opportunities in fields such as energy, management of sea ports,
upgrade of airports, transportation infrastructure, water treatment,
agriculture, food processing, real estate, and mining, to name a few
sectors.
Panel discussions addressed issues such as investment climate, high
growth sectors, key players, facilitation tools to do business in
Africa, legal frameworks to secure business, risk management,
agribusiness opportunities, banking, insurance and
experience-sharing.
investment opportunities in telecoms, energy, mining, ports, airports,
roads, railways, agribusiness, phosphates and tourism.
One-to-one meetings provided opportunities for participants to
negotiate deals and discuss projects. The ultimate outcome of the forum
was agreement for the establishment of the Africa and
Southeast Asia Chamber of Commerce for later this year.
Dr. Roland Amoussou, a lecturer in law at the Asian Institute of
Technology, and the director of Asia-Africa Business Consulting (2ABC)
based in Bangkok, said the possibility exists that AIT could be a
member of the board of the new Chamber of Commerce.
that AIT could be a platform for fundraising and
capacity-building for agribusiness and microficance projects.
He said he was working to support a possible trade
agreement between the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS)
and ASEAN.
At the forum, the Financial Business News Channel of Vietnam (FBNC)
interviewed many African leaders who said that Vietnam has a lot to
offer to Africa. Bruno J.R. Itoua, Minister of Energy and Hydraulics of
the Republic of Congo, said that although he had never visited Vietnam
before he would be delighted to bring a high-level delegation
to the country to meet Vietnamese
counterparts and to introduce investment and business
opportunities existing in his country.
Both Asian and African officials agreed that Africa is a new, growing
and largely untapped market. Based on analyses of multiple success
stories, Africa was seen by many to offer high returns, provided risks
are managed effectively.
of both continents should provide a key facilitating role to provide
information and assistance to aid Southeast Asian firms’ successful
entry into African markets.