France hopes to double its share of the Vietnamese market by 2017,French Trade Counselor and Ubifrance Chief Representative in VietnamMarc Cagnard spoke about the plan to promote trade between Vietnam andFrance during his talk with Vietnam Economic News.
* What are Ubifrance’s major achievements in boosting trade between the two countries?
Bilateral trade between France and Vietnam has achieved greatsuccesses in recent years, reaching almost 2 billion USD in the firsteight months of this year, including 1.27 billion USD worth ofVietnamese exports to France, a slight increase from a year ago.
The two countries celebrated 40 years of diplomatic relations thisyear. In that framework, Ubifrance developed around 20 major activities,aimed at helping about 350 French businesses to enter the Vietnamesemarket.
A France-Vietnam Business Forum organisedin April by Ubifrance launched in Ho Chi Minh City, the economic part ofthe France Year in Vietnam. It attracted 130 French companies and 700Vietnamese businesses through 1,100 direct meetings between businesses.
Only a few months after this Forum, about 25percent of the French companies already reached or are about to reachtrade agreements with their Vietnamese partners, focusing ontransportation, information technology, sustainable development, health,cosmetics or beverage and spirits.
Also, duringPrime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's visit to France, Ubifrance and theVietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) concluded a cooperativeagreement to further boost trade between the two countries.
* What do French businesses think about the Vietnamese investment and business environment?
Vietnam is a large and attractive market in the buoyant Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. With a large and fast growingpopulation, a dynamic economy and historical relations with France,Vietnam attracts French exporters and investors.
Vietnam is also expected to act as a bridge for foreign companies toenter other markets in the ASEAN region. Vietnam has become a member ofthe World Trade Organization (WTO) and is negotiating a Free TradeAgreement (FTA) with the European Union. All this is expected to makeVietnam more attractive to French investors.
However, French businesses consider that it is not always easy to accessthe Vietnamese market due to regular changes of regulations and highimport tariffs on some items such as wine for example.
Moreover, in terms of investment and business environment, Vietnam isnot the only attractive country in the ASEAN region. For this reason,Vietnam still has much to do including stabilising its legal regulationsso as to attract foreign businesses furthermore.
More than 300 French businesses are operating in Vietnam and about 2,200French companies annually export their products to Vietnam. SuccessfulFrench companies operate (in Vietnam) in typically strong areas ofinterest for France, such as transportation, energy and environment,infrastructures, high technologies, health and cosmetics, food productsand technologies.
* France currently has fairly hightrade deficit with Vietnam. What will Ubifrance do in the near futureto improve the situation?
As for France in generaland Ubifrance in particular, Vietnam is a priority market. Ubifrance’starget for the short term is to further develop its activities and callmany more French companies to Vietnam so as to double France’s share ofthe Vietnamese market by 2017 thus reducing France’s trade deficit withVietnam.
We have drawn-up an ambitious actionprogram for 2014 to make that goal happen. Apart from the organizationof almost 15 trade missions under specific topics, Ubifrance willcontinue - with reinforced services - to help individual Frenchbusinesses to enter the Vietnamese market.
From nowto the end of this year, Ubifrance will launch in Hanoi and Ho Chi MinhCity four trade missions to connect Vietnamese and French businesses.These events are expected to attract about 40 French companies in fieldssuch as aviation MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), informationtechnologies for the finance and banking sector, pharmaceuticals andcosmetics, and oil and gas-VNA
* What are Ubifrance’s major achievements in boosting trade between the two countries?
Bilateral trade between France and Vietnam has achieved greatsuccesses in recent years, reaching almost 2 billion USD in the firsteight months of this year, including 1.27 billion USD worth ofVietnamese exports to France, a slight increase from a year ago.
The two countries celebrated 40 years of diplomatic relations thisyear. In that framework, Ubifrance developed around 20 major activities,aimed at helping about 350 French businesses to enter the Vietnamesemarket.
A France-Vietnam Business Forum organisedin April by Ubifrance launched in Ho Chi Minh City, the economic part ofthe France Year in Vietnam. It attracted 130 French companies and 700Vietnamese businesses through 1,100 direct meetings between businesses.
Only a few months after this Forum, about 25percent of the French companies already reached or are about to reachtrade agreements with their Vietnamese partners, focusing ontransportation, information technology, sustainable development, health,cosmetics or beverage and spirits.
Also, duringPrime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's visit to France, Ubifrance and theVietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) concluded a cooperativeagreement to further boost trade between the two countries.
* What do French businesses think about the Vietnamese investment and business environment?
Vietnam is a large and attractive market in the buoyant Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. With a large and fast growingpopulation, a dynamic economy and historical relations with France,Vietnam attracts French exporters and investors.
Vietnam is also expected to act as a bridge for foreign companies toenter other markets in the ASEAN region. Vietnam has become a member ofthe World Trade Organization (WTO) and is negotiating a Free TradeAgreement (FTA) with the European Union. All this is expected to makeVietnam more attractive to French investors.
However, French businesses consider that it is not always easy to accessthe Vietnamese market due to regular changes of regulations and highimport tariffs on some items such as wine for example.
Moreover, in terms of investment and business environment, Vietnam isnot the only attractive country in the ASEAN region. For this reason,Vietnam still has much to do including stabilising its legal regulationsso as to attract foreign businesses furthermore.
More than 300 French businesses are operating in Vietnam and about 2,200French companies annually export their products to Vietnam. SuccessfulFrench companies operate (in Vietnam) in typically strong areas ofinterest for France, such as transportation, energy and environment,infrastructures, high technologies, health and cosmetics, food productsand technologies.
* France currently has fairly hightrade deficit with Vietnam. What will Ubifrance do in the near futureto improve the situation?
As for France in generaland Ubifrance in particular, Vietnam is a priority market. Ubifrance’starget for the short term is to further develop its activities and callmany more French companies to Vietnam so as to double France’s share ofthe Vietnamese market by 2017 thus reducing France’s trade deficit withVietnam.
We have drawn-up an ambitious actionprogram for 2014 to make that goal happen. Apart from the organizationof almost 15 trade missions under specific topics, Ubifrance willcontinue - with reinforced services - to help individual Frenchbusinesses to enter the Vietnamese market.
From nowto the end of this year, Ubifrance will launch in Hanoi and Ho Chi MinhCity four trade missions to connect Vietnamese and French businesses.These events are expected to attract about 40 French companies in fieldssuch as aviation MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), informationtechnologies for the finance and banking sector, pharmaceuticals andcosmetics, and oil and gas-VNA
