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| Italy’s Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam Damiano Francovigh (R) claps his hands when Alain Cany (L) of EuroCham and Tomaso Andreatta of ICham show the affiliation agreement after the signing in HCMC on Monday - Photo: Mong Binh |
Alain Cany, chairman of EuroCham Vietnam, said the affiliation agreement would enable Icham members to benefit from both Icham and EuroCham services.
“For ICham members, they are now able to access EuroCham’s broad variety of offers to our members, from events over lobbying to information and services,” he said after signing the agreement with ICham Chairman Tomaso Andreatta.
“Together, we can have a stronger voice and approach the Government to improve the business climate for all of us.”
Cany said the agreement was an important step for both EuroCham and Icham, as it marked EuroCham’s number of corporate members in Vietnam passed the threshold of more than 700. “This will make EuroCham one of the biggest and most influential chambers of commerce in the country.”
ICham Chairman Andreatta told the signing ceremony that becoming an integral part of EuroCham was the successful passing a key test about its maturity.
“It is only natural that ICham becomes an active and full member of EuroCham, which already represents all other Chambers of founding member states of the EC, and which is universally recognized as the leading lobbying and business interests catalyser in Vietnam,” Andreatta said.
Andreatta told the Daily after the signing that it was better for ICham to be under the same roof of EuroCham for its over 40 members, mostly Italian companies with a presence in Vietnam, to take full advantage of business opportunities in this market.
He said Vietnam was a small market for Italian companies but emphasized that it was an important production and service base for them to enter and expand operations in Southeast Asia.
Back in 2003, EuroCham adopted a strategy to enter into partnership agreements with national chambers of commerce in Vietnam. As a result, EuroCham received initial partners, namely the French Chamber of Commerce (CCIFV), the German Business Association (GBA) and the Dutch Business Association in that year.
The Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (BeluxCham) became part of EuroCham in 2006. The Spanish Country Committee also joined in June this year as a Country Committee, and Cany hoped they would be a business association very soon.
