The origin of CanCham dates to 1994, when Mr. Rob McDowell, the Canadian Government’s first Trade Representative in HCMC drafted the first bylaws for what he hoped would become the Canada Vietnam Business Association (CVBA). The next year, the first Canadian Consul and Trade Commissioner in HCMC, Mr. Ian Burney, called together a group of Canadians to start a formal discussion about the creation of the Association, which included Don Lam, Lorraine Chan, Susan Hutton, Phil Turner, Jacques Gaboury, Terry Prechel, and others. This was the founding group.

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CVBA was formalised March, 1997, under Acting President Terry Prechel. Meetings were often held in coffee shops until an informal meeting was held in Terry Prechel’s office at 103 Pasteur, which led to the first iconic Pancake ‘n’ Maple Syrup Breakfast event, which then led to luncheons with guest speakers.

In 1999, a Constitution was drawn up and signed on December 22 by eight committee members – Bonny Berger, Timothy Dang, Jacques Gaboury, Eric Laferriere, Andy Marshall, Lucia Pham, Graham Potter, and Diego Tsang. Thirty Canadians, the legal minimum number, were rounded up as the first members and an application was filed for a Foreign Business Association license with the People’s Committee of HCMC, with the support of the Consul General of Canada to Vietnam, Judy St. George.

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On March 2, 2000, CBVA became a legal business association and Graham Potter was elected President at the first Annual General Meeting (AGM). In March 2001, Tim Dang was elected President of the officially licensed Hanoi Chapter. CVBA hired its first part-time Office Manager in early 2001. The first full-time Office Manager was appointed at the end of the year – and we’ve never looked back since then!

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2003 saw changes with Michael Howard as President, who introduced the new logo and changed the name to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Vietnam (CanCham). Successive Presidents include       Ms. Martha Maier in 2004, Mr. Gary Dawson from 2005 to 2007, Sam Wazir until May 2008, followed by  Sami Kteily, Winnie Lam and Bao Nguyen.

Following the 2014 AGM, Mr. Antony Nezic was elected President. In 2013-2014, financial systems and the formalization of Chapter establishment within the Constitution were completed. CanCham activated it’s role within the Vietnam Business Forum. In the following years, CanCham continued to evolve, developing a strong sponsorship base and concepts for business services packages under the leadership of Presidents Kelly Wong and Ralf Matthaes. From 2020 – 2022, President Winnie Lam helped the Chamber navigate through the impact and challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including temporarily reducing operational costs and pivoting from regular events to raise tens of thousands of dollars for “Rice for Life” – a CanCham CSR campaign to deliver food to the hungry in the pandemic-era.

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Mike Hebert served as President for three years in 2022, 2023, and 2024; a time of rebuilding the Chambe following the end of the COVID-19 crisis. This period saw CanCham’s membership rapidly grow, business services - including support for dozens of inbound Canadian delegations and trade missions (most notably, 2024’s Team Canada Trade Mission to Vietnam which brough over 300 Canadian companies to Ho Chi Minh City) - becoming a fundamental revenue driver and part of the Chamber’s identity, and the launch of the Children’s Cancer Run as the Chamber’s predominant CSR activity.

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CanCham continues to adapt and evolve in the changing business and cultural climate. The Chamber looks forward to offering more services, introducing new social and business opportunities for its members, and to uphold its reputation as one of Vietnam’s most active business groups with a dedicated CSR programme.