Vietnam 's investment and investment-management needs will change as itpursues its next five-year development plan as a middle-income country,experts have said at a conference that opened here on Oct. 27.
Business leaders, senior Government officials as well as bankersattending the two-day conference, the fourth Alternative InvestmentsVietnam, spoke of challenges and opportunities that the new stage ofgrowth will offer investors.
In his keynote address,the Asian Development Bank Country Director for Vietnam , AuymiKonishi, said the country's draft socio-economic development plan forthe 2011-15 period calls for total investments worth 350 billion USD.
" Vietnam needs to maintain macroeconomic stability to sustainrobust growth and continue moving up on the technological ladder towardshigher added value," he said.
Rapid economic growth had to be accompanied by sharp declines in poverty, he added.
For ongoing and planned projects, the country should mobilisesufficient financial resources to meet investment needs, he said,stressing the importance of applying the
public-private-partnership model to infrastructure development.
The economy faces the challenge of increased competition in the energysector and this has to be met with diversification of energy supplyincluding renewable energy imports and production, higher productionefficiency and energy conservation.
Vietnam is oneof Asia 's fastest growing economies with GDP growth averaging 7.4percent during the 1989-2008 period. The global crisis and its impactshad seen GDP growth moderated to 6.2 percent in 2008 and 5.3 percent in2009.
Poverty incidence has declined from 58.1 percentin 1993 to 12.1 percent in 2009, and the economy has rapidly recoveredfrom the global crisis with a growth of 6.7 percent slated for thisyear, Konishi noted.
The conference gave foreign anddomestic investors the opportunity to equip themselves with knowledgeand the best practices to maximise investment returns in one of Asia 'shottest markets.
They discussed on Oct. 27 the needto maintain realistic expectations between investors and the firms theyinvest in, the importance of creating value through corporate cultureand corporate governance as well as evaluating sustainable fund raisingand exit strategies for private equity investments in the country.
Other topics covered on the day included investment opportunities inthe SMEs sector as well as the consumer goods and retail market.
David Lyons, country head and managing director of Jones Lang LaSalleVietnam, said investors are still not sure about which assets to investin or the regulatory framework for investments in each asset class.
"Insights into these will give investors a greater understanding ofthe exciting and dynamic investment opportunities that exist inVietnam today," he said.
Johan Nyvene, chiefexecutive officer of HCM City Securities Corporation, pointed out recenttrends among equity investors. "They have a positive outlook for theVietnamese
economy over the next 12 months. Vietnam is still considered an attractive investment destination," he said.
He said sentiment towards Vietnam institutional investors hasimproved steadily. There has been increasing number of foreigninvestment funds announcing fund raising for
Vietnam or raising their investment allocation for the country, Nyvene noted.
Investors continue to show their interest in growth assets with along-term view. They are also interested in distress assets but theyfind it very difficult to identify sustainable investment opportunitiesin this segment, he added./.
Business leaders, senior Government officials as well as bankersattending the two-day conference, the fourth Alternative InvestmentsVietnam, spoke of challenges and opportunities that the new stage ofgrowth will offer investors.
In his keynote address,the Asian Development Bank Country Director for Vietnam , AuymiKonishi, said the country's draft socio-economic development plan forthe 2011-15 period calls for total investments worth 350 billion USD.
" Vietnam needs to maintain macroeconomic stability to sustainrobust growth and continue moving up on the technological ladder towardshigher added value," he said.
Rapid economic growth had to be accompanied by sharp declines in poverty, he added.
For ongoing and planned projects, the country should mobilisesufficient financial resources to meet investment needs, he said,stressing the importance of applying the
public-private-partnership model to infrastructure development.
The economy faces the challenge of increased competition in the energysector and this has to be met with diversification of energy supplyincluding renewable energy imports and production, higher productionefficiency and energy conservation.
Vietnam is oneof Asia 's fastest growing economies with GDP growth averaging 7.4percent during the 1989-2008 period. The global crisis and its impactshad seen GDP growth moderated to 6.2 percent in 2008 and 5.3 percent in2009.
Poverty incidence has declined from 58.1 percentin 1993 to 12.1 percent in 2009, and the economy has rapidly recoveredfrom the global crisis with a growth of 6.7 percent slated for thisyear, Konishi noted.
The conference gave foreign anddomestic investors the opportunity to equip themselves with knowledgeand the best practices to maximise investment returns in one of Asia 'shottest markets.
They discussed on Oct. 27 the needto maintain realistic expectations between investors and the firms theyinvest in, the importance of creating value through corporate cultureand corporate governance as well as evaluating sustainable fund raisingand exit strategies for private equity investments in the country.
Other topics covered on the day included investment opportunities inthe SMEs sector as well as the consumer goods and retail market.
David Lyons, country head and managing director of Jones Lang LaSalleVietnam, said investors are still not sure about which assets to investin or the regulatory framework for investments in each asset class.
"Insights into these will give investors a greater understanding ofthe exciting and dynamic investment opportunities that exist inVietnam today," he said.
Johan Nyvene, chiefexecutive officer of HCM City Securities Corporation, pointed out recenttrends among equity investors. "They have a positive outlook for theVietnamese
economy over the next 12 months. Vietnam is still considered an attractive investment destination," he said.
He said sentiment towards Vietnam institutional investors hasimproved steadily. There has been increasing number of foreigninvestment funds announcing fund raising for
Vietnam or raising their investment allocation for the country, Nyvene noted.
Investors continue to show their interest in growth assets with along-term view. They are also interested in distress assets but theyfind it very difficult to identify sustainable investment opportunitiesin this segment, he added./.
