Ho Chi Minh City, 1 April, 2025
Dear GBA Members and Friends,
As we welcome 2025 – the year of the snake, it is an honor to continue serving as your chairman alongside a strong new Board of thirteen exceptional business leaders from various backgrounds and industries (refer here>>> to the article). I am personally thanking every Board Member for their commitment and dedication in volunteering to the German Business Association. During our AGM our members expressed strong support towards our ambitious agenda for 2025 to support our mission of growing and empowering the German business community in Vietnam.
2025 STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
During our recent strategy workshop in Danang, we as the board reflected on our achievements of 2024 and aligned our goals for the year, leveraging insights from your feedback for 2024. The outcome is a well-defined and strategic set of priorities for 2025:
1/ Maximizing the Quality of the GBA Offering:
We are committed to delivering exceptional value to our members through high-quality events and services, ensuring relevance and impact within our community.
A highlight of this commitment was our GBA Business Meeting on March 4, themed “Vietnam’s Economic Future – Opportunities and Challenges”. The event in Ho Chi Minh City was a remarkable success, drawing over 80 attendees and featuring insightful discussions led by regional speakers from top international organizations and renowned companies. (refer here to the article)
Furthermore, our Member for Member workshops have been significantly enhanced and expanded to the North, providing valuable insights tailored to the needs of the German business community. Key sessions included:
- Insights into the Internationalization of BVB (refer here) in Hanoi
- Your Tax Duties in 2025 (refer here) in Ho Chi Minh City
- Vietnam’s Macroeconomic Outlook & Key Policy (refer here) in Hanoi
- Leadership Guide – Master High-Impact Projects (refer here) in Ho Chi Minh City
These initiatives reaffirm our dedication to empowering members with strategic knowledge and practical solutions, ensuring they stay ahead in a dynamic business landscape.
2/ Giving Back to Members:
Showcasing our commitment to elevate your membership experience with extended benefits, exclusive anniversary celebrations, and an additional lineup of events, including Oktoberfest. The first step in increasing your membership value is new discounted event fees for GBA Members exclusively (refer here to the article), building up the attractiveness of committing to our community.
3/ Extending our Geographical Reach: We are strengthening our presence in the North and Central regions by broadening our footprint and appointing dedicated representatives.
We are pleased to introduce our two GBA representatives in Central Vietnam, who are committed to supporting us in networking and advocacy events in this region. (refer here to the article)
- Mr. David Will – General Director of Dräxlmaier Automotive Vietnam
- Mr. André Pierre Gentzsch – General Manager of Ariyana Tourism Complex
Additionally, we are in the process of expanding our team in Hanoi, bringing on board a new team member to focus on membership development and supporting activities in both the Central and Northern regions.
Our efforts have already been proven successful, with events like Danang Meets Europe 2025 (held in March – refer here) demonstrating strong attendance. We look forward to organizing more initiatives in Central Vietnam, including excursions to member factories, such as the recent visit to Kärcher Plant (refer here), which continues to attract interest and encourage active participation across our GBA network.
4/ Strengthening Collaboration to Advocate for Our Members:
As a strong pillar of Team Europe and EuroCham Vietnam, we are proud to introduce your GBA representatives who have been elected to the EuroCham Board of Directors 2025. Big congratulations to:
- EuroCham Treasurer: Alexander Götz, General Manager of Fischer ASIA
- EuroCham Vice-Chairman & GBA Delegate: Erick Contreras, Managing Director of BASF Vietnam
- EuroCham Delegate to the EU-ASEAN Business Council: Torben Minko, Managing Director of B. Braun Vietnam
- EuroCham Board Member: André de Jong, Managing Director of Bosch Vietnam
I strongly believe that their expertise and dedication will be a cornerstone to the success of EuroCham and GBA, ensuring our support to the EuroCham Board and amplifying GBA’s representation within the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.
We continue to build and strengthen meaningful collaborations with other chambers to foster a more connected and dynamic business community:
- In January, together with our friends from the CCIFV – French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, we successfully hosted Franco-German Day 2025 “Feierabend Rendez-Vous”, welcoming over 250 guests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (refer here to the article).
- On March 25, we co-hosted our first networking event with AmCham Vietnam – “Connect & Cocktail meets Deutschentreff”, bringing together nearly 250 guests in Ho Chi Minh City (refer here to the article).
- We committed to minimum three further events with International Business Associations, celebrating together our 30 years with partners across the globe. Our team will soon announce the next round.
Beyond partnerships, we are actively working with government bodies to create more opportunities and improve the business environment for our members.
- We plan to hold quarterly meetings with local leaders to submit recommendations from German businesses, addressing key challenges and seeking solutions.
- In Q1, we actively participated in high-level government meetings, including: The conference on building regional & international financial centers in Vietnam, chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (refer here to the article); the New Year reception hosted by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee (refer here to the article); a dialogue between our Vicechair Martin Körner with H.E. Vu Quang Minh, Ambassador of Vietnam to Germany, in Berlin (refer here to the article); delegation meeting with the Quang Nam Provincial People’s Committee and department heads (refer here to the article).
These direct dialogues with local authorities not only allow businesses in the region to voice their challenges and concerns but we as the board also advocate for your interests and suggestions. We look forward to receiving your feedback on the issues your businesses are facing so that GBA can speak up on your behalf and build partnerships in Vietnam, bringing together German excellence and Vietnamese dynamics.
CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARIES OF GBA AND THE GERMAN VIETNAMESE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
The year 2025 marks two major milestones: the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and Vietnam and the 30th anniversary of GBA. In a recent dialogue with German Ambassador H.E. Mrs. Helga Margarete Barth and Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Simon Kreye, we discussed the economic and political outlook, our collaboration with the German Embassy, and the exciting plans ahead.
To celebrate, the German diplomatic corps and institutions will host cultural festivals, sports events, and career and innovation fairs, highlighting the success of Vietnamese-German relations. Explore the Team Germany events here. Additionally, GBA will support business related events under the umbrella of our 30 years anniversary.
KEY GBA EVENTS IN 2025
We also have an exciting lineup of flagship GBA events:
- Family Day 2025 – Saturday, 12 April in HCMC, featuring a fresh Easter-themed celebration. Learn more here
- GBA Business Awards – Friday, 19 September. Award categories and details are coming soon!
- GBA Oktoberfest – Hanoi (25–27 Sep), Danang (3 Oct), HCMC (9–11 Oct).
- GBA German Ball 2025 – Saturday, 22 November, a special event celebrating our 30th anniversary, honoring the contributions of our business community. Stay tuned for more exciting news to come soon.
The first quarter of 2025 has already demonstrated the strong impact of GBA for its members. With ambitious plans ahead, we are committed to enhancing your membership experience and driving the community to new heights.
Your trust and support in our work as the GBA board and team are the foundation of this quarter’s success and our overall achievements. Additionally, special thanks to our office team, outgoing board members, and corporate partners for making it all possible.
Sincerely Yours,
Alexander Ziehe
Chairman of the Board
German Business Association (GBA)