The EuroCham members underlined their both confidence and predictions about Vietnam’s economy in the first quarterly EuroCham Business Climate Index that EuroCham chairman in Vietnam, Alain Cany, released in HCMC on Wednesday.
Cany said most EuroCham members participating in the survey bore positive business confidence in Vietnam this year and beyond, giving a business climate index of 75 points on a scale from 0 point for the lowest confidence to 100 points for the highest level.
“The business confidence and outlook among European businesses in Vietnam remain extremely positive,” Cany said in his opening speech at the survey release function. He told the Daily that chief executives of more than 200 EuroCham member companies in Vietnam took part in the online survey early this month.
EuroCham executive board member Peter Born said the respondents held very positive views about investment plans next year. He demonstrated that 70% of them listed their outlook as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, and 68% of surveyed companies planned investment increases in Vietnam.
More EuroCham members look to higher economic growth, as Born said 60% of the respondents expected Vietnam’s gross domestic product to expand by 6-8% in 2011, and this showed an overall confidence in Vietnam’s further economic expansion. Vietnam’s GDP is projected to increase by 6.7% this year.
The survey also indicated steadily or slightly increased recruitment among EuroCham members in Vietnam. When asked about their future employment, 31% of the respondents plan their workforce to rise by up to 20%, while 18% unveil a significant rise of over 20%.
Salary rises loom ahead, as most EuroCham companies forecast the salaries for both skilled and unskilled workers to be up by 5-10% next year. The vast majority is not expecting any kind of labor unrest or strikes in their particular business sector.
EuroCham members are also concerned about increasing inflation and the dong losing its value over both euro and U.S. dollar. Born said half of the surveyed European businesses expected inflation in Vietnam to be 10%, while 39% of them predicted inflation to reach 10-15% in 2011.
Vietnam is striving to curb this year’s consumer price index at 8%, but this revised target is seen almost impossible, as the General Statistics Office put the CPI rise in the January-October period at 7.58% compared to last December and 9.66% to the same period last year.
According to the EuroCham survey, most respondents anticipate a 5-10% depreciation of Vietnam dong against both euro and U.S. dollar.
Born summed up his remarks by saying that the overall response to this first quarterly business climate index survey showed a largely positive sentiment.
Cany said the EuroCham Business Climate Index was aimed to provide a simple mechanism to enable members and the general public to see how they perceive the business climate at any given moment in Vietnam.
The business climate index is an internet-based survey of questionnaires for EuroCham member companies to respond to, especially on current business issues and the area of policies that affect the foreign business community in Vietnam.
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