Attending the meeting were Mr. Noel Clehane, Vice Chairman of EU-ABC and Mr. Ingo Brandenburg, EuroCham Board Member, Managing Director, Country Head of Pharmaceuticals Division of Bayer Vietnam; and representatives from over 40 large corporations in many fields.

MOCST’s Deputy Minister Ho An Phong and EU-ABC Vice Chairman Noel Clehane at the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Coming to Vietnam with the largest business delegation ever, the EU-ABC and EuroCham wants to strengthen cultural and tourism cooperation

The business trip of the EU-ASEAN Business Council is an annual activity jointly organised by EU-ABC and EuroCham in a number of ASEAN countries, to promote trade and investment activities of European businesses in Southeast Asia.

EU-ABC Vice Chairman Noel Clehane is glad to see the excellent results as well as the strong relationship between EU-ABC and ASEAN and its member countries, including Vietnam. “This business trip to Vietnam has the largest number of participating businesses ever. This demonstrates the desire to expand cooperation between related fields between EU-ABC and Vietnam, especially in culture and tourism”, said EU-ABC Vice Chairman Noel Clehane.

EU-ABC Vice Chairman Noel Clehane speaking at the meeting (Photo: TITC)

On this occasion, Mr. Noel Clehane also congratulated Vietnam on acquiring many great achievements in promoting sustainable economic development and green economy. Vietnam has become an attractive destination for investors from Europe. Mr. Noel Clehane hopes that with Vietnam's business policies and promotion of inclusive and open cooperation, Vietnam and the European Union (EU) can strengthen cooperation, aiming for progress in bilateral economic cooperation.

The confidence of European businesses operating in Vietnam in the positive development of Vietnam's economy is being strongly strengthened, Mr. Noel Clehane affirmed. Vietnam is one of the central pillars in trade development policy and an important partner of the EU. With the signing of free trade agreements, trade activities between Vietnam and the EU will continue to make many strides in many fields, including services and tourism.

Regarding the field of tourism, the two sides exchanged a number of contents related to Vietnam's tourism development orientation, strategy for building a national tourism brand, and developing cruise tourism, attracting tourists by Vietnam's culinary culture…

Mr. Ingo Brandenburg, EuroCham Board Member, Managing Director, Country Head of Pharmaceuticals Division of Bayer Vietnam, testified, EuroCham is always ready to cooperate with Vietnam in tourism promotion activities. At the same time, he hopes the two sides would have more discussions to seek opportunities for cooperation in the field of tourism between EuroCham and Vietnam, for the common benefit of both sides.

Happy with Vietnam's increasingly open visa policy, Mr. Ingo Brandenburg expressed his hope that in the coming time, Vietnam will continue to expand visa exemption policy for European member countries. Along with improving facilities and other factors, Mr. Ingo Brandenburg hopes that a large number of European tourists will come and return to Vietnam.

“EuroCham will always accompany the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to propose proposals to promote Vietnamese tourism, so that more and more tourists can come and experience the wonderful landscapes, culture and cuisine of Vietnam”, Mr. Ingo Brandenburg expressed.

MOCST’s Deputy Minister Ho An Phong speaking at the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Open visa policy, unique tourism products, and attractive cuisine are factors that promote the attraction of European tourists.

Speaking at the meeting, MOCST’s Deputy Minister Ho An Phong highly appreciates the role of the EU-ABC in promoting trade and investment activities of European businesses in Southeast Asia. Regarding tourism development orientation and Vietnam's national tourism branding strategy, MOCST’s Deputy Minister declared, considering continuous efforts in recent times, Vietnam has become a prominent destination on the world tourism map. Vietnam has many strengths to develop tourism such as seaports, ecosystems, historical and cultural values, rich national identity, captivating natural landscapes, friendly and hospitable people… with attractive and unique cuisine.

Recently, Vietnam has issued many open policies to ensure rapid, sustainable and green tourism development. The Vietnamese government identifies tourism as a key economic sector of the country, promoting the Vietnam tourism brand with the title and logo "Vietnam - Timeless Charm" to the international and the domestic tourist market. Visa policy is also continuously researched and expanded to create favourable conditions for international tourists to Vietnam. Identifying Europe as one of the traditional and potential tourist exchange markets, each year, Vietnam organises many major promotional events both domestically and internationally to attract European tourists and international visitors in general.

Overview of the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Vietnam focuses on developing tourism products based on advantages to improve competitiveness to attract domestic and foreign tourists. Tourism products must be attractive, suitable to the demands of European tourists, retaining visitors longer and spending more. At the same time, promote links and cooperation between destinations, tourism businesses and airlines to exploit potential tourism products and services and competitive advantages, emphasised MOCST’s Deputy Minister Ho An Phong.

Regarding the type of cruise tourism, MOCST’s Deputy Minister Ho An Phong indicated, Vietnam has many strengths to develop marine tourism. Vietnam has developed many seaports across the country. This will be a good opportunity for European partners to invest in developing cruise tourism in Vietnam, opening up more opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam and the EU.

MOCST’s Deputy Minister Ho An Phong gifting souvenir to EU-ABC Vice Chairman Noel Clehane (Photo: TITC)

MOCST’s Deputy Minister Ho An Phong gifting souvenir to Mr. Ingo Brandenburg, EuroCham Board Member, Managing Director, Country Head of Pharmaceuticals Division of Bayer Vietnam (Photo: TITC)

Regarding culinary tourism, MOCST’s Deputy Minister Ho An Phong said, Vietnam is highly appreciated in the world culinary industry and is one of the countries with the most attractive cuisine in the world. The values ​​in Vietnam's culinary culture are also continuously preserved and promoted. Currently, Vietnam is making efforts to develop night tourism to help tourists have more opportunities to enjoy unique dishes of Vietnamese cuisine. Vietnam also attaches special importance to training human resources in the field of food processing techniques. In the coming time, activities to promote Vietnamese culinary culture will continue to be promoted to attract and increase tourist experiences.

Leaders and delegates of both sides taking souvenir photo (Photo: TITC)

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