The 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Summit is a crucial opportunity for businesses throughout central Viet Nam to seek trade partners and export markets as representatives of foreign firms flock to the business forums at APEC from November 5-11, Da Nang business people and officials say.

Nearly 2,000 CEOs will attend the CEO Summit in the city. Vice chairman of the city’s Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Association (DANASME), Nguyen Van Ly, told Viet Nam News that this would represent a rare opportunity for local firms to show off their capacity.

The city has 21,000 businesses, of which 98 per cent are SMEs and super-small businesses with registered capital of VND90 trillion (US$3.9 billion). They contribute 43 per cent to the city’s Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), and employ 60 per cent of the city’s labour force. Eighty per cent of the city businesses operate in trade, service, hospitality, tourism property and retails, making international connections especially important.

Da Nang has been a leader in Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) for the past decade. It has 408 domestic projects worth $4.5 billion, and 525 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth $3 billion.

Tourism real estate remains an investment magnet in this central city, attracting 25 (FDI) projects worth US$1.8 billion. But the city’s business community faces challenges that the APEC Summit could help ameliorate.

“We have been struggling in seeking a larger export market and long-term strategic partners in service and tourism as well as property. For us, building connections with giant foreign partners is nearly impossible,” Ly said. “Our small and medium enterprise community faces limited funds and technology, as well as little international exposure. That’s why the APEC Summit is very important to the city’s business community.”

Ly said he hoped that local businesses would be able to share experiences with CEOs from some of the world’s top firms and join global production processes.

He said the association had received a list of top 100 enterprises in the APEC’s CEO Summit for business matching. Local businesses are particularly expected to connect with international firms operating in the fields of finance, hi-tech and human resources.

Tourism boon

The 2017 APEC Summit was a “diamond” chance for Da Nang’s tourism industry in hosting the world’s top economic leaders and CEOs, as well as officials from 21 member economies and partners, said the city’s tourism association, Huynh Tan Vinh.

Vinh said the city received an award for Asia’s Leading Festival and Event at the World Travel Awards ceremony for tourism last year. He said that hosting the APEC Summit would confirm the city’s tourism prowess.

He said Da Nang was also the first city in Viet Nam and the South-east Asian region to host a leg of the Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race last year. Because of that event, the symbol of the Ngu Hanh Son Mountain (Marble Mountain) and the city’s tourism logo, Fantastic City, travelled around the globe.

“The APEC Summit is a great promotional opportunity for the city’s tourism industry,” Vinh said. “We’ll be able to offer international observers an introduction to the city through the first-hand experiences of 10,000 delegates, 2,000 CEOs and 3,000 journalists at the APEC Summit.”

He said the city had received huge investment from the central Government and private sectors in infrastructure projects, including airport expansion—a new terminal could host about 14 million tourists per year—convention halls, accommodations, human resource training and decoration projects.

“The city has developed 600 hotels and resorts to provide 26,000 rooms for hosting 15 million tourists per year in 2030,” Vinh said.

Yeon In Jung, the CEO and general director of South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries Viet Nam (Doosan Vina) said the APEC Summit was an excellent opportunity for Viet Nam to showcase its advantages and encourage firms to invest and open a branch or subsidiary in the country like Doosan did in 1995.

He said the APEC Summit would provide long-term benefit for Viet Nam, its people and businesses; the exposure that Viet Nam would receive is tremendous.

“If you think of Viet Nam in terms of a ‘brand’, hosting the APEC Summit will introduce key decision makers in Government and business people from all over the world to what is possible in Viet Nam, and that is priceless,” he added.

“The VIP’s that are coming will be able to see firsthand what companies like Doosan have done here and they’ll be able to easily see the possibilities for investment. Another side effect will be the millions of people in the leaders home nations who will also be shown what it is like to visit and do business in Viet Nam by their media, so the benefits from APEC will last long after the event and have a knock-on effect that will bring lasting value to Viet Nam for many years to come,” he said.

“I think all the factors for success are here and good businessmen are sure to recognize that,” he continued. “They will ‘Carpe Diem’ or seize the day and take a serious look at Viet Nam.” — VNS