3:07:58 PM | 27/11/2007
Fifty French businesses November 22 attended the 8th ASEAN Forum in Hanoi to look for business and investment opportunities in the fast-growing economy of Vietnam, a local business association said.
Addressing at the two-day forum, Ms. Anne Bouverot, vice chairman of France Télécom group’s International Business Development Department, said that the group is willing to set a strategic cooperation with ASEAN enterprises, particularly with Vietnamese firms.
She noted many French firms are keen on expanding their operations in Vietnam, including one of the France’s leading auto firm, Renault, with an auto assembling project, and some other energy giants of EDF and AREVA.
Many French firms specializing in transportation are also eyeing investment opportunities in the Southeast Asian nation, she added.
Mr. Hervé Novelli, French Minister of State, responsible for Businesses and Foreign Trade said French firms boast potential competence to take good footnotes in ASEAN region.
French businesses consider Vietnam a “ideal destination” for their investment plans, said Mr. Frédéric Sanchez, CEO of Fives Group cum chairman of Medef Commiteee in Vietnam, while encouraging more and more enterprises to do business in the Southeast Asian country.
Mr. Frédéric Sanchez clarified four strong points of Vietnam, including dynamic economic growth, simplified legal procedures on investment, cheap and high-quality labor force, and historic and cultural resemblance with France.
The CEO advised French firms, particularly small-and-medium-sized ones, to choose Vietnam as their investment destination at the expense of China.
“We should take the advantage of low-cost production in Vietnam and then export our products to China,” Frédéric Sanchez recommended.
Michel Cornil, general director of Systra Group affirmed that Vietnam is in a good development impetus, and Systra in particular and other French firms in general are fully aware of their business opportunities in the country.
Recently, newly-appointed French Ambassador to Vietnam Herve Bolot said that Vietnam will receive a stronger investment flow from France in the coming time as more investors from this economy are eager to explore the potential Southeast Asian market. (Vietnam Economic Times, Youth)
Vietnamese
