(VOVWORLD) - Under the theme “Creating new driving force for a common future”, meetings held within the framework of APEC Year 2017 focus on globalization, economic integration, and promoting trade and investment between APEC countries. These activities create opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to establish and enhance trade partnerships within the region.
“Golden” opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises
Covering hundreds of meetings and events, APEC Year 2017 is intended to increase interactions between enterprises and senior officials and policy makers. It is hoped these interactions will result in commitments to make it easier for businesses’ operations. Hoang Van Dung is Chairman of the APEC Vietnam Business Advisory Council: “Hosting APEC Year 2017, we hope to find a newer, better quality, more effective investment flow to help Vietnamese enterprises create higher added values and improve their competitiveness. Because 98% of Vietnamese enterprises are small or medium-sized, they need to improve their resilience against the competition created by door opening. It’s also necessary to build a transparent legal system.”
Vietnam has, over the years, utilized cooperative mechanisms within APEC, fine-tuned its policies, created an open and transparent investment environment, and removed trade and investment barriers. Vietnam has boosted bilateral cooperation with APEC members to attract stable investment sources, upgraded its technical infrastructure, developed its human resources, and increased technology transfers to boost enterprises’ competitiveness and performance.
Boosting cooperation within APEC creates opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to grow and acquire advanced technology and management skills from the world’s leading enterprises. Mr. Hoang Van Dung again: “We are now in the digital era. We need to help SMEs find cooperation partners. For example, we need to help Vietnamese enterprises increase their agricultural production values.”
Vietnamese enterprises take action to seize opportunities
Vietnam is entering a period of drastic renovation. The government is pushing a reform program to build an enabling, serving, and working government. This is the right time for foreign investors to boost their business in Vietnam. Nealry 20 years after Vietnam joined APEC, APEC Year 2017 creates a golden opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to promote trade and investment in the 21st century. President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc said: “The APEC Summit in Vietnam should be an innovative forum. Innovative business-related activities should be organized for the first time in APEC history. These activities will increase Vietnam’s political position, create added value for the Vietnamese economy, and help Vietnamese enterprises grow, attract investment, and expand exports.”
It is hoped that APEC Year 2017 will bolster APEC’s role as the leading economic forum promoting growth, integration, and connectivity in the Asia Pacific region. APEC Year 2017’s convergence of regional and global economies and the participation of 1,000 enterprises from APEC countries will create numerous opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises.