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Because of the growing numbers of the Philippine businesses in Vietnam, the Filipino business leaders there established a business chamber to help promote Philippines business interest there. This report came from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), who cited a report from Philippine Ambassador to Vietnam Laura Del Rosario.

Del Rosario said that Filipino businessmen were able to establish the Philippine Business Group (PBG) in June. In the article posted at the DFA website, it described the PBG as “a non-profit, non-government, non-political organization comprising the 38 Philippine business corporations in the Southeast Asian country.”

With the formation of the PBG, Philippine businesses based in Vietnam would have a collective voice to pursue common business interests.  PBG will also assist in promoting trade and investment between the Philippines and Vietnam. The bilateral trade between the two Southeast Asian countries in 2008 reached $2.2 billion.

Del Rosario has been calling on Filipino business leaders, as early as her first visit to Ho Chi Minh City in 2007, to form a chamber of commerce at the country.  She also obtained approval to waive the minimum corporate membership requirement of 30 companies for an association to be approved during her call on Vietnamese officials in Ho Chi Minh.

The DFA said, “At that time, only 25 Filipino companies were in Vietnam. By the time the Group’s charter was finalized however, the prospective members increased to 38.”

Also playing a key role in the formation of the PBG was the Philippine Trade and Investment Center and the Philippine Honorary Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City. The organization had their first PBG Executive Committee inducted by Del Rosario last June 23 in Ho Chi Minh where the organization will be holding its office, and where most of Filipino executives and Philippine businesses are based.

The group is also looking to establish PBG chapters in the capital city of Hanoi and Danang in the near future.