Dear valued GBA Members,
As the Co-Chairs of the German Business Association (GBA), we would like to thank you on behalf of the GBA Board of Directors for your valued contribution and great support to our activities throughout the year.
At the beginning of 2023, we set three key priorities for our work with high motivation and energy: (1) transform for excellence by enhancing the GBA’s operations and communications; (2) deliver substance-driven business content by improving the quality and quantity of GBA events; and (3) promote GBA topics by working closely with GBA members to identify needs and address issues. We have made significant progress in achieving these goals. We are excited to share with you some of the highlights that have propelled us forward as one of the most influential and active business associations.
Throughout the year, the GBA Board of Directors proactively engaged with the local authorities across the country through various channels, such as high-level dialogues, surveys, press releases, and letters, to ensure favorable conditions for the trade and investment flows between Germany and Vietnam. We have received positive feedback and recognition from the government officials, and we have maintained regular communication with them. Some examples of our activities are:
- The strong presence of the German delegation at several high-level meetings with the government authorities in the past months, such as the dialogues with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai, and the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC).
- Two fruitful visits to the Central Vietnam (Quang Nam Province and Da Nang City) and the Northern Vietnam (Hai Phong City and Thai Binh Province) in the second quarter of 2023. We also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Investment Promotion Agency of Da Nang City to further promote investment initiatives in the Central Region.
We have also enhanced the GBA’s internal operation by moving to a new office premises on the fourth floor of the prestigious Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City. We have strengthened our team by welcoming a new board member, Mr. Ingo Brandenburg, General Director of Bayer Vietnam, a new GBA Ambassador for the Central Region of Vietnam, Mr. Ly Tan Can, Head of Technical Product Management Vietnam at Dräxlmaier Group, and a new GBA Executive Director, Mrs. Quynh Anh Le. These strategic appointments will enable us to serve our members better.
As the focal point of German business life, culture, and values in Vietnam, we have developed an extensive network that offers various opportunities for the prosperity of the German community through events, resources, and networks. We have attracted over 20,000 participants to 70 business, sports, social, and cultural events this year, which we arranged, organized, and co-hosted with various chambers of commerce and business associations across Vietnam. These collaborations have enabled us to leverage the collective expertise, resources, and networks of multiple organizations, resulting in more impactful and diverse events.
Here are some of the highlights of our activities in 2023 that we would like to share with you:
- We expanded the GBA Oktoberfests to Da Nang City for the first time, in addition to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The 7-night festival attracted more than 10,500 participants, 34 corporate sponsors.
- We organized eight Business Meetings – our regular backbone event – where we offered valuable facts and business insights on various topics. We had an average of 80 attendees per event, demonstrating the huge interest of our members and friends.
- Members for Members workshop has become a promising format as we have received a higher number of requests from our members to contribute to the community by sharing peer-to-peer experiences and insights on doing business in Vietnam. We organized six workshops and one Industry Connect event with a wide range of topics.
- We offered four exclusive GBA Excursion trips to Vietnamese-German University, Vinfast Hai Phong, FPT Software, and Mercedes-Benz Vietnam, which received overwhelming responses within a few days of announcement.
- We hosted a variety of events for professional and social networking on a monthly basis, such as eight DeutschenTreff events in Ho Chi Minh City, two in Hanoi, and two Danang Meets Europe events in Danang City.
- Our sports events were a huge success this year, with a record-breaking number of 400 participants and 20 teams at the GBA Football Cup – Season VI, and 150 players at the GBA Badminton Tournament - Season II.
- Our CSR initiative, the GBA Business Challenge, has now reached 300 diverse business concepts through four seasons, with the potential to positively impact society, the environment, and people in the long term. This is an effort by the GBA to boost Vietnam’s economic development, create jobs and income, and connect German and Vietnamese business values and opportunities.
To highlight our cooperation with the European and global business community, we would like to mention some of the events that we co-organized or participated in:
- The French and German business communities celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Franco-German Day at the Feierabend Rendez-vous in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with more than 300 participants.
- In collaboration with other business associations, the GBA held the networking events, Business Thursdays in Hanoi and European Night in Ho Chi Minh City.
- To extend our reach beyond the European business community, we organized networking events with the Taiwanese and Indian Chambers of Commerce, attracting more than 250 participants in total.
- We were thrilled to see that four GBA members, Bayer Vietnam, Bosch Vietnam, FPT Software, and Nestlé Vietnam, were shortlisted in three different categories of the EuroCham Business Awards 2023. FPT Software won the Business Innovation Award and Nestlé Vietnam won the Employer of the Year Award.
To enhance our communication with our members, we successfully launched the GBA WhatsApp and Zalo Announcements Group, as a frequent communication channel with around 600 followers, and the central email wecare@gba-vietnam.org where GBA members can address any challenges or problems and request support from the GBA and/or their caretaker from the GBA Board of Directors. The CRM system Glue-Up is currently in the final stages of being setup and deployed for our members.
In 2024, we will continue to be your voice and advocate in Vietnam, fostering bilateral socio-economic relations between Vietnam and Germany, and supporting you in developing and protecting your business activities as part of the local community. We will also keep making our critical and constructive contribution to the board of EuroCham and its bodies. The GBA is the biggest financial net contributor to EuroCham’s member budget and will assert its position accordingly.
We would like to express our gratitude to all 370 members and 15 corporate partners for your strong and continuous support in 2023. Our corporate partners are: Deutsche Bank, Rödl & Partner, Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City, Dürr, Ivy+Partners, Luther, Mercedes-Benz, Messer, Schaeffler, Schulz Noack Baerwinkel, Spectos, Würth, Ziehl-Abegg, Headhunt Vietnam, and tesa Site Haiphong.
We also want to express our special thanks to the German Embassy in Hanoi and the German Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and their teams for their close cooperation throughout the year. We are grateful for the collaboration with the German Missions to Vietnam and for sharing their updates on the latest developments with our GBA members.
We would like to emphasize that all our activities have been mainly possible thanks to your input, suggestion, participation, and effort as our valued members. We also want to thank the entire GBA Board of Directors for their dedication and passion on a voluntary basis. A big thank you also goes to our GBA Office team for their commitment to the GBA’s success.
As approved by our members during the GBA AGM 2023, GBA, EuroCham, and its nine affiliated Business Associations will apply a 10% increase in membership fees from 1 January 2024. This is the first increase in over 10 years. Please find attached the renewal membership invoice for 2024 for your reference.
Finally, we would like to inform you that the GBA AGM 2024 will take place on Monday, 29 January at InterContinental Westlake Hanoi and at Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City. The GBA Board of Directors will report on the activities and the accounts for their term of office at the AGM and the new GBA Board of Directors will be elected. If you are interested in becoming a candidate for the GBA Board 2024, please send your application to us via email: exec-director@gba-vietnam.org by Friday, 29 December 2023. We appreciate your participation and presence at the AGM!
On behalf of the GBA team, we wish you and your families a festive holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Elmar Dutt & Torben Minko
Co-Chairmen of the Board of Directors | German Business Association in Vietnam
How to renew your membership in 2024
- Receive a Membership Renewal package by post (incl. a letter from the GBA Co-Chairs and the invoice of 2024 membership fee) in Mid of December 2023
- Process Payment (following the information provided on the invoice) by 10 January 2024
- Update your Company Profile: by downloading Company Profile 2024 and returning the completed file to mai@gba-vietnam.org
Membership fee 2024:
Starting January 1, 2024, the GBA, EuroCham, and its nine affiliated Business Associations will implement a 10% increase in membership fees. This decision, informed by meticulous market analysis, is the first adjustment in over a decade, ensuring the continuity of exceptional services and opportunities. The proposal received members’ votes at the 2023 GBA Annual General Meeting.
- Annual membership fee for a Large Enterprise (LE): 31,200,000 VND
- Annual membership fee for a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME): 15,400,000 VND
- Individual membership fee: 8,250,000 VND
- Mini membership fee: 8,250,000 VND
For further information regarding Membership Renewal please contact our Membership Manager as following details:
- Mai Hoang (Ms.) | T: 028 3823 9772 – Ext 113 | M: (+84) 903 906 181| E: mai@gba-vietnam.org
Important notice: Payment settlement also affects your voting rights during the ensuing EuroCham Annual General Meeting in March 2024.