Continuing to apply investment incentives to attract hi-tech foreign projects is necessary to help Vietnam attract large corporations.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) says that Vietnam has attracted FDI from 142 countries and territories. 

Large foreign investors such as Intel, Apple, Google and Boeing are considering expanding their supply chains in Vietnam to ensure long-term stability throughout the entire chains. 

Meanwhile, the Vietnam-US relationship has been upgraded into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which is considered a milestone that will open up strategic opportunities for Vietnam.

Nguyen Xuan Thang, director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, affirmed that Vietnam now has great opportunities to develop high-added value manufacturing industries, service sub-sectors integrated into manufacturing products, and hi-tech fields.

Vietnam needs to design plans, roadmaps and projects to take full advantage of the agreements signed with partners, and speed up digital transformation, and a green energy transition.

“Vietnamese enterprises have chances to become suppliers, providing services to multinationals and joining more deeply into the global value chain,” Thang said.

He said that there should be an overall policy to help Vietnamese enterprises step by step become important links of the chain, especially when countries are changing their FDI-related policies.

Nguyen Mai, chair of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE), said that the Politburo’s Resolution 50 says Vietnam has to attract more investments, especially investments from multinationals of the world’s Top 500 in order to implement projects on high technology to develop human resources and set up headquarters in Vietnam.

Adjusting investment incentives 

Investors, including multinationals, invest in Vietnam partially because of the business environment stability as well as Vietnam’s commitments on ensuring investment and business activities if there are changing policies.

Accompanying and supporting foreign invested enterprises in current conditions is a necessity. Experts have warned that if Vietnam doesn’t apply timely solutions to support enterprises, this may cause foreign investors to rethink their decisions on continuing to stay in Vietnam and expand their investments. 

This may also weaken the momentum for foreign investors to develop new projects in Vietnam.

Vietnam will not be able to retain existing investors and attract new ones in the future if it cannot adjust investment incentive policies in a reasonable way, because without encouragement, Vietnam will no longer be attractive in the eyes of investors.

MPI has submitted to the government a draft plan on piloting a new investment support policy, applied to the hi-tech sector.

Vu Minh Khuong from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore suggested that Vietnam should give direct support, so that investors can upgrade their production performance and competitiveness. 

Viet Nam Net