From 24-26 April an ECCT delegation headed by Vice Chairman Olivier Rousselet and CEO Freddie Hoeglund travelled to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to visit the chamber's counterpart, the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (ECCV). The visit was part of the ECCT's ongoing interactions with other chambers in the Worldwide Network of European Business Organisations (EBO). (The ECCT visited South Korea in 2012, Beijing in 2011 and Shanghai in 2010.)

During the trip, the ECCT delegation met with their counterparts from the ECCV's board of directors, secretariat and sectoral committees to exchange ideas with their industry counterparts, talk about business developments in their respective industries and regulatory issues in Vietnam.  The delegation had lunch with ECCV's Chairman Preben Hjortlund and members of ECCV's Executive Committee (equivalent to the ECCT's board of directors). They also had dinner with the EU team negotiating an FTA with Vietnam.

ECCT delegation

Meeting summary
The delegation had interesting and useful discussions with their Vietnam counterparts where they provided updates on their respective chambers' activities and exchanged information on the economic and regulatory environment. ECCT delegates learned that the Vietnamese economy is still growing relatively steadily albeit at a slower rate (GDP rose 5.03% in 2012 compared to an average of 7% over the past 10 year). Inflation has fallen to below 7%, below the average of 7.8% over the past 10 years and 18% in 2011. The regulatory environment is still subject to considerable red tape. Like the ECCT, ECCV publishes annual recommendations to the government in what it calls a WhiteBook. The chamber's 2013 WhiteBook contained 200 recommendations from 19 industries. Some progress has been made in recent years. The chamber's membership is still growing.During the trip the ECCT delegation also met with Marko Walde, Chief Representative of German Industry and Commerce Vietnam (GIC/AHK) and were updated on the chamber's sustainability activities for 2013 (dubbed GreenBiz, ECCV's equivalent to the ECCT's Low Carbon Initiative). The delegates also took part in a series of meetings with their industry counterparts to learn about market conditions in various industry sectors.Meeting agenda

Introduction to ECCVN