HA NỘI — The European Chamber of Commerce in Việt Nam (EuroCham) announced their 2016 third quarter results of the Business Climate Index (BCI), which is 86 points, 10 points up from the last quarter, on October 18.

According to the BCI, the common assessment amongst businesses of Vietnamese business environment is largely positive. About 71.5 per cent of responses described the current business situation as “excellent” and “good”. Only 5.5 per cent describe it as “not good”, and virtually no responses described it as “very poor”.

Future anticipation as indicated by the result was also positive. Roughly 16.5 per cent of responses were “excellent” and 64.2 per cent were “good”, regarding Business Outlook in the next quarter. Only 2.7 per cent of responses were negative.

EuroCham Chairman Michael Behrens stated: “The results for Quarter 3 2016 show positive expectations for the near future and consistent satisfaction with the present situation. EuroCham members maintain a positive view on the Vietnamese market and their business operations in the country, a result which does not differ from our last survey. This is a good sign for the current implementation of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to strongly enhance European business and investment.”

Roughly 41 per cent of EuroCham members intend to maintain their level of investment in Việt Nam, while 39 per cent wish to increase this level. The divesting decision also dropped to 1 per cent as compared to 7 per cent from the last quarter.

EuroCham also expressed confidence in the stabilisation and improvement of the macroeconomic outlook for Việt Nam in the next quarter. — VNS