Vietnam Remains Potential Destination for MNCs: Economist

Vietnam remains a potential market for multi-national corporations and groups (MNCs), particularly those from Asia, said Daiwa Capital Market Chief Economist Prasenjut K.Basu at a seminar in Hanoi on August 10.

 

The political and social stability, abundant youthful labor force as well as the government’s open-door policies for investors are Vietnam’s most attractive factors, he said at the seminar on impacts of the world economic situation on the national economy.

 

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam has recovered since the third quarter of 2009, accounting for 10% of the country’s GDP, and the rate will be stable at between 8% and 10% of the GDP in medium term, the economist added.

 

At the conference, officials and analysts agreed that poor infrastructure and the shortage of skilled laborers are still the biggest barriers for foreign investors, urging the local government to focus on stabilizing macro-economic factors.

 

They also discussed economic development of Asian economies after the global economic slowdowns, saying that most regional countries have become less dependent on Organization-for Economic-Co-operation-and-Development, OECD, markets as destinations for their exports. Instead they are boosting exports to developing nations.

 

Foreign investors are estimated to have disbursed $6.4 billion in Vietnam in the first seven months of this year, rising 1.6% from a year earlier, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said recently.

 

The Southeast Asian country licensed 533 foreign-invested projects totaling $8.4 billion and allowed 137 existing projects to add their capital by $715 million between January and July, the GSO added. (Vietnam Economic Times)