The Business Association of Overseas Vietnamese (BAOOV) and Vietnam Business Association in the Republic of Korea (VIBAK) will host the first OVECOF 2019 at Songdo Convensia International Exhibition & Convention Centre in Incheon, the RoK, on Thursday.
Before the opening session and discussions were had, Tran Hai Linh, Chairman of VIBAK shared with the Vietnamese press that up till now there are roughly 200 delegates who are overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs from all over the world as well as Vietnamese representatives registering to attend the forum.
Meanwhile, the number of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the RoK and representatives from enterprises in the host country register for the event are at more than 100 delegates. This is on par with the initial estimate by the organisers, at about 300 delegates from 25 countries and territories.
On the afternoon of June 6, a day before the event will be officially opened, almost all of the preparations were completed 95%. There will be various events during the two-day forum (June 7-8), including exhibition booths and trade promotion programmes that will take place directly at the forum. The event will be open to welcome both local citizens and businesses to visit and learn about the exhibition, from which they can seek further cooperation in the future with Vietnamese partners, said Linh.
He also added that the idea of organising the forum was formed after he attended the Homeland Spring Programme 2019, in which he exchanged with overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs and met with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the Government Office, the delegates said that there is still no event that could gather overseas entrepreneurs from all over the world.
Since then, VIBAK - headed by Linh - began to organise the forum for the first time in the RoK. The idea has received the support from BAOOV and the relevant ministries and agencies in subsequent meetings. Linh also shared about the encouragement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - the sponsor of the forum, as well as support from the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
After the opening session on June 7, the afternoon will be the designated time slot for trade promotion activities among companies, followed by agreement signing, even signing of cooperation contracts among businesses.
 |
Preparation work for the first Overseas Vietnamese Economic Forum at Songdo Convensia Convention Centre in Incheon, the Republic of Korea. (Photo: daidoanket.vn)
Linh also expressed his hope that after the event, it would progress not only past the conference but also set the framework for further work in the future. After conversing for nearly half of the day on Wednesday with the Thai delegation about the possibility of cooperation between the two sides, discussions have paved the way for cooperation between the two associations, thus helping Vietnamese goods not only enter only Thailand and the RoK, but also to the world at large, through the cooperation between the two associations.
This cooperation is the first step towards tightening the connection among overseas businesspersons and promote the strength of Vietnamese business associations and enterprises abroad. That will be a bridge to help Vietnam to have more development orientation for its goods, as well as attracting foreign investment to the country.
In fact, any agency that has organised such an event is under pressure, Linh said, adding that the biggest pressure for him is the matter of time.
Since the formation of the idea in February 2019 to its realisation in April 2019, the organisers from both sides have started to work with BAOOV and deployed the organisation plan in June 2019.
Even though two months is a relatively short period of time , it can be said that the preparation has basically been finished, showing the connection of overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs and also the position of Vietnam in the host country.
“So far, I have been talking to friends who are from major businesses and those in the RoK's politics, they have said that they would never think that a Vietnamese unit can organise an event in such scale right in the RoK. Of course, compared to the organisers in this country, we haven’t been on par with them yet, but for an event that requires a certain gathering from the Vietnamese business community, it is the first time ever”, Linh stated.
