Firmly the FDI business community

Commenting on attracting foreign direct investment did not "fall down" before the common difficulties caused by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Phan Huu Thang, former director of the Foreign Investment Department (Ministry of Planning and Investment), said that, thanks to their resilience and solid foundation, FDI enterprises had handled situations relatively well and maintained investment in Vietnam.

It’s worth mentioning that the timely decisions of the Government such as Resolution 105/NQ-CP, Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP, etc. have reassured the FDI business community, so foreign investment capital continues to flow into our country.

Since the beginning of the year, Vietnam has attracted nearly 5 billion USD in FDI, although this figure is 91.5% over the same period last year, it shows a positive signal during the pandemic.

Remarkable thing is that the implemented capital of foreign investment projects in the first two months of the year reached US$2.68 billion that increased 7.2% over the same period last year and 0.4 percentage points higher than January 2022.

Looking back in 2021, foreign investment capital into Vietnam reached 31.15 billion USD that increased 9.2% over the same period in 2020. This shows that foreign investors have placed great confidence in the Vietnamese investment environment. Newly registered and adjusted investment capital both increased compared to 2020, especially adjusted capital increased sharply by 40.5%.

“Bright spot” that attracted FDI enterprises

Talking about the prospect of attracting FDI enterprises in the coming time, Mr. Nguyen Hai Minh, Vice President of the European Business Association in Vietnam (Eurocham) said that investors still hand seen Vietnam as a bright spot with many potentials, opportunities; in the immediate future, they were about new investment projects, expansion or additional investment.

Some potential investors have researched and explored the Vietnamese market before and still made decisions on investment even in the context of the pandemic.

For example, LEGO Group started a new 44-hectare factory in Binh Duong province with a total investment of more than 1 billion USD. This is the FDI project with the largest capital from Denmark in Vietnam.

On the other hand, many small and medium-sized companies, or those who want to move their production chains to Vietnam, have the need to go to the field to make investment decisions. These European businesses are looking forward to simplifying the welcome procedure from international routes from March 15 here.

“Many countries in the region have also really reopened, if we do not proceed in time, along with accelerating administrative reform, we will likely miss good opportunities.” emphasized Eurocham Vice President.

Green investment and high technology attract foreign capital

According to Mr. Nguyen Hai Minh, European businesses are particularly interested in green investment and green growth in the Vietnamese market. This is also a big orientation for Eurocham’s programs in the future. Specifically, the exhibition of European investors and European technology solutions related to the green economy will be held in November 2022.

Through practical action programs, European businesses wish to cooperate, support and join hands with Vietnam to fulfill the strong commitment that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh mentioned at COP26.

“Green production, green development is a general trend, an inevitable trend that Vietnam should follow. In the past, we talked a lot about infrastructure, but it is necessary to make the case of green infrastructure in industrial parks, factories, and businesses at an essential and higher priority," suggested Mr. Minh

Development of digital industry and digital economy

In addition, emphasizing the role of attracting FDI in digital technology, said Mr. Rafael Frankel, South Asia and Southeast Asia Public Policy Director of Meta Company (USA), in order to realize the goal set by the Vietnamese Government that in the next 5 years, the economy would continue to grow at 7%, the development of the digital industry and the digital economy was extremely important.

Affirming the desire and commitment to continue accompanying Vietnam both in the post-COVID-19 period and in the long term, Meta Company wants to support the Government and businesses in developing the creative startup ecosystem, creative economy of Vietnam.

“In the past 25 to 30 years, Vietnam has made a remarkable development, which shows the determination and efforts of the Government in opening up the economy, turning Vietnam into a new economy which has a lot of potential to attract high-quality FDI.

In the next phase, the digital economy will become the core of Vietnam’s economy. Therefore, I hope the Government will maintain an open economy, a modern Internet environment, ensure the flow of data and encourage investors." said Rafael Frankel.

Solutions to increase attractiveness in the “race to gain FDI”

FDI will continue to be a particularly important capital flow for growth and international economic integration, contributing to additional capital, technology, management capacity, business ability, organizational ability and participation in global supply chain.

According to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, in the context of limited capital supply, countries are taking advantage of attracting external resources to maintain and recover the economy; The competition to attract FDI among developing countries with similarities in terms of market, development level, technology and labor is increasingly fierce. Therefore, in order to continue to maintain and enhance the attractiveness of attracting FDI enterprises, our country needs to implement a number of key solutions.

Firstly, timely review and adjust foreign investment policies to suit and keep up with fluctuations of the global economy and changes in strategies to attract FDI enterprises of countries around the world. At the same time, create a competitive and open business investment environment, remove difficulties and obstacles in policy to create the most favorable conditions for the operation of enterprises and investors.

Secondly, speed up the necessary process to return economic and social activities to normal, eliminate disruptions in the supply chain of goods and labor, and strengthen the confidence and peace of mind of foreign investors.

Thirdly, prepare necessary conditions to attract investment such as reviewing and supplementing the clean land fund, reviewing the electricity planning and urging the implementation of power projects, strengthening the training of high-quality human resources, supplementing policies and measures to develop supporting industries, improving administrative procedures, etc.

Fourth, the Government needs to develop regulations and standards as a new filter to select foreign investors who have advanced technology, are environmentally friendly, capable and resistant to pressure from the outside to develop sustainably and ensure the national security of the country.

Fifth, actively coordinate with diplomatic agencies, business associations, consulting firms, law firms, banks, investment funds to approach and list businesses that are interested in investing in Vietnam to actively approach, exchange and invite to invest in Vietnam.

At the same time, it is necessary to focus on directly contacting big investors, supporting businesses in training and recruiting workers to meet the needs of the economy, especially the needs of the foreign-invested sector after the disruptions in labor resources. Besides teaching vocational skills, it is necessary to train to improve labor discipline, soft skills, ability to cooperate and share experiences so that Vietnamese workers have both high vocational skills and professionalism; meet labor demand of enterprises in the period of industrial revolution 4.0./.

Link: https://baochinhphu.vn/vung-long-nha-dau-tu-viet-nam-tiep-tuc-la-diem-sang-thu-hut-doanh-nghiep-fdi-102220313141911017.htm