The Business Climate Index (BCI) of European business leaders in Vietnam’s trade and investment environment, stood at 81 points in the third quarter (Q3) this year, the second-highest result since the end of 2016. Despite a slight dip since the high watermark of Q2 – the highest BCI score for 18 months – business sentiment in Q3 remains strong.
Meanwhile, just 8% described their situation as negative. Looking ahead to the next quarter, business leaders remain optimistic, with 60% anticipating a ‘Good’ outlook for their enterprise and a further 11% looking forward to an ‘Excellent’ end to 2018.
“Despite the less positive view on the current business situation, European business leaders still place confidence in the development in business conditions in Vietnam,” EuroCham said in a statement.
EuroCham members are also positive about Vietnam’s macroeconomic outlook, with 58% predicting ‘Stabilization and Improvement’ in the next quarter and 32% believing that it will remain static. Meanwhile, less than 10% of business leaders anticipate a worsening economic outlook.
The survey results showed that over half of business leaders anticipate growing their workforce in Q4, with 41.9% predicting a ‘Moderate’ and a further 8.4% predicting a ‘Significant’ increase. Meanwhile, less than 8% believe that their headcount will fall.
Likewise, over 50% of EuroCham members believe that their business will grow its investment in the last quarter of 2018, with 40.9% predicting a ‘Moderate’ rise and 10.8% predicting a ‘Significant’ rise. Just 6% foresee a reduction in their investment plan.
Revenue projections are even more impressive, with over 70 % of business leaders anticipating either a ‘Significant’ (15.3%) or ‘Moderate’ (56.2%) rise in orders or revenue in Q4.
“The results of EuroCham’s latest Business Climate Index are another vote of confidence in Vietnam’s trade and investment environment. Our members continue to report positive signals across the board, from increasing their investment to growing their workforce,” said Co-Chairman of EuroCham Nicolas Audier when commenting on the BCI.
He reminded that in October, EuroCham and VCCI co-organized a high-level lunch in Brussels with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, bringing together almost 20 major business leaders from across Europe eager to grow their investment in Vietnam.
The strong interest in this event highlights the appetite of European investors to increase their footprint in Vietnam, with ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement on the horizon. EuroCham will continue to push for the quick ratification of this historic deal, and encourage more European trade and investment in Vietnam in the future, he added.
