Address by H.E. Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the Opening Session ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After more than four decades of establishment and development, ASEAN has become an integrated politico-economic entity and a successful and dynamic regional organization that plays an important role in the region and is an indispensable partner of major countries and international organizations in the world.

The growth of ASEAN is significantly contributed by the establishment of frameworks for ASEAN economic integration in the course of building the ASEAN Economic Community - an important pillar of the ASEAN Community. The integration commitments, the core economic cooperation programs of the ASEAN Economic Community are being translated into reality. A common market, an emerging unified economic space are being completed on the basis of the great harmony of the national trade principles and the macro-policy coordination capacity among ASEAN Members. This process along with the ASEAN+1 Free Trade Areas with China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand will create dynamism for producers and the free flow of goods, services and more liberation in terms of labor and capital in the regional economy. Programs, plans to build up an ASEAN Community including the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity to be adopted on this occasion will create new opportunities to boost trade and investment in our area.

Enterprises will benefit from efficient development in proper scale to increase productivity, reduce production cost resulting in affordable prices. Consumers in ASEAN and East Asia will have a more effective choice in terms of price and quality of goods and services. This process will create a chain among enterprises in ASEAN and East Asia, further labor allocation in the region, enhance the Global Competitiveness of the region, and generate more jobs, thus contributing to narrow the rich-poor gap, the development gap and enforce social stability.

The leaders of Tan Tao Group attending the conference

Nevertheless, the creation of the institutional framework to build up an ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN+1 Free Trade Area network constitute its initial steps. Whether or not these efforts can turn into successes for the business of enterprises in particular and the strong growth of the region in general, still depend heavily on the dynamism of the Business Community. Enterprises should make use most of the opportunities offered by policy programs established by ASEAN Governments to enhance connectivity, boost trade and investment activities, including Public-Private Partnership.

In this context, I warmly welcome and highly appreciate the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit with the broad participation coming from enterprises’ leaders, policy makers, scholars of ASEAN and ASEAN’s partners. I believe that the Summit today will continue to be a valuable opportunity to boost cooperation, experience sharing to enhance trade and investment efficiency of ASEAN business community and other partner nations.

I also call upon you all to actively discuss common challenges and our counter-tactics in hope that we will join hands in building up a tightly integrated and stronger ASEAN Community.

Vietnam is a member country of ASEAN with a population of nearly 90 million people, ranking13th largest population amongst 200 countries in the world. Vietnam is an active, responsible and constructive member of ASEAN. Vietnam has a market economy and is a member of the WTO. Vietnam has trade and investment relations with almost all countries and territories around the world. Vietnam’s total two-way trade turnover grows 15 to 20 percent per year on average and in that the trade turnover between Vietnam and ASEAN accounts for around 25%. Vietnam has an annual economic growth of 7-8% per year for 25 consecutive years. Just in the 2006-2010 period, Vietnam economy grows 7% per annum on average despite the severe impact caused by the financial crisis and global recession. Vietnam is expected to maintain 6.7% growth of GDP in 2010.

Vietnam calls upon and creates favorable conditions for enterprises, foreign investors, in first, enterprises and investors in the ASEAN countries to invest, to do business and develop trade activities for mutual benefits and growth with Vietnam. The Vietnamese Government always creates favorable conditions, and cooperates with other ASEAN members to create favorable connectivity so that ASEAN investors and enterprises come to invest and grow together with Vietnam and also invest and develop trade activities in ASEAN, working together to build an increasingly powerful economic pillar of the ASEAN community.

Vietnam has always believed that success of foreign investors and of your owns is also Vietnam’s success.

On this spirit, I again welcome the Summit and wish the Summit every success.

Thank you!