Gov't-business leaders' dialogues should be held on ASEM Summits margin, says PM

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc is the first speaker at the 16th Asia-Europe Business Forum in Brussels, Belgium on October 18, 2018. Photo: VGP

The Vietnamese Government chief made the above statement at the 16^th Asia-Europe Business Forum held in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday, just hours ahead of the 12^th ASEM Summit.

PM Phuc and Norwegian counterpart Erna Solberg were the key leaders to deliver remarks at the forum.

Globalization and the 4^th Industrial Revolution are transforming the world quickly and profoundly, thus investors are those who clearly feel such changes, opportunities and challenges, according to PM Phuc.

He expressed his belief that globalization has accelerated intensive and extensive economic connectivity and wave of new bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements, creating vast chances for business activities towards sustainable and inclusive development.

Despite unsustainable recovery of global economy and rising protectionism, environmental pollution, rich-poor gap among others, Asia and Europe are the bright growth hubs on the globe.

Asia still remains the engine of global economic growth and a center for global connectivity. It is home to more than 150 free trade agreements, accounting for around 60% of the world’s total.

Meanwhile, European economy is recovering steadily, expanding 2.4% last year, the highest rate over the past decade. Both Asia and Europe have actively opened up great development opportunities thanks to their joint efforts to seal large-scale free trade agreements.

One of the vivid examples was that the European Commission on Wednesday adopted the trade and investment agreements between Viet Nam and the European Union, paving the way for their signature at the end of 2018 and ratification in early 2019.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (seond from left) and Norwegian PM Erna Solberg (third from left) at the 16th Asia-Europe Business Forum. Photo: VGP

Against that backdrop, PM Phuc urged businesses of the two continents to actively engage in fostering connectivity between the two continents.

He suggested the establishment of periodical dialogues between leaders and business communities on the sidelines of ASEM Summits to discuss on a range of issues of common concern.

Business partnership should be enhanced to effectively exploit opportunities of free trade agreements between Asia and Europe, he added.

Businesses should also make dynamic contributions to people-to-people connectivity through improving their social responsibility and protecting the environment to achieve  sustainable development for all, said PM Phuc.

Regarding recent developments in Viet Nam, PM Phuc said the country has maintained high growth rates over the past years.

Viet Nam is a trade partner of more than 200 countries and territories, has signed or joined talks on 16 free trade agreements, making it one of the most open economies in Southeast Asia.

The Vietnamese Government is striving to become one of ASEAN’s top markets in terms of business environment, stimulating entrepreneurship towards the goal of one million enterprises by 2020./.

By Huong Giang