Vietnam News Today (Mar. 1): Vietnam an Attractive Destination for Foreign Investors

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Trade ministry supports businesses to boost exports to China

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has said that it will organise a wide range of trade promotion activities to support businesses in exporting their products to China.

Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Ministry’s Trade Promotion Authority, said that despite serious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic and trade cooperation activities have developed continuously, stressing that China remains Vietnam's largest trade partner and import market.

In the coming time, the ministry will continue coordinating with localities and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to guide enterprises to complete export documents through official channels to better exploit this market, cited VNA.

The ministry is also planning to coordinate with Vietnamese and Chinese agencies to hold the first Vietnam-Shanghai Trade Forum on exporting Vietnamese agricultural and seafood products to China through Shanghai port. The event, slated for April in Hanoi, will become annual to boost the two countries’ economic and trade development.

According to the Vietnamese Trade Office in China, since China’s full reopening of its door on January 8, the country has loosened its policies on entry and exit and import and export activities. Therefore, commercial activities in general and trade promotion ones in particular have basically been resumed as before the pandemic.

Vietnam an attractive destination for foreign investors, say news outlets

Amid global uncertainties, Vietnam has emerged as an important destination for foreign investors, serving as a driving force for economic growth moving forward, according to international news outlets.

As the economy is gradually recovering with many challenges still lying ahead, the country is trying to promote its strengths, especially in terms of attracting more foreign investment to garner resources for national economic development.

In its 2022 - 2023 White Book recently unveiled in Hanoi, the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) reaffirmed that Vietnam is an attractive destination for FDI thanks to a stable macroeconomic environment and controlled inflation. It noted that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) serves as a driving force for bilateral trade and investment, whilst it has also facilitated the flow of technology and expertise.

Sharing this perspective, Inventiva.co.in noted that Vietnam is one of the top countries in the list for attracting foreign investment in 2023, with this being put down to a favourable business environment, steady economic growth, and improved infrastructure, along with policy changes.

“With the growth in the country’s economy and favourable business climate, the country is attracting commendable larger international investments in order to capitalise on the growing opportunities,” said Inventiva.

“Comparably in the last few years, Vietnam has made significant improvements in its infrastructure and created a business-friendly environment for foreign investors,” added the website.

Meanwhile, Hong Sun, head of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam (KOCHAM), pointed out that compared to other countries, the local investment environment holds great potential for Korean businesses. Indeed, the investment environment and culture in the country shares many similarities to the Republic of Korea, which has attracted a lot of attention and offers convenience for both Korean businesses and the Korean community based in Vietnam.

“Korean businesses still attach great importance to Vietnam’s abundant and skillful human resources, tax incentives, concerns and efforts of the Vietnamese Government for foreign investors in general and Korean investors in particular,” he said.

Photo: VNA

Furthermore, business news outlet Nikkei Asia of Japan cited a survey by the Japan Trade Promotion Organization (JETRO) saying that the Vietnamese market is at centre of Japan’s supply chain transformation in ASEAN and is a priority location for Japanese enterprises seeking to expand production.

For its part, Swiss Daily Tribune de Gèneve hailed Vietnam as a new destination for foreign investors thanks to the overall attractiveness of its investment environment and 15 free trade agreements it has signed which have already come into effect.

The article outlined that the country recorded the strongest economic growth in Asia in 2022 at 8.03% following a period of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Switzerland is therefore well-positioned to leverage advantages brought about by the Vietnamese economy.

Hundreds of Swiss firms are among the most important European investors present in the Vietnamese market. In particular, the Swiss industrial equipment sector should seek to fully tap into the growing trend of ‘Made in Vietnam’ products.

The country is being rated by foreign investors as a top priority for investment. Therefore, it will continue to witness the emergence of super factories in the future, Tribune de Gèneve concluded.

In her opinion, Michele Wee, CEO at Standard Chartered Vietnam, recently confided that attractive investment policies and diverse demographics have continued to help Vietnam become a market of choice for both foreign investors and businesses.

Vietnam boasts clear advantages in terms of labour, strong integration with global trade, modern supply chains, political stability, and potential resources, she said, adding that the Government is also keen to carry out reforms and meet its commitment in order to promote trade and sustainable growth.

Last but not least, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), quoted experts on its website, saying that in the context of headwinds against the global economy easing, developing economies such as Vietnam will have more favourable conditions for a stronger recovery in the near future.

Vietnam keen on working with Japan in implementing global commitments, goals

As a country with high sense of responsibility, Vietnam is willing to cooperate with Japan in realising global commitments and goals, thus turning the bilateral relations into a model in partnership between a developing country and a developed one, said Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha.

Ha made the statement while receiving Special Advisor of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Alliance Takebe Tsutomu and Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio in Hanoi on February 27.

Ha, who is also Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, recalled his engagement in the process of establishing bilateral strategic partnership, especially in the fields of maritime research, environment, climate change response, and hydrometeorology, among others.

Showing support to the Japanese Government’s initiatives to achieve net-zero emission goal, the Deputy PM highlighted cooperation potential between Vietnam and Japan in just energy transition, and personnel training. He held that the Vietnam-Japan University is a symbol of bilateral collaboration in human resources development.

The Vietnamese official highly valued Japan’s technology and financial support to Vietnam to settle the Agent Orange/dioxin (AO) consequences. Vietnam has been working hard to mobilise diverse resources to ease the AO pains, helping victims to integrate into the society, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha (R) presents a souvenir to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha (Photo: VNA)

Deputy PM Ha thanked Ambassador Yamada Takio for launching many activities to further deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, and spoke highly of Japan’s ideas to achieve net-zero emission goal and boost economic development at the same time.

He held that developing countries can only implement just energy transition and complete the net-zero emission goal if they are active in promoting the transfer of relevant technologies, reported VNA.

Special Advisor of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Alliance Takebe Tsutomu said that the reinforcement of the Vietnam-Japan ties is significant to the growth of each country, especially amid unpredictable developments in the world and challenges in food security, energy, social welfare and climate change.

He proposed a number of cooperation ideas on education-training, high quality human resources training, salinity and sea level rise response in the Mekong Delta region, and AO consequence settlement.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed measures to further promote ties between the two countries on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, and bring the bilateral extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia to a new development period.

FDI pledges reach 3.1 billion USD in first two months

Total pledges of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam in the first two months of 2023 were estimated at 3.1 billion USD, down 38% from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Specifically, 1.76 billion USD was poured into 261 new projects while an additional 535.4 million USD was committed to 133 existing projects. Stake purchases by foreign investors were estimated 797.9 million USD.

The manufacturing sector was the largest recipient of FDI, with 2.17 billion USD, accounting for 70.1% of total pledges, followed by property trading with 396.9 million USD and wholesale and retail with 202.1 million USD.

Workers assemble products at Vietnam Tabuchi Electric in Bac Ninh Province.

Singapore was the largest foreign investor in Vietnam during the period, with 978.4 million USD, equivalent to nearly one third of the total figure.

Taiwan (China) and the Netherlands came second and third with 407.1 million USD and 369 million USD, respectively. Other large investors included China, the Republic of Korea and Sweden, cited NDO.

Locality-wise, Bac Giang was the largest FDI recipient with 824.3 million USD, followed by Ho Chi Minh City with 369.1 million USD.

During the two-month period, disbursement was estimated at 2.55 billion USD, down 4.9% from last year.

Exports by foreign-invested firms (including crude oil) fell by 5.3% against the same period last year to 38.4 billion USD, accounting for over three quarters of the country’s total export revenue.

Vietnam sees sharp increase in foreign arrivals in first two months of 2023

The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam reached more than 1.8 million in the first two months of the year, a figure 36.6 times higher compared to the same period from last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on February 28.

Most notably, localities received 933,000 foreign arrivals in February alone, marking a rise of 7.1% against January and 31.6 times higher than the figure seen a year ago.

This was only equal to 60% compared to the number seen back in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

In the reviewed period, Asia represented the country’s largest tourist source market with an estimated 1.3 million arrivals.

Coming in second was Europe with 242,500 arrivals, whilst the Americas was Vietnam’s third largest source of international visitors with 186,300 arrivals.

Photo: VOV

Vietnam also attracted 77,300 arrivals from Australia and 4,300 arrivals from Africa, reported VOV.

Moving forward, domestic aviation and tourism businesses are anticipating the Government to adopt a more open visa policy for international tourists, and to extend their stay from 15 to 30 days.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has made proposals to the Government about considering the issuance of electronic visas to all guest markets in order to attract more foreign visitors.

With these changes, the tourism market is expected to recover by the end of 2024 compared to the pre-pandemic period.

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