French firms to lift water sector liquidity

Espace France is organized by UBIFRANCE Vietnam and is part of the VIETWATER 2011 exhibition that will be held at the Exhibition Centre of Saigon.

The 10 French companies include ALTEREO, BRGM, EGIS INTERNATIONAL, FRANCEAUX, GROUPE SCE, LACROIX-SOFREL, NANTAISE DES EAUX INGENIERIE, SADE, SOGEMAP and THETHYS INSTRUMENTS. Some are already based in or active in Vietnam.

The event will be hosted by Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association.

This French participation aims at strengthening the relations between French and Vietnamese entities and companies in the water sector, and at developing sustainable commercial, industrial or technological partnerships. The French companies will get the opportunity to improve their understanding of the Vietnamese authorities’ policy in the sector.

They will also learn about the key projects and about how to take part in these projects as foreign suppliers and investors.

VIETWATER 2011 is the country’s biggest water industry event where industry professionals converge to get updated on the latest trends and developments, source new products and build partnerships. More importantly, it is where over 10,000 buyers and decision makers look for practical solutions and answers on water and wastewater management.

With over 280 exhibiting companies from 32 countries and pavilions from Singapore, Hungary, Denmark, China, Taiwan, Korea, Belgium, this event is backed by a top industry conference. There will over 25 technical presentations and a total of 5,673 trade visitors including 2,228 overseas delegates registered for the three-day event.

Opportunities in Vietnam’s water sector are numerous and predicted to grow strongly.

With an average Goss Domestic Product (GDP) growth of over 7 per cent per year for the last 20 years, a population growing by about 1 million per year (100 million inhabitants estimated for 2020 against 87 million today), an outstanding urbanisation rate (a predicted 45 per cent in 2020 against 30 per cent in 2010) and an industrial production growth at double GDP growth, Vietnam offers huge potential.

The water sector is a priority for the government which has also set ambitious objectives for 2020: supply of safe drinking water to 100 per cent of the urban population, treatment of 80 per cent of sewage and reduction of the leakage rate within the system, which is currently at over 30 per cent.

These French companies, whose experience and know-how are internationally known, will have the opportunity to meet bilateral and multilateral donors (Japan International Cooperation Agency, World Bank, Asian Development Bank) in Hanoi to increase their understanding of the needs of the Vietnamese water sector.

They will also be in a position to offer their advanced technologies and services to Vietnamese counterparts and policy makers during the VIETWATER 2011 exhibition.