Women entrepreneurs gather
HA NOI — Businesswomen of Viet Nam and the US kicked off the first meeting yesterday in Ha Noi to seek partnership for trade and investment opportunities.
One-hundred and fifty businesswomen, 17 from the US, joined the Viet Nam-US Women Entrepreneurs Conference, which was hosted by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s Vietnamese Women Entrepreneurs Council (VWEC) and the US’s Committee of 200 (C200).
"The conference is a good opportunity for Vietnamese businesswomen to learn from their American partners," said Tran Thi Thuy, deputy chairwoman of VCCI and chairwoman of VWEC.
She added that the meeting would offer a forum for exchanging necessary trade and investment information between Vietnamese and American businesswomen.
Representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the VCCI and the Trade Department of the US Embassy to Viet Nam spoke to review the investment environment of Viet Nam and the business environment of the US.
Investment potential for US business is huge, but their involvement in Viet Nam is still small compared to rivals, said Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy head of the MPI’s Foreign Investment Agency. Tuan commented that the US has 271 projects in Viet Nam, with total investment capital reaching US$2.6 billion. Viet Nam has, however, attracted some 5,000 foreign investment projects worth a total of $46 billion.
Viet Nam would like to license large scale, highly competitive US projects in the technology, infrastructure development and production sectors, Tuan said, adding that he hoped VCCI and C200 would organise another meeting so both countries’ companies could continue opening investment doors.
He said he expected that Vietnamese businesswomen would invest in projects in the US, and that their joining of C200 would be a valuable opportunity.
Meanwhile, John Simmons, from the Trade Department of the US Embassy to Viet Nam, said he also appreciated the current environment of active trade and investment in Viet Nam.
He said the department works hard with the VCCI to provide support in trade and investment activities for companies of both countries.
Vu Tien Loc, chairman of VCCI, agreed that VWEC should continue holding such meetings in the future, with members of C200 and other foreign associations, so that businesswomen could continue promoting trade and investment.
VWEC has 1,000 members, who are either businesswomen or directors and chairwomen of clubs for businesswomen.
Meanwhile, C200 has 490 members, representing 100 industries in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Entrepreneurs form 70 per cent of total membership, and corporate executives fill the remaining 30 per cent.
Viet Nam News, April 19, 2005
