Vietnam to focus on measures for attracting foreign investors
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Vietnam will make a concerted effort to attract and effectively use foreign direct investment (FDI), Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at a national summit held in Hanoi yesterday.
Reviewing the nation’s 25 years of absorbing FDI, the leader said, “Attracting foreign investment is the right policy as it has contributed to realising many important socio-economic development goals in the country.”
The foreign investments have made positive contributions to Vietnam’s economic growth over the past 25 years, he noted.
More efforts will be made to improve the investment climate, perfecting market mechanisms, accelerating administrative reforms and human-resource training, he added.
The sector was encouraged to develop in a stable, long-term manner and on an equal footing with other economic sectors, thus making use of the country’s internal strength and comparative advantages.
More and more foreign investors chose Vietnam as a trusted destination for their long-term investment, Dung said.
As of February this year, foreign investors poured nearly US$211 billion (Bt6.1 trillion) into 14,550 projects in Vietnam while the disbursed volume stood at some $100 billion.
The foreign-invested sector accounts for 25 per cent of the country’s total investment capital and over 60 per cent of the total export value in 2012. It also contributed $3.7 billion to the state budget in 2012 and created millions of jobs.
Despite these positive results, there remain weaknesses and limitations in the country’s FDI attraction such as an investment imbalance regarding industries, slow capital disbursement and a low content of new technology in invested projects.
“All these limitations and shortcomings required comprehensive solutions to be addressed,” Dung said.
He asked relevant ministries, sectors and localities to supplement regulations to attract large projects in infrastructure construction, high-tech and support industries.
Approved socio-economic infrastructure planning schemes would be made public to all investors, including foreigners, enabling them to better prepare for their investment, Dung said.
Future investment promotion activities need to be co-ordinated on a national scale to prevent unhealthy competition among localities, he said.
Tran Du Lich, a member of the National Advisory Council on Monetary and Financial Policies, said now was the right time to take further initiatives in seeking new FDI.
Vietnam should select strategic investors based on specific areas, he said, outlining high-tech industries such as information technology, biological technologies for agriculture, support industries, infrastructure construction and finance as promising sectors to attract FDI.
Stronger commitments from local authorities to cut off administrative procedures are also necessary to create more favourable conditions for foreign investors, he said.
The Japan Business Association in Vietnam chairman Daiken Murakami said the country should clarify which products the support industries should focus on, and the government should then have concrete policies to attract investment in those industries.
Hai Phong People’s Committee chairman Duong Anh Dien petitioned the state to select localities that have the most potential to attract FDI and provide financial assistance for their infrastructure development.
Investment promotion should also target specific foreign investors, he said, adding that solving difficulties facing investors were also needed.
