Panelists speak at the Investment Support Forum and Review Conference of Investment Promotion Series held in HCM City. (Photo: VNA) HCM City is well-positioned to attract the lion’s share of the newwave of investors if it manages to mitigate a looming capacity shortage interms of industrial land, office space, commercial real estate, and skilledlabour, said Leif Schneider, Vice Chairman of the Legal Sector Committee of theEuropean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.
HCM City continuously rakes in the highest figures of foreigninvestment, totaling 3.74 billion USD last year, Schneider said at theInvestment Support Forum and Review Conference of Investment Promotion Seriesheld on September 15 in HCM City.
Three of the most important buzzwords for HCM City’s role inforeign direct investment (FDI) flows are digital, renewable and sustainable,he said.
One of the city’s greatest resources lies with its people. Asforeign direct investment into HCM City gains sophistication, Vietnam’s labourmarket will have to adapt to reflect the growing requirements in education andtraining.
Additionally, the city should continue its efforts to improvedomestic infrastructure to support the absorption of increased trade andmanufacturing activities.
Mary Tarnowka, Executive Director of the American Chamber ofCommerce in Vietnam, said: “Vietnam is now one of the top destinations for FDI,both as companies seek to diversify their manufacturing supply chains and asthey seek to target its own 100 million population and growing consumer class.”
“It is one of the fastest growing economies in the region, if notthe world. It has a stable political environment, and a welcoming approach toFDI. It has a strategic location near source and consumer markets. It isintegrated into a network of free trade agreements, from CPTPP and RCEP, theEVFTA and UKFTA, and now is part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. And ithas a young, relatively affordable tech-savvy workforce,” she said.
HCM City, a modern, dynamic city in the heart of Vietnam’sSouthern Key Economic Region, has all those advantages.
HCM City and the surrounding region is a top destination formultinational corporations seeking to diversify supply chains.
However, infrastructure gaps and lags in worker productivity couldlimit growth in Vietnam generally and HCM City specifically.
The high cost of land in HCMC means a lot of manufacturing willmove to nearby provinces, while HCM City needs to move up the value chain tofocus on services, high-value manufacturing, and hopefully in the future, withthe right regulatory environment and incentives, more international R&Dcentres.
HCM City needs the right urban planning and development policiesto maintain its unique historic architecture and identity while facilitatingits sustainable growth.
Tarnowka recommended that the investment climate be enhanced.
“The most important factor for a favourable investment climate isa fair, transparent, predictable, and streamlined regulatory environment thatvalues innovation - not only to attract new investment, but also to maintainand grow investment already here,” she said.
"To ensure that HCM City’s manufacturing sector remainscompetitive and shifts to higher-value production, we encourage educationalreforms, policies to promote supply chain localisation, investment intransportation and logistics infrastructure, actions to meet energy securityand a clean energy transition, and increased incentives for high-techinvestment and enhanced R&D capabilities," Tarnowka said.
Seck Yee Chung, Vice President of the Singapore Business Group,said that continued dialogue with investors, and fair, transparent,predictable, and efficient regulatory systems would help improve the investmentenvironment in HCM City.
Ensuring smooth investment licence renewal and investmentexpansion approval, the upgrade and construction of infrastructure, masterplans on logistics and warehouses, and digital infrastructure that allows for continuouscross-border data transfer and cybersecurity are all needed to improve theinvestment environment, he said.
Cao Thi Phi Van, Deputy Director of the HCM City Investment andTrade Promotion Centre, said the city had many advantages to attract FDI flows,including a favourable geographic location, quality workforce and its leadingposition in manufacturing and high technology services.
She admitted that limitations in transportation infrastructure,logistics and workforce productivity needed to be addressed to improve theinvestment climate.
The city has attracted a total of 10,925 FDI projects worth 78.3billion USD from 115 countries and territories since 1988./.
VNA
