EuroCham highly appreciates Vietnam's vaccine strategy

In the context of Vietnam's limited budget resources, the Government's initiative on the establishment of a COVID-19 vaccine fund is of great significance in the fight against the fourth wave of COVID-19. When large numbers of the population are vaccinated, the requirement for social distancing will be reduced. This is a long-term premise to help Vietnam recover and promote economic growth.

EuroCham Chairman Alain Cany affirmed that European businesses would continue to stand side by side with Vietnam during this difficult time.
EuroCham Chairman Alain Cany affirmed that European businesses would continue to stand side by side with Vietnam during this difficult time.

This is the opinion of Alain Cany, Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) in Vietnam, in an interview with the Online Newspaper of the Government of Vietnam about the importance of the vaccine strategy in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to restore economic growth.

Analysing the impact of the pandemic on economic activities, Alain Cany said the pandemic has affected many economic sectors in Vietnam as well as in many other parts of the world. However, in the context of general difficulties, the performance of European enterprises in Vietnam is still better, thanks to the swift and effective actions of the Vietnamese Government since the global crisis epidemic started in 2020.

However, even with good anti-epidemic measures, Vietnam cannot escape the global pandemic, so temporary blockades have been applied to some localities and regions to control the spread of disease. These have affected business operations for more than a year now. It can be said that tourism, hotels and airlines were the first sectors to be affected, but this influence soon spread to companies in all sectors and industries.

However, EuroCham's recent survey on the Business Climate Index, conducted just before the fourth wave of the pandemic, showed the optimistic view of European businesses about Vietnam's business environment.

Specifically, when asked about the prospects of the Vietnamese business environment moving into the next quarter, 67% predicted it would be either “excellent” or “good”, marking a 12% increase as compared to the previous survey.

Meanwhile, business leaders are also more optimistic about their own companies. More than two-thirds (68%) predict that their orders and revenue will ‘maintain or increase’ over the next three months. That’s a 25% increase as compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.

“Our members remain optimistic about Vietnam's trade and investment environment. Of course, the recent return of the COVID-19 epidemic may reduce this optimism somewhat, but the majority of European businesses still have faith in Vietnam's ability to overcome this "storm" and come back strongly once the disease is controlled", said Alain Cany.

Regarding the effectiveness of its anti-epidemic measures, the Eurocham Chairman assessed that Vietnam is one of the only countries that have effectively prevented the spread of COVID-19. One of the reasons for this has been that the Government has directed agencies to coordinate in implementing fast and effective zoning and isolation measures, including strict controlling borders; zoning and social distancing in pandemic-hit areas; and expedited tracing, along with the trust and compliance of the people.

“However, the above measures are not a long-term solution because it is certain that in the near future, these measures will have a negative impact on Vietnam's economic growth”, said Alain Cany.

The EuroCham Chairman expressed his agreement with the Government's vaccine strategy, which has set a target of immunising 75% of the population. The combination of public and private sector financial resources will help accelerate the implementation of the vaccination strategy for the population.

After the vaccine fund was launched, a large number of businesses, organisations and individuals supported the fund, showing a high sense of responsibility, contributing to the common goal.

Representing European businesses, EuroCham Chairman Alain Cany affirmed that European businesses would continue to stand side by side with Vietnam in this difficult time. During the recent outbreak, EuroCham member companies in the pharmaceutical sector donated US$100,000 to the Vietnam Fatherland Front, while 12,000 test kits were donated to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

“The government has announced the ambitious but achievable goal of vaccinating at least three-quarters of the population. We believe this can be achieved if we all work together. In particular, many European companies will be willing to help speed up Vietnam's vaccination process by funding the vaccination costs for their workers. This will help reduce the burden on the Government and contribute to restoring economic activities back to normal soon,” said the representative.

According to Alain Cany, when large numbers of the population are vaccinated, the requirement for social distancing will be reduced, then schools, business activities, international tourism and borders can be reopened, helping Vietnam recover and promote its economic growth.

The representative of the European business community in Vietnam said if the Government can achieve its goal of vaccination, Vietnam will achieve the dual goals of preventing the pandemic and boosting the economy.

There are many reasons for optimism, of which, the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is one. When implementing the EVFTA, the parties have gradually eliminated tax lines and opened up the market for each other. This will help boost trade between Vietnam and the EU, especially when we come out of this global pandemic.

“If we can exploit the full potential of this agreement, there will be a lot of opportunities for Vietnamese and European businesses in the short, medium and long term,” said Alain Cany.