At the meeting, members of NordCham reviewed the chamber’s activities last year and discussed the ways for developing its activities next years.
As a Nordic non-profit non-governmental organisation in Vietnam, the activities of NordCham aim to strengthen trade and investment ties between Nordic countries and Vietnam. It is also a forum for Nordic enterprises to exchange ideas about issues relating to trade.
Over the past years, NordCham has recorded significant achievements in contributing to the increasing trade and investment volume between Nordic countries and Vietnam. Activities and events organised by NordCham have helped enterprises update information, access markets and cooperate with local partners.
The chamber has made many arrangements in connection with the Danish Business Delegation visit, with the participation of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort of Denmark in September and has cooperated with EuroCham to serve NordCham members in November, accompanying the Swedish King and Queen and business delegations to Vietnam in February.
It also aided the foreign trade and development minister from Finland to seek a breakthrough in relations between the two countries in May and organised many seminars for Nordic enterprises involved in the oil and gas industry and in land, property and real estate development.
NordCham has also developed activities in other fields including culture and health care. It has supported the Centre for East-West Culture and Languages in Hanoi and donated money to the Group of Nordic Women to support Siamese twins and their families, and organised a presentation of Canadian experts on today’s Gold Fever in the world.
Furthermore, NordCham has been involved in several other activities to secure the interests of its members. Members of the Board participated in and gave briefings to several official delegations from five Nordic countries visiting Vietnam last year.
At the meeting, the members spoke highly of NordCham’s role. A representative from a Swedish enterprise said that Vietnam was the right location in Southeast Asia to expand business. The development of trade and investment promotion will help enterprises of the two sides gain higher effectiveness.
Sharing the idea, Bjarne Henneberg Sorensen, the Danish Ambassador to Vietnam, stressed that Vietnam was a market of great potential with many high quality goods, including textiles, garments, footwear, pottery and fruit and vegetable products, but trade exchange between Nordic countries and Vietnam remained modest. Enterprises should focus on exploiting this potential.
To this end, Patrick Johansson, chairman of NordCham, said that the chamber would further more boost trade and investment promotion activities between the two sides. Mr. Johansson said that NordCham renewed three more years of operation in Vietnam last year and would continue its active participation in the Vietnam Business Forum alongside NordCham friends in Ho Chi Minh City.
The annual meeting elected a new eight-member executive committee, which includes Patrick Johansson, Erik Rydgren, August Wingardh, Klavs Nielsen, Bertil Nord, Henrik Juel Andersen, Juha Jumpunen, and Soren Felthusen Husted. Mr Patrick Johansson from Ericsson will take over the chairmanship of NordCham, replacing Preben Hjortlund who has taken the new position of chairman of the Executive Committee of the EuroCham in late May.
On the occasion, Scandinavian Airlines also introduced their representative office East Sea Travel and Air Service at the Vietnam Sofitel Metropole.
