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A
BUSINESS conference about
Vietnam’s
Economic Miracle will be held on October 23 from 8 a.m.
to 6 p.m. at the Li Seng Giap Auditorium of the
University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) on Pearl
Drive, Ortigas Center.
The
business conference, entitled,“Doing Business with
Vietnam: Seizing Opportunities in Asia’s Next Tiger
Economy and Learning Success Factors on How to Achieve
Economic Growth with Equitable Distribution of Income,”
is coorganized by academe, representatives of the
governments of both countries and the private sector,
specifically the UA&P, the Department of Trade and
Industry, the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam and ZMG Signium Ward Howell Inc., a leading
provider of human-capital solutions in the region
engaged in executive search and consultancy.
Filipino
executives and entrepreneurs, government leaders and
educators alike are invited to participate in the
business conference.
The
objectives of the conference are first, to raise the
awareness among Filipino companies on the numerous
opportunities for doing business in Vietnam,
particularly in bilateral trade (import-export) and
direct and financial investments; and secondly, to share
the success factors behind Vietnam’s economic miracle
marked by sustainable economic growth and equitable
income distribution.
Vietnam
has won the admiration of the global business community
in recent years for its success in achieving the
seemingly elusive goal of economic growth with equitable
distribution of income.
Vietnam
has been growing at plus 7.5 percent for the past 10
years, while the level of poverty incidence has been
drastically cut from 60 percent in 1990 down to 15
percent in 2006.
Foreign
direct investments are expected to swell to $25 billion
in 2007 and foreign tourists to reach 5 million, mostly
foreign (unlike the Philippines, where half of the 3
million tourists are balikbayan).
The
country’s GINI Coefficient (a measure of inequality
where a factor of 1 means Perfect Inequality, or only
one person owns 100 percent of national wealth) is a
respectable 0.37 versus the Phillippines’ 0.50, even
higher than some poor African nations.
Conference speakers will consist of Vietnam’s
top-ranking government officials from the Ministries of
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry, Planning and
Investments, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, and representatives from the private sector,
including the Vietnam offices of Citibank, Ernst &
Young, Unilever, A.C. Nielsen, as well as leading
Vietnamese companies like Saigon Trading Corp. and
Golden Communications.
The
conference will also feature Filipino expatriates based
in Vietnam eager to share experiences and best practices
with local counterparts.
The same
group that organized this conference also organized the
recently concluded First Philippine-Vietnam Business
Mission held in Ho Chi Minh City from August 29 to
September 1, 2007, where 60 Filipino businessmen were
led by DTI Senior Undersecretary Dr. Thomas Aquino Jr.
in what was hailed by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce
and Industry as one of the best and fastest organized
business missions from any country.
Businessmen from both countries attest to this as
evidenced by the numerous business deals involving
partnerships, investments and trade that are currently
undergoing various stages of negotiation.
Applications for the Second Philippine-Vietnam Business
Mission are now open, and interested participants are
encouraged to attend the business conference on the
Vietnam Economic Miracle.
Interested parties may call Flor Mojica-Sevilla and/or
Melissa Labuguen at the UA&P (634-2819) or Sheryn Guzman
at ZMG Signium Ward Howell Inc. (816-2466) for details. |
