Vietnam Should Seize Post-crisis Opportunities to Attract FDI: Experts

Vietnam should catch post-crisis opportunities to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, several experts said at “Vietnam Economy: Opportunities and Challenges after the Global Financial Crisis” seminar in Ho Chi Minh City recently.

 

The experts added that Vietnam has many good chances to draw FDI inflows, especially from the U.S. and Japan as the global economy has been recovering.

 

Deputy General Director of KPMG in Vietnam Nguyen Cong Ai said “Some U.S. enterprises realized difficulties in their economy, so they have shifted investments to other countries such as China, India and Vietnam.

 

Meanwhile, another participant said many Japanese enterprises has keen on investing in Vietnam in recent years, adding that more Japanese investors, especially big corporations will come to the Southeast Asian nation if the nation offers more attractive investment environment.

 

Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises, said that FDI inflow into Vietnam is increasing, but it needs to have better control and should reject projects with outdated technology and using unskilled labor.

 

Mai also urged the country to speed up infrastructure upgrade projects, accelerate administrative reform and develop human resources to attract multinational corporations.

 

Vietnam licensed 658 foreign-invested projects totaling US$10.79 billion and allowed 143 existing projects to add their capital by US$787 million in the first eight months of this year. Foreign investors disbursed US$7.25 billion in the country in during the period.

 

This year, the country expects to attract US$25 billion and disburse US$11 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) this year up 16.38% and 10% on-year respectively. (STD)