On 23 June in Hanoi, EuroCham met with H.E. Mr. Le Hoai Trung, new Chairman of the Central Commission for External Relations (CCER) to discuss opportunities for cooperation between EuroCham and CCER during the current COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

   
EuroCham was represented by Chairman Alain Cany alongside Vice-Chairs Nguyen Hai Minh and Torben Minko. Mr. Cany congratulated Mr Trung on his recent election as Chairman, and shared that EuroCham believes Vietnam to be a rising star in the world. He emphasized that European business stands ready to help Vietnam become even more competitive in the global market.
   
Turning to the current fourth wave of COVID-19, Mr Cany shared an update on EuroCham’s campaign to accelerate Vietnam’s vaccination drive. He described how many EuroCham members would like to pay for the cost of vaccinating their staff. Therefore, EuroCham hopes that a simple and safe mechanism can be worked out to help bring more vaccines to Vietnam and to address the challenges during the vaccine rollout process.
   
In future, CCER and EuroCham hope to cooperate further on high-level activities. This could include organising a dialogue or webinar with the business community to discuss what more could be done to bring Vietnam to the next level given that, nowadays, we face many new challenges such as climate change, digitalization, globalization, and the EU’s new Green Deal.
   
    
Chairman Trung highly appreciated EuroCham’s role in the business community as one of the first, leading foreign chambers when Vietnam first opened its economy. He further stressed that the European Union and its investors have always been important partners for Vietnam.
  
With its mission of providing strategic consultation on foreign affairs to the Party Central Committee and the State, CCER promised to enhance its interaction with EuroCham. This will help to promote understanding and keep both sides updated on the global economic trends which affect Vietnam, thereby promoting effective solutions and policies.