This is the sixth report in our series of AVPI Policy Briefings detailing the discussions had at the Australia Vietnam Business Champion Roundtable in Ho Chi Minh City on the 20 October 2022.
This policy briefing captures insights from the Australia Vietnam Business Champion Roundtable held in Ho Chi Minh City on 20 October 2022, organised by the Australia Vietnam Policy Institute (AVPI) in collaboration with AVPI’s Knowledge Partner AusCham Vietnam.
Hosted collectively by the Australian Business Champions to Vietnam, Rob Gordon – CEO, SunRice, Louise Adams – COO, Aurecon, and Martin Bean CBE – CEO, The Bean Centre. This roundtable brought together 23 participants and five observers from Australian industry operating in Vietnam and participants of an Austrade Business Delegation to Vietnam.
This open, honest and passionate discussion allowed participants to explore a new network of businesses operating in Vietnam and professionals with unique perspectives on the trade and investment relationship. It also acted as a forum for sharing on-the-ground experiences as useful learnings for Australian businesses looking to enter, or further engage, in Vietnam in future.
The key themes that arose from the discussion in Ho Chi Minh City were ‘Breaking perceptions, ‘Enhancing emotional value’ and ‘Global good’, which are reflected in the report.
These discussion highlighted the need for Australian businesses to articulating Australian quality standards and Increase impact investment for greater all-round ROI. Particularly, Australian organisations should support their Vietnamese counterparts to meet and communicate how they are meeting Australian data security standards. Moreover, Australian businesses can gain from impact invesment in areas that promise long-term growth, showcase Australia’s comparative advantage, enhance social impact outcomes and drive emotional value attached to Australian products and services.
The report recommends that the Australian Government showcase success stories of Australia-Vietnam SMEs, as examples for SMEs in both countries to thrive in each other’s markets. Another suggestion is to update regulations to align with contemporary global work practices by reforming the current relations and policies around remote working models, as well as adjusting visa arrangements to increase the free flow of talent across borders.
For the Vietnamese Government, the report highlights the need to reduce the divide between development and economic initiatives, to harness further opportunities by proactively seeking government-to-government initiatives to drive private-sector social enterprise partnerships. There is also an opportunity to clarify and modernise labour mobility policies and proceedures, which includes adjusting visa arrangements to ehance inter-regional workforce mobility and secure long-term certainty for the talent pipeline.
