EuroCham Commits to Cooperating with Hanoi in Driving Investments to Build Safe and Secure Smart City Initiatives

On 17 June 2018, at the National Convention Center, Hanoi People Committee organized a Conference: ”Hanoi 2018 – Investment and Development Cooperation”. There was presence of Politburo member, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc; Politburo Member- Head of the Central Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh; Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien and other Ministers of Finance, MPI, Transport, Education and Training, Culture, Sports and Tourism. From Hanoi, the meeting was attended by Politburo Member, Hanoi Party Secretary Hoang Trung Hai; Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Party Standing Committee Ngo Thi Thanh Hang; Member of Central Party Committee, Chairman of Nguyen Duc Chung People's Committee; Chairwoman of the People's Council Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc and leaders of departments, districts … The conference also had 1,500 representatives of enterprises, diplomats, international organizations, business associations media.

On behalf of European Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Denis Brunetti, Co-Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham Vietnam) and President of Ericsson Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, attended the event and gave a speech on “ Sharing solutions to promote E-commerce and improve the business environment to attract more investment”.
In his speech, Mr. Brunetti expressed EuroCham’s interest and readiness to cooperate with Hanoi in driving business investments in Smart City initiatives, leveraging trusted European companies and their secure technologically advanced solutions and capabilities. He also congratulated the government of Vietnam for successfully navigating the country through a journey of exceptionally strong economic growth over the past 30 years, averaging 6.15% per annum since 1997. During that period, the economy has also diversified across a broader number of economic sectors, including manufacturing, services and tourism, through which Vietnam had transformed itself into a thriving middle-income country which is enjoying an amazing transformation in terms of its socioeconomic development. Mr. Brunetti compared this journey of socioeconomic journey to the launch of the Internet in Vietnam in 1997, coupled with the expansion of mobile broadband networks throughout the country during that same period, stating that indeed the Internet and mobile communications have helped power the Vietnamese economy, driving a more inclusive economic growth that has benefited millions of Vietnamese people irrespective of whether they reside in big cities such as Hanoi or small towns in the countryside or remote mountainous areas. Today, there are over 50 million Internet users in Vietnam, of whom, 80% access the internet over mobile networks. In fact, with every 10% increase in mobile broadband penetration increase, a country can potentially experience between 0.5 to 1% increase in economic growth. Vietnam now ranks 17th in the world in terms of the number of Internet users, and its ranked in the top 10 countries in relation to the number of Facebook accounts. 
Mr. Brunetti clearly stated that “the future of the ICT industry is to digitally transform all other industries, including healthcare, transport, manufacturing (Industry 4.0), agriculture, tourism and retail”. In fact, e-commerce is already experiencing a digital transformation in Vietnam with 39% of Vietnam’s population going online to buy products or services. 
Celebrating 20 years in Vietnam this year, EuroCham Vietnam today has almost 1,000 members and works tirelessly to connect the European business community in Vietnam with Vietnamese companies and government authorities with the aim of expanding business investment and trade between Vietnam and EU countries. In this positive spirit of mutual collaboration and trusted partnership, EuroCham is committed to working closely with the Vietnamese government to help ratify the Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) within 2018. The EVFTA promises to become a basis for trade cooperation between Vietnam and the European Union.
"The future of the ICT industry is to digitally transform all other industries, making them more efficient, affordable and accessible to more Vietnamese across the country. Indeed, ICT drives inclusive economic growth, and EuroCham is committed to collaborating with European investors and Vietnamese companies and government authorities to drive safe, secure and trusted Smart City initiatives that benefit all Vietnamese people" – Mr. Brunetti pledged.