To provide a wider overview of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s activities in APEC Vietnam 2006 for readers, the Vietnam Business Forum has an exchange talk with Mr Vu Tien Loc, Chairman and President of VCCI.
Could you give a brief review of VCCI’s activities in APEC Vietnam 2006?
Among our activities, we presided over three key events of the APEC CEO Summit, ABAC Meetings and Doing Business with Vietnam Forum. This forum is an initiative of VCCI and has received a large participation of the business circle in the members from the APEC economies.
The APEC CEO Summit is one of the largest multilateral international conferences organised by VCCI. We had meticulously prepared content, programmes and logistic activities for the event, which required a heavy workload and was concluded in close cooperation with domestic and international organisations. VCCI, which is holding the ABAC chairmanship, also put forth subjects and contents of ABAC for the APEC Vietnam 2006.
A large majority of businesses taking part in official APEC activities have registered for attendance at the Doing Business with Vietnam Forum. Remarkably, this special forum is the first largest trade and investment forum after Vietnam joins the WTO in early November. We have tried to create conditions not only for attendants to meet and exchange business opportunities but also for localities and other companies to introduce themselves, their projects and the investment environment at the official website of the forum (
http://www.vnbiz.com.vn).
Apart from the three key events, we also cooperate with several agencies to organise other important business conferences in the APEC 2006, for example, APEC SMEs Business Forum, Business Incubator Forum and Vietnam National Innovation Summit and APEC Trading Forum. Also in APEC Vietnam 2006, we hosted many bilateral forums with regional countries, such as Vietnam-China Business Forum, Vietnam-Japan Business Forum, Vietnam-EU Business Forum. All these activities draw large participations of businesses from the APEC economies as well as other regions.
What benefits may attendants obtain from the APEC CEO Summit and Doing Business with Vietnam Forum?
The attendance in such events is a chance for businesses to take part in regional exchange discussions like development strategies and regional trade and investment trends. As for Vietnamese businesses, they have a global vision for the development in the new era. Attending such events, they contribute to the promotion of the Vietnamese economy and the Vietnamese business community. These are also occasions for companies of Vietnam and members of APEC economies to access information about major economic trends from leaders of member economies, business communities and scholars. Attending businesses can also directly participate in the process of forming trade policies and giving recommendations to the Government for the formation of global trade policies.
Businesses from the APEC economies also have chance to meet potential partners and leading international investors. Participating businesses may not have immediate business contracts and agreements but they certainly have chances to make acquaintance and meet international companies, where their future business ties may come from.
The number of registered attendants of the APEC CEO Summit is regarded as the largest to date with about 1,200 attendants. Certainly, all businesses have many investment and business opportunities.
As the host of many important events in the APEC Vietnam Year 2006, how will VCCI promote this position in the following time?
APEC Vietnam 2006 is a great opportunity to polish the images of Vietnam and the Vietnamese business community and promote business relations with partners. Importantly, Vietnam in general and VCCI in particular must know how to promote this standing for the implementation of the following activities. To this end, we made preparations several years ago. VCCI has set up business forums between Vietnam with other countries and business councils, thus, giving regular contacts for Vietnamese companies with large economies around the world. These forums are also chances for direct dialogues for Vietnam’s State authorities and partnership economies to enhance cooperation and facilitate investment and business expansion of Vietnamese companies.
In addition, the regular activities of VCCI like trade and investment promotion will be also boosted. VCCI has established relations with numerous partners, not only the chambers of commerce but also multinational corporations in the APEC economies. This is the foundation for VCCI to promote cooperative ties between Vietnamese companies with those in APEC economies and other economies in the world.
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