(VOVworld) – Vietnam gained a record 15.8 billion USD in foreign investment in 2016thanks to its improved investment and business environment. This year, Vietnam expects to continue to be an attractive destination for foreign investors due to new opportunities from international economic integration and government incentives.
In the first two months of this year, Vietnam earned 3.4 billion USD from 1,100 new and existing foreign-invested projects. Disbursement has reached 1.55 billion USD, according to the Foreign Investment Agency’s latest statistics.
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Vietnamese workers at the Samsung factory in Thai Nguyen province.
(Photo: Ministry of Industry and Trade) |
Ryu Hang Ha, President of the Korean Enterprise Association in Vietnam (Korcham), highly valued Vietnam’s strong reforms in its business environment and deeper integration into the global economy. These are fundamental factors for Vietnam to attract FDI, he said.
“Over the years, Vietnam has maintained sustainable economic growth. The government has reformed the economic structure and administrative procedures, and taken strong actions to combat corruption to create a more favorable environment for businesses. Vietnam is the Asian country that has joined the most free trade agreements, thus gaining enterprises in Vietnam the lowest tariffs,” Ryu elabrorated.
Despite the negative impact of the US’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Vietnamese economy still has many cooperation and investment opportunities from the 16 free trade deals it has been negotiating.
Sebastian Eckardt, a World Bank economist, said Vietnam is taking steady steps through changing policies, creating a healthy investment environment and setting up sustainable economic development areas.
Vietnam has clarified the direction of economic development, focusing on effective use of FDI resources to make breakthrough changes, said Sebastian.
The Vietnamese government has created specific policies to increase national competitiveness by 2020, including the enactment of the revised Investment Law on January 1st, 2017.
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Nguyen Van Toan, Deputy President of the Foreign Investment Business Association.
(Photo: Ministry of Industry and Trade) |
“Vietnam’s FDI in 2017 is still sending strong signals in the absence of a TPP agreement. In addition to investment from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and China, we are atracting European investors who are making the most of signed bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to offset the losses caused by the UK’s exit from the EU. So I think trade between Vietnam and the EU will be more favorable. But to that end, Vietnam should develop an infrastructure to lure investment and a transparent legal climate, particularly in intellectual property”, said Nguyen Van Toan, Deputy President of the Foreign Investment Business Association.