Germany’s Deputy Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2nd from left) visits METRO An Phu, part of German hypermarket chain METRO Cash & Carry in Vietnam in March.

Eurocham Chairman Alain Cany is “very optimistic” about Vietnam’s economy and its potential market for international business.

Thanh Nien: How has Eurocham developed after 10 years in Vietnam?

Alain Cany: First of all, the achievement we gained was to put together all European businesses in Vietnam into an organization to penetrate the market.

Ten years ago, we had only 90 members but now more than 630 businesses have joined the European Chamber of Commerce (Eurocham) in Vietnam. We represent European brands and exporters.

We are also proud to welcome Vietnamese companies as members of the organization. In principle, we are not allowed to have Vietnamese members in our organization.

However, the government said it was ok to have Vietnamese businesses, which have trade relationships with Europe, in our organization where they can get support from other European members. I can say that Eurocham is a successful model of an international business association in Vietnam.

How has the association contributed to Vietnam’s development?

We were assisting Vietnam in world trade negotiation with the European Union (EU) in 2004. We were not a partner that Vietnam had to negotiate with nor were we involved directly in the negotiation but we were assigned by the European Commission to provide help to Vietnam.

With our support, negotiations between Vietnam and the EU were successful and it became the first World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement signed by Vietnam and one of the major partners.

The second achievement, we are proud to say, was to help the government amend its investment law. It was not for European businesses but for all investors in Vietnam.

The government consulted many international business groups in Vietnam, but Eurocham was the leading one in the consultation to provide technical assistance in drafting laws for the government.

The draft was good not only for international investors but also for Vietnamese businesses, which were able to compete with foreign companies under the amended investment law. We are still working to improve the law to benefit all players.

Eurocham also developed a forum for Vietnamese officials to communicate with European businesses in Vietnam where we share experiences in regulations and corporate governance with Vietnamese stakeholders.

What role has Eurocham played in fostering trade between Vietnam and Europe?

It is not easy to answer that question. However, I can say that most European investors who want to invest in Vietnam consult with [Eurocham]. Businesses from Europe ask us for information as they want to export or import products from Vietnam.

Vietnam competes with other developing countries where Europeans can invest with low labor costs. Europeans are more conservative than Asians and they consider carefully before they invest.

However, I am happy to say that we helped several large investors from Europe consider investment in Vietnam and some even switched their investment in China to Vietnam.

This year, Vietnam may attract US$60 billion in foreign investment capital. I think it is good as it indicates interest by foreign investors.

The amount of capital will mean little if disbursement is low. In reality, we consider disbursement of European investors in Vietnam. We like to say that we continue to increase the disbursement as we did with $5 billion last year rather than when we talk about European investment of $20 or $30 billion or higher in Vietnam. As of December 2007, Europe ranked second in foreign investment in Vietnam.

I have encouraging news that Europe is interested in Vietnam. However, we are facing the global economic crisis affecting all countries in Europe. I hope the effects over the next few months are not too large. I am afraid the crisis will affect foreign investment in Vietnam next year as banks may provide less financial help for investors.

How do you view the Vietnamese economy handling the global economic downturn?

I am very optimistic about the Vietnamese economy and its potential market for international business. Vietnam’s economy was hit by its own crisis early this year and then again by the global crisis. I believe Vietnam will be the world’s first country to recover from the crisis as the country knows how to conquer the issue after experiencing such downturn before.

The Vietnamese government has done a good job of curbing inflation in recent months. Vietnam ranks among the world’s five new developing markets with India, China and Brazil. The country has achieved impressive development in the past several years and your people have adapted so well to the changes in the world.

What’s your advice for international businesses considering investment in Vietnam?

Please be patient! Vietnam is a good country to invest in and you can gain a reasonable return.

Reported by Minh Quang