Foreign
investors and donors are eager to see the Vietnamese government’s clear
policies to encourage them to open their wallets.
A representative of the European Union
delegation to Vietnam told the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) at a
Hanoi conference last week that many foreign investors and donors were greatly
interested in Vietnam’s future economic approach and were waiting for more
“positive moves” from the government.
For example, the Ministry of Finance proposed
the State Budget Law, issued in 2002, to be amended in 2009, but the amendment
was scrapped in 2010 with many questions unanswered.
“The delay in the law’s amendment will
continue causing difficulties to foreign donors and investors, including those
from the EU, because this law is not transparent now,” he said.
Meanwhile, the European Chamber of Commerce
(EuroCham) voiced its concerns over Vietnam’s investment licencing procedures.
It cited the Investment and Enterprise laws, under which foreign and local
investors must be treated equally. However, the chamber noted different
treatment still existed in term of licencing procedures, particularly for
foreign investors to set up their first wholly foreign-owned or joint venture
enterprises in Vietnam.
A World Bank representative said Vietnam’s
2011-2015 Socio-economic Development Plan was “very important to the World
Bank”, which was underway to devise a strategic cooperation plan with Vietnam.
He said the government needed to indentify
more specific priorities for the economy over the next five years, especially
in view of investment projects.
Australian ambassador to Vietnam Allaster Cox
noted that Vietnam needed to focus on some key projects and programmes if it
wished to attract more foreign investment “Foreign investors are seeking safe
investment destinations for fresh investment,” he said.
MPI Minister Bui Quang Vinh said amid the
world’s economic difficulties, foreign direct investment (FDI) tended to move
into East Asia including Vietnam. Especially, after the 2009 financial crisis,
many financial investors had been seeking new safe long-term investment
destinations.
They wanted to invest into infrastructure
projects in countries having public-private partnership (PPP) mechanisms and
regulations in line with international practices, he added.
He saw the readiness of investment and insurance
funds from developed countries to join the PPP market as an opportunity for
Vietnam to develop its infrastructure. “Vietnam will be able to be a good
destination for more FDI, if it timely grabs the opportunities and issues more
suitable FDI attraction mechanisms,” Vinh said.
The MPI statistics showed that FDI inflows
into Asia kept rising, from over $500 billion last year to an expected $600
billion this year, mainly into China and India. However, some investors had
begun to shift their investment from China to ASEAN countries including Vietnam
due to China’s policy on revising up salary.
“Vietnam ... can become a supplying centre for
the whole East Asia and a rendezvous for transnational groups and foreign
investors, if its infrastructure is developed better,” Vinh said.
Thanh Tung | vir.com.vn
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