Overview

Overview

EuroCham’s Sector Committees provide an effective advocacy forum for our members to address common issues through voicing business interests to the Vietnamese Government. Sector Committees are an integral part of EuroCham’s advocacy activities. Their work includes drafting EuroCham’s position papers, which subsequently forms the basis of EuroCham’s Whitebook and advocacy mandate.

Sector Committees are not legal entities, but internal working groups of EuroCham. They are, therefore, subject to Sector Committee rules and regulations, the provisions of EuroCham Statutes and the Laws of Vietnam.

Once officially approved and established, Sector Committees are essentially autonomous. Committees independently set their advocacy goals, define their membership fee and decide their internal working procedure. In addition to issuing an annual position paper on the main issues affecting Sector Committees’ business in Vietnam, the Committees are also encouraged to generate events (luncheons, seminars and dialogues) and other public affairs initiatives on behalf of EuroCham.

Sector Committees

Sector Committees_Key activities in 2013

FAQs

Do I need to pay fee to join a Sector Committee?

Basically speaking, the answer is ‘YES, you have to pay certain membership fee’ for some Sector Committees, and ‘NO, you do not have to’ for the others. The reason behind this difference is that Sector Committees are independent in setting up their own working procedures/activities and therefore have various requirements for budget contribution.

For more details in regard to specific Committees, kindly contact our Sector Committee Team via sec.comms@eurochamvn.org or 08-38 2727 15

What do Sector Committees do?

Advocacy lies at the heart of Sector Committees’ existence and operation. Besides having meetings on a regular basis to identify and discuss common interests, Sector Committees take advantages of resources pooled together to organize events, media news clipping, information and data sharing and networking. Sector Committees might reach binding commitment by forming their own Code of Ethics/Code of Conduct for their industries, etc.

For example, in 2011, the Nutritional Foods Group formed its Code of Practice for the Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, aiming to become a trusted and credible voice in the area of Infant Nutrition to the Government, Health Care Professionals and Consumers in Vietnam.

Another example is that the members of the Pharmaceuticals Group always express its support in enhancing the capacity of Vietnamese health experts and staff. Recently, the Pharmaceuticals Group agreed to provide logistical and financial support to the Drug Administration’s training course on Manufacturing Process Validation and Evaluation on Stability Study Report, held from 12 to 14 June 2012, in Hanoi.

The main benefit for member companies is that, by speaking to the Government under the name of EuroCham, they can have a greater potential influence on the development of the legal environment which governs their sectors than if they were acting alone under their own company names.

How often do Sector Committees meet?

Sector Committees have meetings on a regular basis. However, the frequency of Sector Committees meetings varies, depending on each Sector Committee’s demands and requests, but at least once per quarter.

Can I join more than one Sector Committee?

You are allowed to join more than one Sector Committee, if your company has a genuine interest in different sectors and you are able to make effective contributions to the ongoing advocacy discussions in different industries.

How do I join a Sector Committee?

In order to join a Sector Committee, you or your company must be a Member of EuroCham. Those who are not Members of EuroCham may be allowed to attend meetings of Sector Committees subject to invitation and as may be agreed by the Chairperson of the relevant Sector Committee and by the EuroCham Executive Director, but shall not be entitled to any voting rights.

In general, you can contact the relevant Sector Committee directly to express your interest. Your membership application then shall be reviewed by Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of that Sector Committee.

However, for certain Sector Committees, such as CropLife, Pharmaceuticals, Nutritional Foods Group, etc. a number of standards are defined for becoming a member due to the nature of their specialized interests. As a result, you shall be asked to fill in an application dossier to verify your qualification for the relevant Sector Committee’s criteria. Also, you might be required to give a presentation about your company and interest at an upcoming Sector Committee meeting. Your membership application must be approved by all members of the Sector Committee.

As EuroCham Sector Committees serve as an advocacy forum, the participation in any Sector Committees is restricted to decision-making level staff, i.e. CEO, Chairmen, General Managers, Managing Directors, etc. EuroCham Sector Committees should not be treated merely as a networking venue for information and business card exchange. Nor should junior staff be sent to these meetings in a merely observatory role.