VCCI's Chairman Vu Tien Loc: 'Vietnam has become a successful model of economic reforms'

On October 9, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) held a press conference in Hanoi to introduce the agenda of the APEC high level week.

Speaking at the press conference, VCCI’s Chairman Vu Tien Loc updated the preparation for business events at APEC hosted by VCCI.

Accordingly, during APEC high-level Week 2017 held in Da Nang in early November, the business conferences include: the fourth APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) from November 4 to 6, the Vietnam Business Summit, the APEC Business Summit, and a Dialogue between ABAC and APEC leaders.

“The forums will discuss the global and regional economic issues and directions for cooperation to develop the APEC business community," said Loc. “We will use the lifetime opportunity to promote trade and investment of Vietnam economy.”

A prominent activity on APEC’s agenda is the Vietnam Business Summit (VBS) – a Vietnam's initiative at APEC this year. The conference aims to accelerate trade promotion and international cooperation.

Agenda for business activities within the APEC high level week
- November 4 - 6: 4th ABAC meeting
- November 7: Vietnam Business Summit (VBS)
- November 8-10: APEC CEO Summit
- November 10: Dialogue between ABAC and APEC Leaders

According to VCCI's Chairman, APEC members play a particularly important role to Vietnam. APEC’s 21 economies contribute to 78% of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Vietnam, 75% of trade in goods and 79% of total international visitors to Vietnam.

In addition, he emphasized two important engines for future world economic growth, which are also two key issues in the APEC’s agenda namely the development of micro, small and medium businesses (MSMBs) and the empowerment of women in business activities.

"With the technology platform and the development of e-commerce, microenterprises can join and become the dynamic and creative factor of the global economy," he said.

The number of SMEs accounts for about 90% of all APEC economies but only contributes 35% of total exports; The rest are mainly contributed by leading corporations in export, trade and investment. However, in the coming time, millions of micro, small and medium enterprises are the new driving force of the world economy.

“The creativity of millions of businesses will create change, bringing a new face to the world economy”, said Loc.

In addition, the businesswomen community plays a very important role in boosting the economy. “In Viet Nam, one out of four business managers is woman, in other words, 25% of the businesses in the economy is currently owned by women," he said.

Loc said international integration as well as multilateralisation has been a thorough policy of the Government for many years. Actively participating in the process of globalization and multilateral integration mechanisms will not only helps us to expand our market size, enhance exports and attract investment, but also motivates the country’s institutional reforms, contributing to the industrialization and modernization.

"Vietnam has become a successful model of economic reforms for nearly 40 years. According to World Bank data released in 2016, Vietnam is one of the three leading economies, among the 21 APEC economies, in terms of growth rate (the other two are the Philippines and China)," he said.

"In the past year, the average tariff of APEC economies has fallen from 17% in 1989 to 5.2% in 2012, and is still on a downward path. APEC brings many reform measures and benefits to the business community. APEC’s initiatives, such as trade facilitation programs, business travel programs, and services liberalization programs have brought many benefits to the region's development,” he added.