European businesses are more confident about Vietnam's trade and investment environment due to its signs of recovery in the post-pandemic era, said an article on U.S.-based Fibre2Fashion website last week.

The Business Climate Index (BCI) of Vietnam peaked 62 points following the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in the Southeast Asian country in April 2021, according to the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham).

The figure reflects a positive upward trend of the index with the score jumping 42 points since the country returned to its ‘new normal’ and resumed business operations in the third quarter of 2021.

Though the index remains below its pre-pandemic record, it indicates the promising prospects of Vietnam’s business environment.

Meanwhile, European business leaders are also more confident about their business opportunities in Vietnam, with more than half (58 percent) predicting that Vietnam's economy will grow sustainably over the first quarter of 2022, according to the BCI Survey conducted by EuroCham.

The survey additionally reveals that up to 43 percent of European enterprises plan to increase investment in Vietnam in the first quarter of this year, compared to only 17 percent recorded in the previous quarter, indicating an optimistic outlook for Vietnam’s economic development.

Moreover, 38.5 percent of European firms plan to invest more in their workforces while 51.5 percent expect their orders and revenue to soar in the next few months.

Most EuroCham member companies reported that previous COVID-19 restrictions wreaked havoc on their commercial activities and the reopening of the national economy has enhanced their confidence in business potential in Vietnam.

EuroCham also encourages the Vietnamese government to offer more economic opportunities, especially in areas with high coverage of COVID-19 vaccination.

Vietnam has gradually eased coronavirust restrictions since October last year to switch to living with the pathogen safely amid increasingly high inoculation rates and natural immunity from mass infection.

Healthcare workers have administered more than 183 million vaccine doses, including 203,969 shots on Monday, since vaccination was rolled out nationwide on March 8, 2021.

Over 79.1 million of the country’s 98 million people have received at least one dose while above 74.3 million have been jabbed twice.

The number of third doses – including additional primary shots for immunocompromised people, boosters, and third jabs of Cuba’s Abdala vaccine has reached 29,692,103.

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