EuroCham Enhances Cooperation with the Vietnamese Government on the EVFTA and Foreign Direct Investment

On the 3rd and 4th of June 2019 in Hanoi, EuroCham Chairman Nicolas Audier, Vice Chairmen Jean-Jacques Bouflet and Ywert Visser, together with representatives from other affiliated Business Associations including Mr. Alexis Delevaux, BeluxCham Vice Chairman, Mr. Thue Quist Thomasen, NordCham Vice Chairman, and Mr. Csaba Bundik, CEEC Vice Chairman, held a series of ministerial meetings with Government authorities, including the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). At the provincial level, EuroCham also held a meeting with the Hanoi People’s Committee (HNPC).
 

In the meeting with the Minister of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Chi Dung, EuroCham had an open discussion on the policy of FDI attraction towards advanced technology, environmental friendliness and high added value. In addition to this, EuroCham and MPI both agreed on collaboration in advocacy, providing training sessions for capability enhancement in making the most of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). MPI also suggested EuroCham share its expertise on Industry 4.0 and contribute initiatives to the Government’s five-year socio-economic plan and ten-year National FDI attraction strategy to assist MPI in preparation for the Party Central Committee’s Plenum in 2021. MPI also expects EuroCham to take a leading role and uplift its advisory function to a more macro-level in order to better support the Government.

At the meeting with the Ministry of Justice, Vice Minister Nguyen Khanh Ngoc shared with EuroCham exclusive information on the roadmap of MOJ in the future implementation of the EVFTA. Meanwhile, EuroCham also shared its best practices in terms of arbitration and efforts of the Government and Vietnam International Arbitration center and recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Vietnam as well consistency with the New York Convention.
 

Since the Ministry of Finance plays a key role in the customs and trade facilitation and for the upcoming implementation of the EVFTA, EuroCham Chairman Nicolas Audier recommends numerous cooperation activities with MOF and Department of Tax Policy in reviewing and updating the tax regulations, including the draft amendments to the Law on Tax Administration, which were submitted to the National Assembly for review in May. EuroCham will continue working with the General Department of Taxation and General Department of Customs concerning this issue. Vice Minister of Finance, H.E. Tran Xuan Ha, welcomed all EuroCham’s recommendations and suggested organising other meetings at a working level with relevant EuroCham Sector Committees (SCs) such as Taxation & Transfer Pricing SC, Transportation & Logistics SC, among others.
 

Regarding further cooperation opportunities in trade and investment with provincial authorities, EuroCham’s delegation had a discussion with the Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, Nguyen Duc Chung, and representatives of HNPC’s Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Tourism. In the meeting, Chairman Chung highly appreciated the effective and active cooperation of European enterprises in contributing to the success of the relation between Hanoi and the European business community in recent years through many activities and co-organised events such as “Meet Europe 2018” conference with the participation of Prime Minister H.E. Nguyen Xuan Phuc. These activities are great opportunities for both EU and Hanoi to promote not only the trade and investment but also tourism. Besides, as Hanoi will be the 22nd country in the world to host an F1 race in 2020, H.E. Chung welcomed EuroCham’s support in the coming event by sharing European countries’ best practices and experience in hosting such tournaments. Last but not least, the People’s Committee affirmed its companion with the European community in the process of implementing the EVFTA as a strategic partner as well as in other fields such as smart cities, Industry 4.0 and promoting SMEs and innovation.