"High Expectations for 2007," Danish Ambassador to Vietnam

 

Apart from a number of successful business delegations and the third best earnings/target rate globally within the Trade Council of Denmark, the year 2006 saw two high-profiled official visits arranged by the Embassy; in March when His Royal Highness Prince Joachim paid a visit to the Southern Vietnam as a protector for the Danish funded NGO, Care Denmark and in September when the Danish Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Bendt Bendtsen headed a business delegation from the country’s political centre of Hanoi to the commercial heart of Ho Chi Minh City.

 

Even though 2006, the year of the dog according to the lunar calendar, turned out to be an exceptional year for Vietnam as well as for the Embassy, the Ambassador could not hide his high expectations for the year 2007.

 

With Vietnam’s continuous equitisation of SOEs, implementation of business legislations, economic liberalisation reforms and full integration into the world economy as a WTO member, a prosperous frame for further Danish-Vietnamese commercial cooperation has been established. The Ambassador also highlighted a number of promising industrial sectors as well as elaborated on the Commercial Section’s future key priority sectors.

 

Present at the meeting was also Head of Secretariat for Mixed Credits, Marc Normann who gave a presentation on Danida’s Mixed Credit Programme. The programme has been available in Vietnam since 1995 providing interest free loans to development projects executed by Danish contractors.

 

A new element in the Mixed Credit Programme of particular interest to the private sector in Vietnam is interest free borrowing to small industrial projects. This facility is open to private companies in Vietnam providing an opportunity to have an interest free loan of between USD 1 million and approx. 2.7 million, e.g. to buy equipment.