The HCM City Union of Business Associations (HUBA) has signed an agreement with the American Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam (AmCham Vietnam) to promote technology transfer and expand investment opportunities.

Speaking at the signing ceremony on Saturday, HUBA Chairman Chu Tien Dung said boosting connectivity and technology transfer between foreign-invested and domestic businesses is a goal for the union.

Viet Nam has been attracting a big flow of foreign investment, but foreign-invested firms’ transfer and domestic companies’ absorption of technology remain modest, he noted.

He attributed the problem to Vietnamese enterprises’ lack of preparations for receiving new technologies. Meanwhile, the country’s foreign direct investment attraction policy hasn’t forced foreign businesses to transfer technology to or support the development of domestic ones.

As a result, many foreign-invested businesses only focus on capitalising on natural resources and low labour costs while not making use of the business development ecosystem or intelligence resources to boost the Vietnamese contribution to their products.

He noted that the agreement between HUBA and AmCham is one of the first steps to improve bilateral co-operation to support member entrepreneurs and businesses in transferring technology, expanding investment chances and developing markets.

Executive Director of AmCham Vietnam John Rockhold said trade and investment ties between Viet Nam and the US are developing well. To boost ties between US and Vietnamese firms, AmCham will regularly organise meetings and exchanges between enterprises to share experience and discuss investment opportunities.

AmCham will also encourage US companies to assist and transfer new technologies and introduce development resources to Vietnamese firms to build a basis for co-operation and mutual support for sustainable development, he added. — VNS