CEOLink last Friday launched the Saigon CEO Group, a forum for its members in HCM City to meet periodically and a support for them in exploring investment and business opportunities. — VNS photo Xuan Huong

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — CEOLink Corporation, a pioneer in Viet Nam in offering online and offline B2B business models, and the Viet Nam-Southeast Asia Friendship Association in HCM City on June 5 signed an agreement to help raise understanding about the ASEAN Economic Community among the former's members.

They will help businesses efficiently exploit the advantages the common market will offer each industry and business so that they can integrate more effectively with the regional market.

CEOLink last Friday also launched the Saigon CEO Group, a forum for its members in HCM City to meet periodically and a support for them in exploring investment and business opportunities.

Nguyen Ngoc Thanh Chung, chairman of Saigon CEO Group, said the AEC, a series of imminent free trade agreements and the upcoming TPP would open the door wide for Vietnamese businesses to enter the global market, which required them to be well prepared.

Phan Thi Hong Xuan, chairwoman of the Viet Nam-Southeast Asia Friendship Association in HCM City, said the establishment of the AEC by the end of this year would open up opportunities for Vietnamese businesses but also pose challenges.

She quoted a recent report by the Ministry of Investment and Planning as saying that more than half of Vietnamese firms did not know about the opportunities and challenges the AEC would throw up.

Besides, only 30-40 per cent of Vietnamese firms had take advantage of falling intra-ASEAN tariffs to boost exports while other ASEAN members had exploited it very well, she said.

She said under the agreement the two sides would work to help businesses exploit the ASEAN market better. — VNS