From a business matching session to tours of Southeast Asia’s second-tallest building and a dragon fruit farm, the Young Executives Club (YEC) recent business mission to Ho Chi Minh City on 20-22 November opened doors to a range of opportunities in Vietnam.
Past YEC missions have included trips to China, Cambodia, Israel, Japan, South Korea and the United States, and this year’s choice of destination, the historic Southeast Asian city formerly known as Saigon, reflected Vietnam’s rise as one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Hong Kong has been increasing at a rate of over 10% per annum. The country exported goods worth US$10 billion to Hong Kong last year, while imported commodities worth US$1.78 billion from the city – up 19.8% year-on-year.
Hong Kong is currently Vietnam’s fifth largest foreign investor, with 2,164 projects representing a total investment of nearly US$29.5 billion, mostly in the processing and manufacturing industry, real estate, and electricity, gas and water production and distribution.
Business Matching
The YEC mission kicked off with a business and investment matching session and gala dinner at the Tan Son Nhat Golf Course, which was attended by around 150 Vietnamese and Hong Kong enterprises, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Institute for Economic and Trade Development (IETD) of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City. The event offered plenty of networking opportunities with exhibitors showcasing food and beverages, healthcare products, jewellery and handicrafts at over 30 booths.
After presentations on the country’s economic development and special policies for Hong Kong investors, YEC Chairman Olivia Kung and HKGCC General Committee member Edmond Yue thanked the Vietnam Government and underlined the need to strengthen Vietnam-Hong Kong ties in their speeches. On behalf of HKGCC, Yue signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IETD to enhance mutual trade and people-to-people links.
Major Developments
Vinhomes Grand Park is one of the largest and most ambitious real estate projects in Ho Chi Minh City, and it was impressive to note that on completion, the mega city will have 15 recreational parks under various themes. Some are the first of their kind in the country, such as a mini-terrain golf park and a kayaking zone. Members also had the opportunity to meet the project leaders of an artificial beach made with sand brought in from Nha Trang Beach.
Another highlight of the trip was Vingroup’s Landmark 81, the second tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia at 470m. After enjoying the breathtaking city views, members were shown around a Vinhomes luxury apartment on one of the highest floors, and stopped by the Vinfast showroom on the ground floor for updates on the latest developments in motoring technology.
The delegation also called on Tina Phan, Director, Indochina, at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in Ho Chi Minh City, where the two sides exchanged views on development in Vietnam and opportunities for businesses in Hong Kong.
The three-day mission wrapped with a day trip to Long An, a province in the Mekong Delta that counts among Vietnam’s largest producers of dragon fruit, where members learned about the cultivation process and sampled some freshly plucked dragon fruit. They also toured a few fresh and dried fruit factories to see how the produce is processed after harvesting.