AmCham Vietnam Weekly Update - 25th Week of 2020

AmCham Vietnam Weekly Update - 25th Week of 2020 - June 22, 2020

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Executive Director Update

Colleagues, we hope you are continuing to enjoy our unique almost-normal environment and freedoms. Vietnam continues to receive global recognition for its effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic- now 67 days without community spread! And Vietnam's most critically ill patient is now fully conscious, able to stand with help, and doctors expect will be able to walk normally in a couple of weeks. We hope you are now getting your regular healthcare checks, as well as getting out and supporting your local restaurants, and local shops, enjoying a staycation at a nearby hotel -- or visiting some of the other beautiful resorts and destinations in Vietnam! Crowds are returning to airports and tourist destinations, so remember your masks and take appropriate safety precautions. I now travel everywhere with hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, and a small bottle of alcohol (not the drinking kind:). And, as many of you have noticed, try to avoid shaking hands. After getting a bit of a cold over the weekend, I am back to a strict no handshake policy!

We are delighted to announce the successful launch of AmCham Vietnam-Da Nang. On June 19, AmCham Vietnam held our first Trade and Investment Roundtable with the Da Nang City Government, hosted by People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh, who presented AmCham Vietnam-Da Nang Chapter’s license at a launch reception that evening. On June 20, representatives of AmCham Vietnam met with People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho, who warmly welcomed the Da Nang Chapter and expressed the hope for further strengthening of U.S. trade and investment ties with Da Nang and Central Vietnam, including development of supply chains in Vietnam. During our discussions, we focused on opportunities to: promote economic recovery and a safe reopening to international travel for Tourism and Hospitality; as well as opportunities to increase cooperation in Value-added Manufacturing; Digital Economy, ICT, and Smart Cities; Healthcare; and Professional Services and Education; and Corporate Social Responsibility and Civil Society Organizations.

We welcome the new leadership of AmCham Vietnam Da Nang Chapter, including Chairman and Mekong Capital Partner Chad Ovel, and Board Members EY Law Partner Michael Beckman, Coca-Cola Indochina Legal and Public Affairs & Communications Director Ly Le, Riverside Towers General Director Chris Vanloon, Universal Alloy Corporation VIetnam General Manager Liviu Lese, and Intel VIetnam CFO Alan Danner. We look forward to increasing AmCham Vietnam support for our members in Da Nang and Central Vietnam - including a Friday, July 17th Connect & Cocktails networking session in Da Nang, where we hope to get to know more of our members and potential members better! SAVE THE DATE - more details to be announced soon...

Tonight, we are pleased to welcome Ambassador Kritenbrink to join a dinner briefing with our members. Ambassador Kritenbrink will share insights on the U.S.-Vietnam bilateral relationship on the eve of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, including priorities for post-COVID economic, security, and cultural cooperation, and prospects for political transitions in both countries.

We hope many of you will join us Wednesday evening at our "Rediscover Vietnam" Connect & Cocktail at the InterContinental Saigon, where we will offer our monthly networking event, focused on domestic travel and tourism. Come and get new ideas to make the most of your summer in Vietnam. And fall and beyond!

And we are delighted to inform you that, thanks to Vietnam's successful management of COVID, we will hold our AmCham U.S. Independence Day Celebration & Community Picnic. And this year we will celebrate on the actual Independence Day, Saturday, July 4th. We would welcome your sponsorship in cash, gifts/vouchers for our Lucky Draw, and F&B (especially American ones). This is a unique opportunity to showcase your company's products or services, as well as your delicious food and beverages to key members of the local business community. Please complete the Sponsorship Application Form and send it to our Events Team to confirm your participation.

Meanwhile, AmCham Vietnam-HCMC continues to support you as Vietnam continues its economic recovery. We welcome your feedback at team@amchamvietnam.com to let us know how we can serve you better, including what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming events. A summary of recent actions is below:

1. Policy Recommendations. AmCham Vietnam-HCMC continues to make an impact. Thanks to your feedback and recommendations, and expert advisers in our COVID19 Policy Task Force (Baker & McKenzie's Fred Burke, Nguyen Thuy Hang, Chung Yee, and Nguyen Thanh Vinh; AIM's Mark Gillin; Mayer Brown's Ursula Szotyory-Grove; and Vriens & Co's Sam Pursch) - as well as often Chair of AmCham Hanoi VBF and Legal Committee Nguyen Thanh Hai, we are providing timely, constructive recommendations to the Vietnamese government on both COVID-related and general trade and investment policies. Last week, we shared our views on proposed price declarations for medical devices, paving the way for the Healthcare Committee's Vice Chair for Medical Devices and Medtronic's Country Manager Dr. Ha to represent AmCham in a meeting with the Ministry of Health.

2. Contributions of Goods and Financial Contributions by AmCham and our Member Companies to Support the Vietnamese Government's Response. AmCham Vietnam-HCMC commends the effectiveness of actions taken by Vietnamese Government leaders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is proud of the contributions toward this response made by our member companies. We are delighted to see Vietnam's response finally getting global recognition.

We are now working with Vietnam Fatherland Front and HCMC Center for Disease Control (HCDC) to schedule the Delivery Ceremony of a Realtime PCR analyzer to donate to the Fatherland Front for use by HCDC in managing its response to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. We very much appreciate the generous contributions from First Solar, Diag Labs, MSD , Cargill, Russin & Vecchi, and UPC Renewables.

We also are happy to highlight any COVID-related contributions from our member companies on our social media and with the U.S. Mission. Please email details to Cindy Tran .

3. Identifying companies that want to manufacture Personal Protective Equipment for export to the United States. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has asked AmCham for assistance in identifying companies that may want to manufacture PPE for export to the United States. USAID is coordinating this initiative through the LinkSME program. If your company has interest/capability in manufacturing and exporting PPE, please contact Frank Weiand at fweiand@linksme.org for more information.

4. Supporting Local Business. We at AmCham want to support local businesses which contribute so much to our quality of life in Vietnam by inviting them to join our 2020 AmCham Discount Partnership Program. Please consider joining for your company or refer a favorite local business by sending their email address or a copy of their business card to Membership Manager Sam Hoang . To our members, please make sure you support our Discount Partners, many of which also offer online shopping or delivery services. Click HERE for our Discount Partners information.

5. Supporting Vietnam's Front-Line Workers. To continuously support the Vietnamese Government in the COVID-19 fight, AmCham Vietnam-HCMC would like to call for your contribution of less perishable food items to some of the front-line workers in Vietnam's hospitals and public quarantine areas. We are working with the Vietnam Fatherland Front of HCMC for this campaign. Contact Office Manager Cindy Tran , who can ensure contributions are still welcomed and coordinate delivery. This effort will continue to be important, as Vietnam opens up to more international arrivals.

Please stay well, be safe, stay dry, and enjoy our new normal environment! And feel virtuous supporting local businesses by eating out or taking a vacation. Many of our member companies' wonderful hotels and resorts are offering special deals!!

Mary Tarnowka, Executive Director

Stay Informed- Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak

AmCham Vietnam wants to provide a safe environment for events and business networking. We recognize that there is always a risk of a second outbreak, particularly if measures liberalize with respect to international arrivals. We also know that we all have different comfort levels with respect to the changing situation. [LINK]

In response, AmCham has begun a rating system for all of our events, explained below. We hope this is useful to you in making your own decisions about which events in which you would like to participate. As always, we welcome your feedback at team@amchamvietnam.com .

Stay informed of the latest updates on COVID-19 at https://www.amchamvietnam.com

Some additional tips below from Dr. Mason Cobb, Vice-Chair, and Dr. Andy Meadows, of AmCham Healthcare Committee’s Medical Providers Subcommittee:

This was an active week for clinical research related to COVID-19, particularly with therapy. With so many world-wide cases and so much scientific attention, our knowledge of this complex disease is now expanding rapidly.

For some time now, evidence was available that Remdesivir offered protection in some patients. Other medications were under investigation, but no conclusive evidence had emerged. This week, hard data made headlines for two of these medications - one for offering benefit in COVID-19 patients, one disappointingly not.

A breakthrough trial showed that a common steroid medication used to treat inflammation reduced death rates by about one-third for the most severely ill COVID-19 patients. Dexamethasone is cheap and widely available, so this may save many lives. For patients either on a ventilator or receiving supplementary oxygen, dexamethasone clearly increases their likelihood of survival.

On the other hand, hydroxychloroquine has not panned out as a useful drug for COVID-19. It has received a remarkable amount of attention and many patients received it during their hospital stay. Other people used it for prophylaxis, much as it is used to prevent malaria. Despite the widespread attention, reliable research on its effectiveness and safety was surprisingly limited. A number of additional clinical trials are complete, but the results caused the US FDA to remove its Emergency Use Authorization, stating the “potential benefits no longer outweigh the potential risks”.

So, other than staying as healthy as possible and continuing to practice safe techniques, there is no magic bullet to prevent the disease.

Vaccine development continues in many countries around the world by a vast number of companies and institutions. There are some 200 at various stages of development. However, there is a growing concern that vaccine development may be slowed by the “flattening of the curve” in so many places previously hard hit by COVID-19. Completion of the vital Phase 3 trials require exposure to the virus in the community setting so the effectiveness of the candidate vaccine can be evaluated. Therefore, slower community spread could mean slower vaccine development.

Ethically controversial “Challenge trials” involve giving the disease to subjects and seeing if they are protected as compared to those given the disease who are not vaccinated. The concern is that medical professionals will knowingly give the disease to people and some will experience a bad outcome. This violates the fundamental medical ethical principle, “first, do no harm”. However, the “greatest good for the greatest number” principle can apply, as well, by significantly shortening the time to a useful vaccination that may save thousands of lives.

Timeline details for vaccines are still vague. The most optimistic estimates offer October 2020 as a release date, if everything goes perfectly in the development, trials, evaluation of results, production, and distribution. Other scenarios could yield a vaccine several months or even a year later.

With these vague vaccine timelines, we will likely face a second wave COVID-19 outbreak, possibly when international travel becomes more permissive and social distancing and other measures become lax.

The basics are always the best defense: face masks, hand washing or sanitizer, and avoiding touching the face. As for social distancing measures, the US CDC gives a very basic guide to consider: limit group sizes, keep interactions brief, and maximize distance with others. By taking these steps, we can significantly reduce our own and society’s odds of transmission while we await the vaccine. Stay well and be safe!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, June 24

AmCham "Rediscover Vietnam" Connect & Cocktails

6:00-8:30pm, InterContinental Saigon, Corner Hai Ba Trung St. and Le Duan Blvd., Dist. 1

Event Level Rating: II

Monthly networking event, focused on domestic tourism and hospitality. Haven’t figured out what to do with your summer in Vietnam? Come meet with representatives of travel agencies and resorts and learn how about to make the most of your summer in Vietnam. And make plans for the fall, too!

AmCham Vietnam-HCMC welcomes travel agencies, hotels, and resorts to join us at this event. It will be a special opportunity to share domestic travel packages for this summer and beyond.

Tuesday, June 30

Hybrid Virtual AmCham 101 - New Member Orientation (For AmCham Members Only)

4:00-5:00pm, AmCham Vietnam - HCMC, Suite 323, New World Saigon Hotel, 76 Le Lai Street, Dist. 1

Event Level Rating: II

We would like to invite you to join Hybrid Virtual AmCham 101 – New Member Orientation . At this new members event, you will learn more from our Executive Director, Mary Tarnowka, about AmCham Vietnam benefits, our mission, and programs to help new members achieve success, and how to get involved in and maximize your investment in AmCham membership. It is also a way to meet other new AmCham Vietnam HCMC members. While this event is designed for new members, we welcome other members on a space available basis. If you can not join this meeting physically, you can still register to join virtually via Zoom.

Contact Ms. Sam Hoang if you have any questions.

Saturday, July 4th, 2020

11:30am-5:00pm

Riverside Apartments, An Phu, District 2

Event Level Rating: I

Join AmCham Vietnam-HCMC's annual Independence Day Celebration and Community Picnic, on the actual holiday, Saturday, July 4. This year will celebrate 244 years of American Independence - and the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam.

Feel like you are back in the USA with a variety of traditional American food and beverage options, including hot dogs, burgers, tacos, fried chicken, pizza, popcorn, cotton candy, and ice cream; soft drinks, beer and wine, along with International and local cuisine.

The official ceremony will include brief remarks by U.S. Consul General Marie Damour and presentation of colors by the U.S. Consulate's Marine Security Guards, as well a live performance of the national anthem by Stacy McCandless.

Enjoy live music all day featuring renowned saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan and his daughter An Tran, and Davis Zunk's No Jive Jazz Band and Zunkbomb American rock/funk. Children will enjoy a terrific kids corner with many fun activities including face painting and a bouncy castle.

With more of us here in Saigon this summer than ever, we expect this year's AmCham's Independence Day and Community Picnic to sell out quickly. Tickets are now available to our members and limit 8 tickets per person for members and their invited guests. Please purchase now! First come first serve.

Thursday, July 9

Employment Dispute Resolution

8:30-10:30am, The Reverie Saigon, 22-36 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, Dist. 1

Event Level Rating: II

Our seminar will help you to activate your understanding on:

What are the conditions and critical issues concerning employment disputes?
What are the common disputes related to salaries and bonuses?
How are training expenses settled in case of termination?
Are confidential information and non-disclosure agreements enforceable in Vietnam and which remedies can be applied in case of breach?