About 76% of European enterprises operating in Vietnam said they are optimistic about business prospects in 2017, according to a Business Climate Index (BCI) survey for the fourth quarter of 2016 conducted by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham).

EuroCham Communications and Marketing Manager Joaquim Torrinha said at a press meeting on February 21 that almost all European enterprises participating in the survey were satisfied with improvements to the investment environment in Vietnam.

Approximately 56% of respondents answered that they will continue to use Vietnamese workers this year and will expand their scale, along with recruiting more workers.

In addition, EU enterprises consider Vietnam the gateway through which to approach the larger market, namely ASEAN, through the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

The survey also showed that 73% of respondents have good business result in Vietnam and only 5.5% have worse results than expected.

EuroCham is carrying out two projects in support of small and medium-sized EU enterprises investing in Vietnam, said Joaquim Torrinha.

He added that the prospect of the implementation of the European Union–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will promote the business and investment activities of EU enterprises in Vietnam.

Joaquim Torrinha also talked about the key activities of EuroCham in 2017, including the implementation of the EVFTA, the promotion of Vietnam to EU enterprises, issues related to administrative procedures and intellectual property rights, etc.

Nhan Dan