Several member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) have emerged as Vietnam’s leading investment partners after afew invested small amounts of capital in the country 20 years ago.
The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) from ASEAN countries beganto arrive in Vietnam in 1990, three years after Vietnam introducedthe Law on Foreign Investment, with Singapore , Thailand andIndonesia being the pioneers. However, this dribble of investmentturned into a torrent five years later with a combined capital of morethan 3 billion USD being registered for 230 projects.
Right after Vietnam joined the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA)in January 1996, FDI from ASEAN nations increased sharply, exceeding 7.8billion USD by mid 1997.
According to the ForeignInvestment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, otherregional countries invested in 53 projects with a registered capital of263 million USD, during the first half of this year.
Singapore , Malaysia , Laos and Brunei are in Vietnam ’s top15 investment partners, with Singapore being the largest.
The investment has gone into real estate, wooden products, foodstuffs, transport and sports gear.
On the future prospects of FDI from ASEAN member countries, Dang DucLong, an expert at the Institute of World Economics and Politics,said that most regional countries have an advantage in terms of capitaland technology, but face a shortage of natural resources and have higherlabour costs.
Therefore, these countries movelabour-intensive manufacturing industries to markets that boast abundantnatural resources and low labour costs like Vietnam . “This is agreat opportunity for Vietnam to attract more investment,” he said.
While holding the ASEAN chair in 2010, Vietnamhas been active by promoting cooperation in trade, investment andtourism within the bloc.
Along with calling forinvestment in overlooked industries, Vietnam has also linked up witha number of ASEAN countries to create industrial zones like thesuccessful Vietnamese-Singaporean Industrial Park./.
The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) from ASEAN countries beganto arrive in Vietnam in 1990, three years after Vietnam introducedthe Law on Foreign Investment, with Singapore , Thailand andIndonesia being the pioneers. However, this dribble of investmentturned into a torrent five years later with a combined capital of morethan 3 billion USD being registered for 230 projects.
Right after Vietnam joined the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA)in January 1996, FDI from ASEAN nations increased sharply, exceeding 7.8billion USD by mid 1997.
According to the ForeignInvestment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, otherregional countries invested in 53 projects with a registered capital of263 million USD, during the first half of this year.
Singapore , Malaysia , Laos and Brunei are in Vietnam ’s top15 investment partners, with Singapore being the largest.
The investment has gone into real estate, wooden products, foodstuffs, transport and sports gear.
On the future prospects of FDI from ASEAN member countries, Dang DucLong, an expert at the Institute of World Economics and Politics,said that most regional countries have an advantage in terms of capitaland technology, but face a shortage of natural resources and have higherlabour costs.
Therefore, these countries movelabour-intensive manufacturing industries to markets that boast abundantnatural resources and low labour costs like Vietnam . “This is agreat opportunity for Vietnam to attract more investment,” he said.
While holding the ASEAN chair in 2010, Vietnamhas been active by promoting cooperation in trade, investment andtourism within the bloc.
Along with calling forinvestment in overlooked industries, Vietnam has also linked up witha number of ASEAN countries to create industrial zones like thesuccessful Vietnamese-Singaporean Industrial Park./.
