Ho Chi Minh City, November 20th, 2024
Dear valued members, friends and partners of the GBA,
2024, we as one community created a strong momentum as the German Business Association in Vietnam and therefore as Chairman of the GBA I am thanking you all for the support and commitment in the name of our entire board.
At the beginning of the year, we as a board committed to elevate our member engagement by increasing our interaction with the community and adding additional high-quality events. With a strong growth mindset, we also aimed to increase our membership base to the benefit of the entire community. Meanwhile we kept leveraging our partnerships and empowering our office team, allowing us to represent your interests in Vietnam.
Looking back now, I am proud of our joint success as one team, strongly delivering towards our ambitious strategy and bringing positive impact to you. 2024 marked several milestones, I am excited to share with you:
A community of over 400 members
This year, we reached a significant milestone of 400 members! This achievement is a testament to our collective hard work and dedication to providing member-centric events and valuable content. We are proud of remaining the biggest European business association in Vietnam.
Excellence in the quality and quantity of our events
In 2024, we attracted over 25,000 participants to 90 business, sports, social, and cultural events. This represents a significant 35% increase in the number of activities and events from 2023. We continue to host regular business and networking events with high-level speakers and strong attendance. These collaborations have enabled us to leverage the collective expertise, resources, and networks of multiple organizations, resulting in more impactful and diverse events:
- GBA Oktoberfests: held in three cities over seven nights with all tickets sold out, our Oktoberfests attracted more than 10,500 participants, making it one of our most successful events of the year.
- German Business Awards: A milestone for our team was the launch of the German Business Awards. With around 200 participants, we celebrated the excellence and success of our community and your achievements.
- Monthly Business Meetings: We organized seven Business Meetings, our regular backbone event, offering valuable facts and business insights on various topics. Each meeting averaged 85 attendees, reflecting the strong interest from our members and friends.
- GBA Business Luncheon: In line with our 2024 strategy to expand activities in North Vietnam, we successfully organized our first business luncheon in Hanoi, with strong support from the German Embassy and GIZ Vietnam.
- Members for Members Workshops: This format has become increasingly popular, with more members eager to share their peer-to-peer experiences and insights on doing business in Vietnam. We organized twelve workshops covering a wide range of topics.
- GBA Excursion Trips: We offered exclusive excursions to Messer Dung Quat, Frasers Property Vietnam, Qatar Airways Hanoi, FPT Software Hanoi, and tesa Haiphong and SUS Vietnam, providing unique insights into these leading companies.
- Professional and Social Networking Events: We hosted a variety of monthly events that received overwhelming responses shortly after announcement, with 90 attendees on average. These included nine DeutschenTreff events in Ho Chi Minh City, three in Hanoi, and one Danang Meets Europe event in Danang.
- Sports Events: Our sports events were a huge success this year. The GBA Football Cup – Season VII saw a record-breaking 400 participants and 24 teams, while the GBA Badminton Tournament – Season IV had 150 players. Additionally, our Fanmeile in Ho Chi Minh City attracted 700 football lovers during the Euro Cup 2024.
- CSR Initiative: We donated 100 million VND to support the Centre for Nursing, Rehabilitation, and Assistance for Children and Disabilities HCMC, and 80 million VND for young innovation award, empowering the communities locally.
Strong engagement in member communication
To enhance our communication with members, we successfully maintained high engagement through our GBA online channels, CRM system and offline events:
- “GBA Konnect” Platform: This platform allows you to promote your services and highlights to the GBA community. Within nearly a year, we achieved 450 sign-ups and will keep growing.
- Completed GlueUp Implementation: We streamlined our event registration, payment, and communication systems for your convenience.
- Coffee Talk Series: We introduced the “Coffee Talk” series with three sessions, where our board caretakers invite you for open in person exchanges.
Connecting businesses in government relations
Throughout the year, the GBA Board of Directors proactively engaged with local authorities across the country through various channels, such as high-level dialogue and letters, to ensure favorable conditions for trade and investment activities between Germany and Vietnam. We have received strong recognition and positive feedback from government officials and partners:
- Sharing German business needs during our roundtable with the Federal President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in January at the Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City. News>>>
- Engaging with the Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai and the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCMC for investor needs in the city. News>>>
- Hosting a forum with HCMC authorities on the future development of Vietnam as an innovative and sustainable hub in Asia. News>>>
- Dialogue with the Binh Duong People’s Committee and provincial leaders News>>> and the Dong Nai People’s Committee and provincial leaders News>>> to address investors’ impact and needs.
- Organizing our first international joint delegation to Cambodia, advocating cross border activities to enhance trade and investments regionally. News>>>
Our engagement with the media
This year, the GBA experienced significant growth, with media coverage doubling compared to last year. This increase highlights the association’s expanding influence:
- 20 newspaper articles
- 15 TV interviews
- Over 500 press releases distributed
Partnership with the European and international community
To highlight our cooperation with the European and global business community, we co-organized several key events:
- The 60th anniversary of the Franco-German Day at the Feierabend Rendez-vous in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with over 300 participants.
- European Networking events such as Business Thursdays in Hanoi and European Night in Ho Chi Minh City, in collaboration with other business associations.
- A strong presence at the German Pavilion during EuroCham’s GEFE, co-hosted with AHK Vietnam and supported by 25 prominent GBA members. This event showcased German innovation and its positive impact on Vietnam’s future through products under the “#MadeinGermany” brand.
The festive year ahead of us in 2025
In 2025, we will continue to be your voice and platform in Vietnam to grow opportunities. Additionally, together with the German diplomatic corps and other German institutions, the GBA will participate in the 50th anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Germany and Vietnam, representing the contributions of our community over the last decades. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the GBA, we will also organize opportunities to create memories and underline the success of the GBA over the last thirty years in Vietnam.
I would like to express our gratitude to over 400 members and 16 corporate partners for your strong and continuous support in 2024. Our corporate partners include Deutsche Bank, Rödl & Partner, Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City, Dürr, GvW Graf von Westphalen, Luther, Mercedes-Benz, Messer, Savabeco, Schaeffler, Schulz Noack Baerwinkel, tesa Site Haiphong, Würth, Ziehl-Abegg, Bayer, MVV SNP.
I am also deeply thankful to the German Embassy in Hanoi, the German General Consulate Ho-Chi-Minh City and the AHK Vietnam for our trustful partnerships. All our activities have been possible thanks to you – our members, thanks for your input, suggestions, participation, and effort as our valued members. My deep appreciation to our Board of Directors for their strong dedication and passion on a voluntary basis and a big thank you goes to our GBA Office team for their commitment to the GBA’s success.
Finally, I am happy to announce our GBA Annual General Meeting 2025, which will take place on Monday, January 20, at InterContinental Westlake Hanoi and at Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City. The GBA Board of Directors will report on the activities and 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 2025, please send your application to us at email exec-director@gba-vietnam.org by Monday, December 30, 2024. Your participation and presence at the AGM will make a true impact. Therefore, I hope to meet you all on January 20th.
Let us keep driving towards excellence and success in 2025. I wish you and your families in the name of the GBA a festive holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
Sincerely Yours,
Alexander Ziehe
Chairman of the Board
German Business Association in Vietnam (GBA)
(Click here>>> for the official letter)
How to renew your membership in 2025
- Receive a Membership Renewal package by post (incl. a Chairman Year-end letter from GBA and the invoice of 2025 membership fee) in Mid of November 2024
- Process Payment (following the information provided on the invoice) by 10 January 2025
- Update your Company Profile: by downloading Company Profile 2025 and returning the completed file to mai@gba-vietnam.org
Membership fee 2025: (same as 2024)
- 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 2025.
