Int’l media: Vietnam becomes “promising land” to investors

Safe and potential investment destination

The Nikkei on November 11 wrote “Vietnam vows 5% growth in post- outbreak foreign investment pitch”. It said “Vietnam is pressing for foreign investment to defend its status as Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economy, just as the country becomes the first in the region to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.”

Vietnam’s economy could grow bigger than Singapore by 2029, the UK-based Global Business Outlook recently cited the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS)’s report as saying. The bank predicts that Vietnam could grow at a pace of 6 percent to 6.5 percent in the next ten years.

According to Nikkei, Vietnam is enjoying a foreign investment wave and it is expected to become a big hi-tech manufacturing hub. Currently, Samsung alone has contributed one-fourth of Vietnam’s export revenue while Intel Group (USA) has announced the opening of a massive one billion USD chip testing and assembly facility in Vietnam, the biggest such facility for Intel anywhere in the world.

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Exporting goods to Japan at a factory in Dong Nai province (Photo: Minh Hung/Vietnamplus)

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Workers of Huynh Duc company in Dong Nay province test equipment at the factory (Photo: Minh Hung/Vietnamplus)

Having the third most vibrant startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has been a promising land for foreign investors, according to Sergey Sinitsyn from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

A report from the ESP Capital and Cento Ventures shows that investment for Vietnam’s share of startup investment value in the region jumped from 5 percent in 2018 to 17 percent in 2019.

In the past four years, the country’s innovation and startup ecosystem has developed from dawn to a level that is significant to the whole region, Sinitsyn was reported by Sputnik as saying.

Vietnam has become a hub for innovation projects in Asia-Pacific, he said, adding attractive sectors include finance, education, technology, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology.

Several standout investments are Singaporean Temasek’s participation in VNG Corporation’s project, Softbanks & GIC’s investment in VNPAY, and Warburg Pincus’s investment in MoMo.

Particularly, VNG Corporation became Vietnam’s first ever unicorn tech start-up following investment of GIC, he said.

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Vietnamese enterprises work directly with purchasing department of AEON Vietnam (Photo: Xuan Anh/ Vietnamplus)

Facing challenges

Foreign media agencies also mentioned the challenges that Vietnam is facing in the process of attracting foreign investment as well as the country’s measures to tackle those challenges.

According to international experts, investment wave has created pressure to Vietnam, specially labor force, suppliers and industrial land, among others.

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Rice export at Hau River Food Company. (Photo: Vietnamplus)

According to Savills real estate firm, over the past two years, the occupancy ratio has surged in almost all industrial parks with an average of 74 percent nationwide. The occupancy ratio was even higher in areas adjacent to cities such as 99% in Binh Duong and 94 percent in Dong Nai.