Vietnam a highly potential market for German SMEs: workshop

At the event, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu provided participants, including online audience, an overview of Vietnam’s socio-economic development and measures to combat COVID-19, recover the economy, and assist pandemic-affected people.

He highlighted the country’s potential and advantages, along with its Government’s policies on attracting foreign investors, including SMEs of Germany.

The diplomat also pointed out investment opportunities for German SMEs in potential sectors like mechanical engineering, automobile manufacturing, support industries, innovation, IT, biotechnology, health care and pharmaceutical production, and finance-banking.

Thanks to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), set to take effect on August 1, and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) that is waiting for EU parliaments’ ratification, there will be more and more promising cooperation chances in Vietnam for SMEs of Germany and other EU members, Vu noted.

For his part, BVMW President Mario Ohoven spoke highly of Vietnam’s dynamic development and its Government’s resolve to support SMEs, improve the investment and business climate, and promote the economy’s adaptability to the digitalisation trend.

Describing Vietnam as a highly potential market for German SMEs, he also suggested the country further improve its logistics sector, human resources, and administrative procedures so as to create more optimal conditions for German SMEs’ activities.

Meanwhile, Director of the Germany Trade & Invest’s Vietnam office Frauke Schmitz-Bauderdick and BVMW Representative in Vietnam Ludwig Graf Westarp spoke highly of the Southeast Asian nation’s economic development and success in COVID-19 control, adding that it still sustains fair growth amid the pandemic and holds much potential for German firms in the fields of public investment, supply chains and consumer goods.

They held that with its increasingly transparent and favourable business climate, the EVFTA, and the EVIPA, Vietnam is emerging as an attractive investment destination for German businesses.

At the workshop, the Vietnamese Embassy and the BVMW agreed to enhance cooperation in organising thematic workshops, sharing information, connecting the countries’ enterprises, and arranging visits for German SMEs to explore the Vietnamese market.