Prime Minister: Only cooperation can go far on the path of development

The forum was organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce (VKO), with the participation of nearly 200 businesses from the two countries, including about 60 Vietnamese businesses in the fields of agriculture, finance, renewable energy, technology, infrastructure development, healthcare, etc.

VKO Herald President Mahrer expressed that VKO is very interested in the assessments of Vietnam's development prospects, seeing that for Austria, the Vietnamese market has a lot of potential and many Austrian companies have taken advantage of investment opportunities in Vietnam. He said that VKO has decided to open a regional representative office in Vietnam, after which VKO will invite a delegation of Austrian businesses to visit Vietnam.

Mr. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of VCCI, said that this is the largest Vietnam-Austria Business Forum ever. The event is of great significance in the context of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) moving towards official signing. Mr. Loc said that VCCI has closely coordinated with VKO to develop a cooperation plan to anticipate EVFTA, including the establishment of the Vietnam-Austria Joint Business Council. The Chairman of VCCI also hopes that after VKO opens a representative office in Vietnam, many Austrian businesses will invest in Vietnam.

Witnessing a large number of businesses attending the Forum, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that with a large number of businesses, the chances of success will be greater. Another joy is that before this Forum, the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce decided to open a representative office for the Asia region in Vietnam. The Prime Minister said that during the meeting with him before the Forum, a number of Austrian investors decided to open offices in Vietnam. This is a good opportunity for Austrian investors to cooperate with Vietnam, do business together and succeed in Vietnam.

The Prime Minister said that both the Austrian and Vietnamese Prime Ministers assessed that the number of nearly 40 Austrian enterprises investing in Vietnam is still too small while the potential of the two countries is very large. Two-way trade turnover reached about 4.5 billion USD this year but the investment capital of the two countries only reached about 200 million USD. Therefore, businesses of the two countries need to take advantage of this opportunity to promote investment in each other's markets.

At the forum, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc informed Austrian investors about the potential and specific investment opportunities in Vietnam. Notably, the economy has continuously grown for more than 30 years and this year it grew by about 7%. The Prime Minister emphasized that Vietnam will maintain this growth momentum to facilitate investors in Vietnam. Vietnam is also a large market with nearly 100 million people, 65% of Vietnam's workforce is young, and the middle class is growing. The rate of people using the internet and smartphones is large, opening up great opportunities for e-commerce.

In the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF), if in 2006, Vietnam ranked 77th, by 2017, it had risen to 55th place. According to the World Bank (WB), in terms of the ease of doing business (DB) index, Vietnam ranked 68th in 2017 while in 2007 it was at 104th place.

Highlighting these potentials, the Prime Minister hoped that Austrian enterprises would invest in Vietnam in the fields of high-tech agriculture; processing and manufacturing industries, especially agricultural processing with great export potential; investing in high-tech zones using advanced Austrian technology; investing in infrastructure, tourism, etc.

“I suggest that you sit down together and discuss, so that all types of state-owned and private enterprises can meet and find cooperation measures in the future,” the Prime Minister said, adding that state-owned enterprises are ready to sell shares to Austrian investors if they have enough potential, including in fields such as telecommunications, banking, insurance, etc.

“In a changing world, where the industrial revolution is spreading, opportunities and challenges are intertwined... I really like the saying 'if we want to go far, we must go together',” the Prime Minister expressed. “Only by cooperating together can we overcome all obstacles and go far on our path to prosperous development,” the Prime Minister called on Austrian investors to come to Vietnam to cooperate and do business.