Scottish companies are exceptionally well placed to benefit from burgeoning opportunities in Vietnam, a delegation from the fast-growing communist country will tell business people next week.
Speaking in advance of a three day-trip next week at the invitation of the Asia Scotland Institute, Nugyen Thi Hong Thuy, commercial counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in London told the Sunday Herald: "The UK in general and Scotland in particular have so many areas of complementarity. Vietnam is a fast-growing country at a low level of development and Scotland is at the opposite end of the supply chain, and there are key industries where we can collaborate, from chemicals and fertilisers and the strong maritime industry which is of great interest to a country like ours with a long [3330km] coastline."
"There are other areas such as food and drink and textiles and garments, education and tourism where Scotland is famous and we think can help us with technology, management techniques and know-how. This trip is a rare opportunity to explore on both sides."
A semi-planned but increasingly free-market economy with a population of 90m, Vietnam last year grew at a breakneck 6 per cent, almost equal to its giant neighbour China. The nation has been a popular centre for offshore manufacturing since the "doi moi" reforms of the 1980s, particularly in the software and electronics industries, where it hosts a $2bn investment by Samsung.
To upgrade its still undeveloped infrastructure the Hanoi Government is calling for $58.2bn (£37.3m) in foreign direct investment for roads, health and education, sanitation and other essential sectors, all of which will be on the agenda of the delegation - also including the country's top diplomat in the UK Madam Ho Thi Kim Thoa and commercial attaché Pham Tuan Huy - next week in its three days of meetings with companies operating in Scotland, including Arup, who will host a visit to the site of the new Queensferry Crossing.
Roddy Gow, the chairman of the Asia Scotland Institute who last year visited Vietnam at the invitation of the government, said that the country was "in a hurry to get things done" and called on Scottish-based companies to seize opportunities for engagement.
Last month Vietnam dropped visa requirements for short-time visitors from five European countries including the UK.
The Asia Scotland Society will also next week stage talks in Edinburgh and Glasgow by Richard Heald, chief executive of the UK-India Business Council discussing "unlocking the Indian enigma".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article