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Official Report of the 2nd Meeting
At the Swiss Press Club, Monday September 2, 2002, 14.00-16.00
Swiss Press Club
106, Route de Ferney
1202 Geneva
This meeting was the first General Assembly before the official creation of the Association. The main points of the Agenda were as follows:
- Presentation of founding members
- Election of the temporary Management Committee
- Reading and approval of the proposed statutes.
Present:
Mrs Claire Anne Dysli
Elisabeth
Kemf
Chau thi
Yen Chau
Anjuska
Weil
Messrs Aldo Brunella
Ralf Brink &
Thuy Chau
Ngoc Chau Bui
A Dermanci,
Dominique Flaux
Roger Hoeren
Anton Huber
Frank Huppertberg
G. Federico Jauch
Georges F. Massey
Gilbert Meillaz
Michel Nievergelt
Ba Than Nguyen
Van Phu Nguyen
Thanh Trung Nguyen
Joseph Nzay
Van Duoc Pham
Ivan Schick
Urs Spillmann
Michel Verly
Duc Trinh Vu
Claude Cherbui
Thanh Trung Nguyen welcomed all the participants. He made a point of thanking Mr Guy Mettan, Mr Dominique Flaux and Mrs Nadia Tettamanti who did everything possible to facilitate the organisation of the meeting, in particular by opening the doors of the Villa MENTOR to accommodate the ECOVietNam Association and International Centre. He also presented the excuses of Mr G Mettan who regretted not being able to be present at the meeting, being already otherwise engaged.
Why Exchange and Co-operation? It's the possibility which should be at the natural, relatively easy disposition of everyone in all countries, rich or poor, developed or developing. Why with Vietnam? It's the country which the founders know well enough to be able to prove the efficiency of the development process by the means of exchange and co-operation. In this way, NTT briefly described the meaning of the name of the Association, and the international ECOVIETNAM Centre, before inviting Mr D. Flaux, representative of the EMA Foundation, to open the meeting.
DF briefly pointed out the objectives of the day and invited the participants to present themselves.
Remarks from participants:
- Mrs Claire-Anne Dysli, Contract Manager Executive Sales Manager, ALSTOM
- Mr.Aldo Brunella, Director BIPIELLE Bank (Switzerland),
- Mr. Urs Spillmann, HOLCIM Ltd
- Mr Ralf Brink, Managing Director ABACUS shipping Ltd
- Dipl.-Ing. Frank Huppertberg, SCHAUPP Corporation
- Mr Michel Verley, CommunicationImages, Representant of the Geneva Fair
- Dr. M.A. Dermanci, Pharma Industry Consultant
- Mr. Gilbert Meillaz, Administrator of Ordem Sa and Commune Administrator, Meyrin
- Mrs Anjuska Weil, Association Suisse-Vietnam
- Mr. Ivan Schick, Association ACTI Esperence (Help and Cooperation between Tessin and Indochina)
- Mr. Roger Hoeren, President AGEM NET
- Mr. Dominique Flaux, General Secretary EMA
- Mrs. Elisabeth Kemf, Species program information Manager, WWF International
- Mr Nguyen van Khai, Deputy Director, International Relations, Geneva School of Engineers, HES
- Mr. Michel Nievergelt, Director AtoZ Training
- Mr. G.Federico Jauch, Responsible for politico-cultural activities of the "Centre Manifestations" of the Swiss Union of Public Services, SSP/VPOD, Tessin.
Summaries of the remarks are provided in the Appendices.
All the participants expressed their intention to create and develop relations with Viet-Nam. Several companies (ALSTOM, BIPIELLE, HOLCIM, ABACUS, SCHAUPP Corporation … ) described their various very positive experiences in Viet-Nam, both on the professional and institutional level, as well as at the personal level with their Vietnamese contacts.
Concerning the STATUTES
The proposed statutes, which had been submitted beforehand for the approval of the participants, were supplemented and modified as a result of remarks and suggestions received before the meeting. Members were invited to accept them on a purely provisional basis in order to enable the official launch of the ECO-VietNam Association and International Centre.
However, all the members of the Association are requested to continue thinking about the statutes and to make any proposed modifications necessary for the final drafting of this document - which will have to be endorsed by e-mail within a short time, before the end of the year or the beginning of January.
The founder members and promoters designated in the statutes were introduced to the Meeting:
Dominique FLAUX, General Secretary of the EMA Foundation,
Thanh Trung NGUYEN, consultant, NTT Consultants
Van Duoc PHAM, Counsellor of the VietNam Embassy
Concerning the Management Committee (Committee)
This Committee will have to supervise, in a first transitional stage, the Association and the International Centre of Exchange Opportunities, co-operation, investments and partnership with Viet-Nam which is entirely attached to it.
In addition to the three founder members, the Management Committee also includes other people elected by the General Assembly, representatives of private industry and public and academic organisations:
- Mr.Aldo Brunella, Senior Vice President, BIPIELLE Bank (Switzerland)
- G.Federico Jauch, Responsible for politico-cultural activities of the "Centre Manifestations" of the Swiss Union of Public Services, SSP/VPOD, Tessin.
- Van Khai Nguyen, Deputy Director, International Relations, Geneva School of Engineers
The Assembly unanimously confirmed the nomination of the Management Committee.
The Committee is requested to propose at the next General Assembly a list of names for the election of the President of the Association and Intrernational Centre.
Concerning the Membership Fee
Several opinions were expressed about the Membership Fee for institutional members such as companies which would have the possibility to support the ECOVIETNAM Association and International Centre either by a specific contribution decided by the Assembly, or by a gift calculated according to their respective means.
Eventually, it was decided that in a first phase, each member, individual or company, would pay the same amount of
100 Swiss Francs per year.
Members from VietNam will benefit from a preferential rate adapted to their indigenous economic level. This rate will have to be proposed later by those concerned.
Of course, everyone remains free to support the Association with a more generous gift.
NTT added that all are cordially invited to provide support so that ECOVietNam is seen as a credible foundation,
by gifting
a prestige capital, for example, of one million ...
Concerning Working Groups
Each member present was asked to fill in a form to confirm their adhesion to ECO VietNam and to express their areas of interest among the already defined Working Groups, namely:
- Business, Investment & Finance
- Cultural Exchange & Tourism
- Health & Environment
- Industry, Technology, Infrastructure & Energy
- Education & academic affairs
- Ethics & solidarity
- Twin projects
All the elected members of the Management Committee expressed their thanks and briefly presented the objectives, in the short and medium term, that they would like to achieve in the framework of the ECO VietNam Association and International Centre.
And to close the meeting, His Excellency the Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of VietNam,
Nguyen Ba THAN, addressed the Assembly with a short speech reporting the facts and trends in VietNam, and wished the new Association and International Centre much success in its noble mission:
"Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a pleasure for me to find myself with you today for the birth of our Association and International Centre. First I would like to solemnly greet ECOVIETNAM and all the happy persons responsible for the Association which we have just named.
In the name of the Vietnamese people, I would like to sincerely thank the EMA Foundation, the PME Association, the organisations and companies, as well as the Swiss and foreign individuals who have worked and helped with the creation of ECOVietNam with the noble aim of creating a bridge to support new exchanges and co-operation between the nations of the world, and in particular Switzerland, Europe and our country.
I address my sincere thanks to Mr Guy Mettan and Mr Dominique Flaux for their invaluable support for the creation of our ECOVietNam Association and International Centre and for their very positive and encouraging words in respect of VietNam.
To you all, dear friends, please accept my most cordial greetings.
As you will have noted, within the framework of our country's reform, our government and the Vietnamese people have engaged in a vast program of openness and the development of international relations. The results of this new policy are revealing:
- For several years already, Switzerland and the UE have established diplomatic and serious economic relations with VietNam. In a short time, the links between Switzerland and VietNam will take another new turn and we will certainly see the start of several large projects in preparation.
- Switzerland currently occupies the fourth place among European investors in VietNam. Many of our agricultural, industrial, and craft products create strong interest of
Switzerland, which pays particular attention to our fishing and our "bio" products for the food industry.
- Each year, about 15000 to 20000 Swiss citizens go to VietNam, either as ordinary tourists or looking for new opportunities to invest or collaborate.
- From our side, VietNam is particularly attracted by Swiss know-how in the fields of finance, science and technology.
However, in reality, we must admit that the level of co-operation between our two countries is still below its capacity and our desires:
- Vietnamese companies have many good quality manufactured goods they would like to propose to Switzerland and the world.
- the Vietnamese market is henceforth a stable and sure economic environment for Swiss and foreign investors.
The new possibilities for co-operation will certainly reinforce the links between Vietnam and all the countries of the world.
I am convinced that the ECOVietNam Association and International Centre, and all its members, whether they are already active in VietNam and have carried out projects, or whether they don't yet have experience of VietNam but share the goals stated in the statutes of ECOVietNam, will be able to find their own way to contribute their part to the consolidation of relations between Switzerland, Europe and the rest of the world with VietNam.
On this occasion, on behalf of the Vietnamese authorities and people, I am delighted to express my recognition and gratitude for all the friendship that you show to our country and our people.
Long live ECOVietNam! May its creation be a success. May its future important projects serve efficiently the companies and the populations of our two countries. I can assure you that the VietNam Embassy, and the Vietnamese ministries and companies, will provide all necessary support for your co-operation with VietNam.
The VietNam Embassy in Bern will ensure that the government agencies, as well as the companies and the population of VietNam, are well informed and involved in the activities undertaken by ECOVietNam.
I thank you for your attention and wish you much success and happiness. "
- The draft Report will be circulated to all the participants so that each can add, if necessary, to the current document.
- Before leaving, the participants at this founding Meeting raised the glass of friendship and posed for the Meeting Photograph as a souvenir, which can be seen on the
www.ecovietnam.org website - kindly offered by the Genevalink-Network company within the framework of a partnership with ECOVIETNAM.
Notes: Several people who were invited, but were unable to attend due to prior engagements, sent apologies for absence but expressed their interest in the development of the project.
Geneva, September 18, 2002
Meeting secretaries
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| Nguyen van KHAI |
Nguyen thanh TRUNG |
Annexes: Summaries of the remarks.
- Mr. Nguyen van Khai, Deputy Director, International Relations, Geneva School of Engineers, HES
"How to survive in a global world? is the topic developed by NVK.
The global world also enters the knowledge era, in which there are the best and the rest.
Consequently, as all developing countries, VietNam must give priority to the education and training of its population. In particular, VietNam must quickly fill the middle of the knowledge pyramid, because this category of "middle managers" as opposed to the "elite" class and to the "worker" class, seems to be lacking the most.
To catch up with the advanced countries, Exchange and Co-operation with the latter seems necessary. Internet is a strategic opportunity to acquire knowledge and to develop in the quickest way.
As a representative of the HES, Mr Nguyen intends to put all his energy and enthusiasm into developing Exchanges with universities and technical training schools in VietNam, in particular in certain areas that he regards as high-priority for VietNam such as Construction Engineering, Urban Technology, electromechanical infrastructure, health and environment without forgetting the new technologies of Information and Communications Technologies, and financial engineering..."
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