EuroCham AGM 2019 Report

Highlights of the EuroCham AGM
On Thursday 28th March, EuroCham held its Annual General Meeting in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Over 130 members joined events in both cities in person, with another 105 proxies, taking the total number of votes on the night to 238 – over the Quorum of 202. Members gathered to hear updates on EuroCham’s activities in 2018 and vote on the 2018 AGM Minutes, 2018 Auditor’s Report, 2019 Budget and Auditor.

The EVFTA: Next Steps to Implementation
Before official proceedings began, a special dialogue event “The EVFTA: Next Steps to Implementation”, featuring H.E. Tran Quoc Khanh, Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade, and H.E. Bruno Angelet, EU Ambassador to Vietnam, provided an update to members on the progress of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. Mr. Khanh reaffirmed Vietnam’s commitment to implementing the EVFTA, and outlined some of the positive steps the Government has taken ahead of its ratification, such as revising Vietnam’s Labour Code. Meanwhile, Mr. Angelet said that there was strong support for the EVFTA from the European Council, and emphasized that Vietnam was one of the EU’s strategic partners in the region. In the following panel discussion, both the Ambassador and Deputy Minister answered questions from the floor on issues ranging from homologation of automobiles in Vietnam to the role of EuroCham in ensuring the smooth implementation of the EVFTA.

Highlights of 2018
Opening the AGM, the EuroCham Co-Chairmen Nicolas Audier and Denis Brunetti discussed some of the Chamber’s highlights over the previous 12 months, including the launch of the EuroCham Whitebook, two Missions to Brussels, and being invited to join the Prime Minister of Vietnam at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Following this introduction, Members of the Board presented EuroCham’s activities in 2018. Vice-Chairman Jean Jacques Bouflet updated members about EuroCham’s Advocacy work; ExCo Member Nguyen Hai Minh discussed Stakeholder Relations activities; General Secretary Stefano Pellegrino gave an overview of Projects; Vice-Chair Guy Balza presented both Events and Business Association / Membership Relations; and ExCo Member Hans-Dieter Holtzmann shared an update on EuroCham’s Marketing & Communications. Later, EuroCham Treasurer Aymar de Liedekerke Beaufort presented the Finance Report 2018 and Budget 2019.

The next session of the AGM in Ho Chi Minh City, broadcast live in Hanoi, heard first from a representative of EuroCham’s three Provincial Chapters, Mr. Brian O’Reilly from the Southeastern Chapter, and then from representatives of 7 of EuroCham’s 9 affiliated Business Associations including the Dutch Business Association Vietnam (DBAV), Chamber of Commerce and Industry Portugal-Vietnam (CCIPV), Chamber of Commerce and Industry France-Vietnam (CCIFV), the German Business Association (GBA), the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Icham), the Spanish Business Group (SBG) and the Central and Eastern European Chamber of Commerce (CEEC).

Farewells and Welcomes
EuroCham Co-Chair Nicolas Audier then thanked departing ExCo members, including Maren Maischen, Roman Kubler and Antonio Espada Cid, as well as fellow Co-Chair Denis Brunetti. Denis thanked the Board, members and Secretariat of EuroCham, and promised to remain involved in the Chamber’s activities in the future. Mr. Audier then welcomed new ExCo members Hans-Dieter Holtzmann, Alex Goetz and Ywert Visser to the stage, and asked each of them to introduce themselves to the audience.

Voting Results
Once counting of the votes was complete, results were announced as follows:

Quorum 202 | 238 total votes
–              2018 AGM Minutes: 157 approved; 0 abstain; 0 against
–              2018 Audit Report: 217 approved; 2 abstain; 0 against
–              2019 Budget Approval: 186 approved; 16 abstain; 0 against
–              Eurocham Auditor in 2019: 203 approved; 0 abstain; 4 against

Closing the AGM, Mr. Audier thanked all members for attending, and thanked auditor Deloitte for their work.

Following the AGM, the next meeting of the EuroCham Board elected the following positions:

Chairman: Nicolas Audier

Treasurer: Aymar de Liedekerke Beaufort

Vice-Chair: Nguyen Hai Minh

Vice-Chair: Ywert Visser

Vice-Chair: Tomaso Andreatta

Vice-Chair: Jean-Jacques Bouflet

General Secretary: Dr. Stefano Pellegrino