The index reached 73.9 percentage points in Q1, the highest score recorded since Q3 of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the global trade and investment system. The BCI survey also showed the sustained optimism about the business climate, up 47 percentage points over the last 12 months.

When asked about Vietnam’s business climate outlook for Q2 this year, 67 percent of the European enterprises considered it “excellent” or good“, rising 12 percent from Q1. The respondents were also more optimistic about their businesses’ performance in Vietnam this year.

More than two-thirds of them, equivalent to about 68 percent, expected their orders and revenue will maintain the same level or increase in the next three months, up 25 percent from Q4 of 2020.