Business confidence and outlook among European businesses in Vietnam has increased, according to the EuroCham Business Climate Index survey.
The results of the second quarterly survey, conducted in Jan. 2011 and released on Feb. 11, showed that business confidence has increased with a EuroCham business climate index of 79, compared with 75 points for the previous survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The number of surveyed businesses expecting their sector to grow by more than 8 percent in 2011 has risen from 42 percent to 58 percent and those that want to increase their investment in Vietnam has increased from 23 percent to 32 percent.
Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) Alain Cany said the index reflected the broad confidence of EuroCham members in Vietnam’s business prospects after the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. With the new Party leadership, the main economic issues will be tackled and key structural reforms will be accelerated to further increase Vietnam’s competitiveness, he said.
Despite EuroCham’s concern about inflationary pressures, EuroCham Executive Director Matthias Duhn expressed his belief the Vietnam’s leadership will be able to maintain investor confidence in macro-economic stability, in particular by balancing growth and inflation.
Since its establishment with only 60 members in Ho Chi Minh City in 1998, EuroCham has grown to represent more than 750 European businesses, counting among its supporters many of the world’s leading enterprises./.
(VNA)
