26 January 2018, Tay Ninh – The EuroCham met with the Tay Ninh People's Committee in order to introduce its Southeastern Vietnam Chapter and establish closer relations between the Chamber and the local authorities. 

The two sides introduced themselves for the first time in the recent past, explaining priorities and exchanging input on cooperative action could be put forth in the future. The Tay Ninh delegation was led by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc – Vice-Chairman of Tay Ninh People’s Committee – and included also relevant heads of departent, namely Planning and Investment; Industry and Trade; Agriculture and Rural Development; Education and Training; and the Industrial Zones Management Board.   

The EuroCham delegation was led by Executive Director Almut Roessner, here introducing EuroCham and its Southeastern Vietnam Chapter to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, Vice-Chairman of Tay Ninh People’s Committee (middle) and leaders from other departments.

Ms. Almut Roessner – Executive Director – led EuroCham’s delegation, which also included EuroCham Southeastern Vietnam Delegates Ms. Uyen Tran (Deloitte) and Mr. Brian O'Reilly (Vietnamese-German University). EuroCham member representative Ms. To Thi My-  Thanh Thanh Cong Industrial Zone (TT IZ), Deputy Director, was also present. The Ms. Huyen Le – Membership Officer – supported on behalf of the EuroCham secretariat.
 

EuroCham introduced the overview of its history, structure and work, highligting the activities in preparation in 2018, year of its 20th Anniversary. 

– Ms. Roessner took a chance to introduce the Whitebook 2017 and present a copy to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, informing of its 10th edition’s launch on 16 March 2018 in HCMC. 

Almut Roessner and EuroCham Southeastern Vietnam Delegates Brian O’Reilly and Uyen Tran delivered the Whitebook to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc

Ms. Roessner also explained about the EuroCham Southeastern Vietnam Chapter, making reference to the success story of the EuroCham Central Vietnam Chapter since November 2016. Mentioning also EuroCham's Northeastern Vietnam Chapter, Ms. Roessner proceeded to explain how the Chapter structure works, with its action centered around its volunteering delegates, not being am actual office. Ms. Roessner also further elaborated on the main goal of the present meeting: to present the Southeastern Chapter, expectations on the work to be delivered, and to establish closer contact with the Tay Ninh authorities.  

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc presented an overview of Tay Ninh province and its potential, having highlighted its favourable natural conditions and resources. Mr. Ngoc also mentioned the provinces safety, as well as its geographical positioning as the midway passage between Ho Chi Minh City and Cambodia, with which the province has a 240 kilometer border line. He stressed that the province is currently favouring Infrastructure Improvement, high-tech agriculture technology, human resources development, and tourism; as the four strategic areas of the provinces' development policies. After a related question from EuroCham, Mr. Ngoc also mentioned that Tay Ninh is a safe province, with questions related to border management and smuggling problems being gradually and efficiently resolved over time. 

Tay Ninh reports a total of 270 foreign investment projects, worth around 5Bn USD and coming from 27 different countries. The major investors are Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, while only 4 projects are European. The province is currently expanding its industrial area to around 4000ha. 

The meeting closed with expressions of commitment to cooperate further, as well as a pre-invitation to EuroCham’s activities. The two parties agreed to share respective agendas more actively so that possible joint planning can be made in the future.

The meeting closed successfully with expressions of commitment to cooperate further