presented this to Vietnamese engineers. Besides, I have a lot of friends in Vietnam and keep very good relationships with them. I also had some working meetings with Dr Doan Duy Khuong in particular and VCCI in general. Hence, I understand the Vietnamese market very much. That is why my company has chosen Vietnam as a destination for investment and cooperation.
Could you talk about immediate advantages and difficulties in aviation cooperation with Vietnam?
Before going for Vietnam, we performed in-depth research and identified advantages and disadvantages that we would encounter.
The immediate advantage is that Vietnamese engineers have very good techniques and expertise in aviation industry. In the past years, the Vietnamese aviation sector has made strong growth, reaped success, and made significant contributions to Vietnam's economy. To my knowledge, passenger and freight transportation expanded 15.8 percent and 16.2 percent a year on average in the 2001 - 2010 period. In 2010, the Vietnamese aviation industry made a record of serving 21 million passengers. During this period, Vietnam’s GDP growth was equal to a half the growth of the aviation industry and civil airports (7.8 percent in 1991-2000 and 7.3 percent in 2001-2010). In 2011, the Vietnamese aviation sector grew 14 percent. This is the most favourable factor for the bilateral cooperation.
In addition, we wanted to introduce some kinds of civil and military aircraft like 9-seat Aero A-270 for passenger transportation or Aero L-159 ultrasound fighter. I think that these aircraft suit the Vietnamese market. These modern aircraft can be used for practising, training or tracking military targets. All indicators and instructions are displayed in English for ease of use. Prices are affordable. These aircraft are much cheaper than similar products made in the United States or France.
Another advantage is that these planes can be produced even in Vietnam. Especially, they can be used for practising.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, the biggest difficulty is that the nice relationship between Vietnam and the Czech Republic in economy, culture, diplomacy and other aspects was interrupted for quite a long time. Bilateral trade ties lost their characteristic strength in the second half of the 20th century. Bilateral trade agreements expired. This is one of the biggest obstacles that we think of. Through the meeting with VCCI, we do hope that friendship cooperation ties between the two countries will be resumed and expanded.
Would you mind revealing specific cooperation plans between Larus and Vietnamese companies?
At present, Larus has worked with Vietnam in various fields like energy research, waste disposal and education. In the coming time, we will continue to promote cooperation in these areas.
With respect to aviation, we have made specific cooperation programmes, based on our current relationships with Vietnamese businesses in particular and with VCCI in general. Industry is highly developed in the Czech Republic and we can share our experiences with Vietnam. We are also ready to help, send experts to Vietnam to help its engineers to study and develop this field. 20 years ago, I taught 50 - 60 engineers in Vietnam about aircraft, aircraft repairing and other technology. I think that they are talented specialists. They will support Larus in cooperation with Vietnam.
In addition, we will exchange experience in marketing, market development and resources to support the Vietnamese aviation industry to grow, not only in civil area but also in military field.
In fact, we want to introduce and share cooperation with Vietnamese enterprises. We absolutely do not place business interests on the top, but want to cooperate on the basis of mutual benefit.
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