AmCham Vietnam Weekly eNewsletter - 43rd Week of 2021

Weekly eNewsletter

43rd Week of 2021 - October 31, 2021

AmCham Vietnam’s Vision:

The most influential, strategic, and dynamic business association in Vietnam, that drives innovation and sustainable growth, and helps our members succeed. AmCham is a diverse and inclusive business association. We welcome American, Vietnamese, and international companies that share our interest in enabling a fair, transparent, predictable, and efficient regulatory environment that values innovation. A community you want to join!

www.amchamvietnam.com

Dear ,

HCMC is reopening!! I know many of our manufacturing members have been happy to leave behind the factory bubbles, resume more normal operations, and enjoy hot showers and meals at home with their families. Others, like me, are enjoying seeing colleagues IRL again back in the office, once we rediscover our former work wardrobes… Events Manager Lily Nguyen and I enjoyed meeting with colleagues at HCMC’s External Relations Office to discuss upcoming joint events, together with U.S. Consulate colleagues. We realized we hadn’t seen each other in person in over 5 months!

I was thrilled to enjoy a café sữa đá at my favorite corner café and a boat trip with friends on the Saigon River. And I always enjoy my neighbor’s orchids while dog-walking! We hope you enjoyed the week and Halloween weekend! We look forward to seeing many of you at our first post-lockdown event on November 4^th, or at Committee meetings this week. Please register in advance and confirm your vaccination status (Level III** Event Rating - LINK)!

AmCham Membership Renewal. It’s that time of year to renew your AmCham membership for 2022! We will be sending our renewal notices starting this week. Our AmCham team has been working harder than ever this year to deliver value and support you, our members, during these challenging times, particularly through our Committees, Business Intelligence events, and Advocacy. We look forward to your continued support, and welcome new members. As you join or renew your membership, please consider becoming a Premium Member. Premium Membership offers the opportunity for qualified companies to highlight your status as business leaders and your strategic support for AmCham Vietnam’s mission and programs. Premium Membership offers a range of discounts, benefits, and exclusive VIP access. Customized packages are available. To learn more, see LINK or contact Office Manager Cindy Tran at cindy.tran@amchamvietnam.com.

Upcoming Events and Meetings.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We are delighted to invite AmCham members and friends to our first in-person networking event, following our long lockdown, Thursday, Nov 4^th at The Reverie Saigon! The topic "Empowering Women at the Workplace" is one important to us all as we seek to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces. A diverse and expert panel of women leaders and a dedicated ally - Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam CEO Michele Wee; KPMG Vietnam Chairman, CEO, and Managing Partner Warrick Cleine; Intel Products Vietnam Director of Industrial Engineering Uyen Cao; and Sun Flower Media Founder, CEO, and Group Editor-in-Chief Venus Tran - will share their perspectives, with expert Moderator, AmCham Women in Leadership Committee Co-Chair and Lightpath Consulting Co-Founder Irene Oehler. Join with your teams to learn practical tips on how to empower women and all members of your team! In-person participation is limited so register now to reserve your place! Let’s keep celebrating and empowering women at the workplace in Vietnam every day!

2021 Board of Governor Candidates. The Nominating Committee of AmCham Vietnam, led by Chairman Sai Ponugoti, announces candidates for the AmCham Vietnam Board of Governors election for the January 2022-December 2023 term. Please click the LINK to see our impressive slate of candidates, together with their biographic information and “Vision for AmCham.” Nine governors will be elected in on-line secure voting starting on November 9.

Register Now for our Meet the Candidates Night on Thursday, Nov. 11th from 6PM. All AmCham members are invited to join us in-person at Cocotte Restaurant’s Sila Tower beautiful indoor-outdoor venue in D3 or virtually to hear the vision statements of each of our candidates for the 2021 Board of Governors election in HCMC – and to network with long-lost friends and colleagues! Save the Date – election results will be announced at our Annual General Meeting on Thursday, December 9, starting at 6PM at the New World Hotel.

Many AmCham member companies have donated generously to COVID Relief and Recovery efforts, both through AmCham CARES, and directly through your companies. We want to ensure your contributions are recognized!

Call for Applications for 2021 AmCham CARES Awards - COVID Relief and Recovery.

To honor and recognize AmCham members who made significant contributions, AmCham Vietnam is seeking applications from member companies/organizations interested in being considered for the 2021 AmCham CARES Awards for COVID Relief & Recovery.

Save the Date for the 2^nd annual AmCham Vietnam Giving Thanks Dinner on Thursday, December 2, 2021, at The Reverie Saigon, where AmCham Vietnam will present the awards. The Giving Thanks Dinner will take place as a Level III** event, subject to capacity limits in effect at that time (which we expect to be expanded). Senior U.S. and Vietnamese government officials and members of the media will also be invited.

The 2021 AmCham CARES Awards will recognize exemplary contributions from members in four main award categories:

1. Leadership through AmCham CARES COVID Relief Fund

2. Contributions for Vaccines, Medical Supplies, & Equipment

3. CSR Initiatives in COVID Relief and Economic Recovery

4. INGO Projects in COVID Relief and Recovery

All interested AmCham member companies and organizations are encouraged to apply. To apply, please review the Awards Information and Entry Brief and fill out the Application form in full by Monday, November 15, 2021. LINK

Committee Meetings. Committee meetings are now open to both in-person and virtual participation. Please register in advance. All AmCham members are welcome to join our AmCham Capital Markets & Financial Services Committee (CMFSC) on Monday, November 1 at 4PM, with guest speaker Viet Capital Securities' Head of Investment Banking, Vinh-Tuan Ngo who will present the company's track record of delivering some of Vietnam’s biggest IPOs and M&A transactions and review and comment on the largest capital market transactions in 2021 so far. Vinh-Tuan will discuss some of the biggest challenges and opportunities for banks, insurance, fund management, securities sectors; and his view on crypto, related ETFs, NFTs, DFIs, and ESG; and what’s hot and what’s not in M&A for 2022. We will also have a special presentation from the ESG Committee’s new Sustainable Finance Vice Chair, and ASART Founder, CEO, Head of M&A and Strategy Binh Le.

Members are also welcome to join our Education & Training Committee Meeting on Wednesday, November 3 at 9AM, to discuss industry updates on K-12, Higher Education, and Online learning, as well as Advocacy, and progress on our Skills Gap Survey and Digitization of Learning initiative.

Committee Leaders and Board Members Joint Meeting on Tuesday, November 9, from 4:30-5:45 PM. Please Save the Date! We will share tips on lessons learned during the lockdown, as well as best practices for ensuring a smooth leadership transition for Committee leadership for 2022.

We have already raised over $5000. Can we raise $6000 or maybe $7000 by November 12? Please CLICK NOW AND SAVE TEN LIVES! You can buy an eBook for yourself, or as gifts for family members, friends, and colleagues. Reopening of many of our favorite restaurants finally is underway in HCMC, but many of its residents, our neighbors, are still struggling to find enough to eat. Join hands with AmCham CARES, support those in need, and be inspired with Recipes for Revival from ten of Vietnam's top tastemakers!! With a donation of just 350,000 VND or increments of 350,000 VND if you want to contribute more, you will receive a link to download our special eBook “RECIPES FOR REVIVAL, Inspired by Vietnam's Top Tastemakers", including: Layla and Summer Experiment's Jay Moir; The Ox Not Only the Ox's Ngo Thanh Hoa; Quince's Julien Perraudin; Le Corto and P'ti's Sakal Phoeung, ANAN and NHAU NHAU's Peter Cuong Franklin; TUNG Dining's Hoang Tung, Master Chef Jack Lee, Chill Sky Bar and Vigor Dining's Emilio Moscati; Ivoire's Kasey Doan, and Maison Marou's Stephanie Aubriot.

Although Vietnam’s impressive vaccine rollout has resulted in a significant drop in hospitalizations and deaths, COVID and related business have caused extreme hardship for many Vietnamese people, especially disadvantaged groups such as migrants and informal workers. We know many of AmCham’s members and friends want to help, but don’t know how best to do so. In addition to contributing directly via AmCham CARES to donate critically-needed medical equipment to support the Vietnamese government, we provide information below about various AmCham INGO members’ COVID-19 relief programs in Vietnam, as well as links to some local NGOs vetted and supported by LIN. LINK. We are also sharing an update from VinaCapital Foundation's HELP VIETNAM BREATHE project and its accomplishments, thanks to contributions by many of you. LINK. We are happy to highlight COVID-or other CSR-related contributions from our member companies on our social media. Please email details, including photos, to Cindy Tran.

We welcome your feedback at team@amchamvietnam.com to let us know how we can serve you better. We wish you a safe and healthy week ahead! Mary

Greetings from Da Nang. Special thanks to our INGO member and partner, Children of Vietnam, for its continued outstanding work supporting underprivileged children throughout Central Vietnam. Children of Vietnam’s "Study Steps Tutoring and Life-Skills Program" empowers bright young people from poor families to embrace education, believe in their abilities, and achieve a future without poverty. Working with local schools and teachers, Children of Vietnam invites small groups of children to commit to achieving their best, starting in 6th grade and continuing through 12th grade. The challenge of the children is to develop critical social skills, positive self-esteem, resilience, and good grades. "Study Steps" supports the children with study aids, school scholarships to cover expenses, after-school tutoring, and fun, informative age-appropriate workshops and field trips.

Several of our corporate members have sponsored these classes and, this week, Sunrise Potential Partners (SPP) and Riverside Tower Commercial Center signed an MOU to sponsor a new class of 25 students for the next seven years. Special thanks to Ms. Nguyen Thu Ha of SPP, who will additionally sponsor these children with quarterly field trips to learn about environmental responsibility and climate change!’

COVID-19 Update from Healthcare Provider Subcommittee Chair

Dr. Mason Cobb and Andrew Meadows

A “New Normal” Awaits.

For more information, LINK (to COVID page).

Advocacy

We continue to focus our advocacy on partnering with the Government at the Central and provincial-level to enable a safe reopening, economic recovery, and sustainable growth. We know that many provinces have also issued a multitude of directives and dispatches to guide reopening and welcome your feedback on their effectiveness. Please send your feedback on what is working, what issues remain, and recommended solutions to relevant Committee Chairs, advocacyaction@amchamvietnam.com, and our Manufacturing Task Force, at MFGTF@amchamvietnam.com. We are particularly interested in how reopening is going in the Southern Economic Region: HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, BRVT plus. We welcome good news, too!!

We also are seeking feedback on Customs issues for a November 15^th Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) meeting with the General Directorate of Customs, as well as comments to VBF to share with the Ministry of Public Security on the draft Draft Decree stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of cybersecurity. See LINK for this week’s report.

Committee Meetings & Activities (For AmCham Members Only)

November 1: Capital Markets and Financial Services Committee (CMFSC) Meeting

November 3: Education & Training Committee Meeting

Key Media Updates

Stay informed about key developments affecting your business by checking frequently – updated regularly on weekdays. On weekends, stay informed and connected through AmCham’s Facebook, Linked IN, and Instagram. LINK to our Key Media Updates.