The European Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam (EuroCham) supports the Vietnamese Government’s ambitious target to vaccinate 75 percent of the population as it will be essential to unlock the international trade and investment which is critical to Viet Nam’s economic growth.

Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam (EuroCham) Alain Cany

Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam (EuroCham) Alain Cany made the above statement in a recent interview with the Viet Nam Government Portal.

With Viet Nam in the midst of a fourth-wave COVID-19 outbreak, the EuroCham has asked its members how the private sector can support the government’s vaccination drive and how the pandemic is impacting their business operations.

European business leaders now suggested the government go further and faster, harnessing the power of private enterprise and allowing companies to vaccinate their own staff out of their own pocket. 

Four in five business leaders (79 percent) agreed that businesses should be able to inoculate their workforce. This would reduce the burden on the state budget while also helping to accelerate the government’s vaccination drive.

EuroCham members also encourage the government to ease quarantine regulations for investors and experts who have been vaccinated in their home countries. 

Over two-thirds of business leaders (70 percent) reported that their companies face obstacles from the current restrictions. Meanwhile, 79 percent said that the three-week quarantine would lead to fewer specialists coming to Viet Nam. This could hit foreign investment and hurt the business operations of companies who depend on these essential technicians. 

More than four in five EuroCham members (81 percent) believe that the government should now reduce the quarantine regulations for vaccinated foreign experts and their families to one week maximum and simplify the procedure to address this issue.

Meanwhile, the EuroCham/YouGov data also shows that the Government’s communications campaign on visa and border issues has been a huge success, with 81 percent of European business leaders understanding the regulations.

Viet Nam sets the global standard for COVID-19 prevention

Regarding the nation’s efforts in the COVID-19 pandemic fight, Chairman of EuroCham Alain Cany said that Viet Nam has been one of the world leaders in preventing the spread of COVID-19. 

Swift border closures, strict quarantine measures, and targeted local lockdowns have kept infections low and enabled domestic business activities to resume, he highlighted. 

However, this is not a permanent solution and it cannot continue for much longer without damaging economic growth,  the EuroCham Chairman said, adding that while Viet Nam’s borders are closed, other countries are rolling-out vaccinations and re-opening their doors to the world so there is now a real risk that Viet Nam could fall behind unless it implements its own mass vaccination program at scale and pace.

Cany suggested that the private sector–including foreign enterprise–help speed-up Viet Nam’s vaccination efforts. 

He supposed that companies can provide both the world-leading equipment and the international expertise essential to a successful mass vaccination program. Therefore, Viet Nam’s roadmap to recovery should harness the contribution of European business. 

“But the planning needs to begin now so that we can hit the ground running as soon as vaccines are available”, the Cany stressed. 

Viet Nam has set the global standard for COVID-19 prevention. The challenge now is to match that success with an ambitious and accelerated mass vaccination program. If this can be achieved, there is no doubt that Viet Nam will rebound and recover. This would also help to meet the Government’s twin goals of protecting the population and boosting economic growth, he affirmed. 

Germany supports Viet Nam to speed up vaccination program 

The vaccination progress in Germany is decisive for the economic recovery. For this reason, too, Germany encourages and supports its partners like Viet Nam to do whatever possible to further speed up their vaccination program, said German Ambassador to Viet Nam Guido Hildner.

That is why Germany is working to ensure rapid global delivery of COVID-19 vaccines as part of the COVAX initiative. Germany is the second-biggest donor to the COVAX initiative which has already delivered 2.49 million COVID-19 vaccines to Viet Nam. 

In Germany, those who have been vaccinated are no longer subject to restrictions such as quarantine or regular testing, said Hildner, adding that this is also a great relief for German companies.