Investment flows from downunder set to spike

Australian investment into Vietnam remains at a  low level in comparison with other countries like Japan or the United States, but it seems that Australian companies are expanding overseas investment. So how can Australian investment be increased in Vietnam?

I think the potential is very good. Currently, Asia is growing very fast against  the rest of the world economy. Europe and US economies are growing slowly, so companies in the world, particularly in Australia, are looking to Asia.

 In Australia, with the exception of mining, engineering construction and transport, business conditions throughout the economy are tracking below their long-run averages.

Therefore, Australian companies want to invest in Asia including Vietnam to find out about growth opportunities. Vietnam is strongly growing in Asia and many Australian companies want to invest in Vietnam.

What industries are Australian companies interested in?

It will be more interesting if we look at industry structure of the Australian economy, that will hint where the common ground between Australia and Vietnam is in terms of investment opportunities and cooperation. We have a very big financing and insurance industry, we are strong in mining and engineering construction and infrastructure construction.

We have very good healthcare sector, very good education system and we are also strong in agriculture. As a result, I think we can help the Vietnamese economy in terms of investment and information sharing.

The potential for Australian companies to increase investment in Vietnam is very big. And it is happening. ANZ, for instance, is a big foreign investor in Vietnam. I think financial service in Vietnam will attract Australian investors. When we look through Vietnam, infrastructure is an interesting sector for Australian companies which have experience in infrastructure construction.

In tourism, there is a strong interest in many Australians coming to Vietnam. Vietnam Airlines is flying daily to Sydney, I think that is another opportunity.

In Australia, have you heard that many Australian companies talking about investing in Vietnam?

I heard many companies considering Vietnam and other countries like China. But the investment cost in China is coming up and that is the biggest economy in Asia. I heard many friends came back from Vietnam saying that Vietnam is very cheap.

And at our bank, ANZ, we see lots of interesting opportunities in financing service in Vietnam as the economy is growing fast.

The Australia economic growth is predicted to weigh significantly towards investment and imports in the next few years, so what are the opportunities for Vietnamese companies to expand business in Australia market?

Vietnam is currently the 17th biggest export destination for Australia and also 17th biggest import source for our country. Vietnam could improve this position, but it could take some time.

While we export wheat, copper, gold and coal to Vietnam, we import seafood, goods vehicles, computers and telecommunication equipment. In terms of computers and telecommunication, I think we have very strong demand.