500 representatives join M&A Forum 2020

Le Trong Minh, Editor-in-Chief of VIR addressing the opening ceremony of the Vietnam M&A Forum 2020

The 12th M&A Forum this year is themed "Upsurging in the new normal" and is held at GEM Palace on Tuesday, November 24, 2020. The forum is organised by VIR and AVM Vietnam under the patronage of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Following the ceremony to honour the most outstanding M&A deals and advisors of 2019-2020, the speakers and participants will turn their attention to the discussions and in-depth analysis of the market outlook and the necessary conditions to bring about an upsurge in M&A transactions. The forum will also highlight M&A opportunities and challenges in each sector with the hope of creating a breakthrough for the M&A market in the time to come.

“We also invite all of you here to frankly share your valuable experiences in overcoming difficulties and ways to utilise advantages in M&A transactions that helped you to consolidate and develop into powerful economic corporations,” said Le Trong Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Investment Review and Head of the Organising Board of Vietnam M&A Forum 2020.

The forum is held with the backdrop of COVID-19 raging around the world. Despite the positive preliminary testing results of COVID-19 vaccines, the world still faces tremendous challenges with the number of infections reaching new heights, forcing many economies to implement lockdowns, social distancing, and make tough restrictions.

When the vaccines can be released at a large scale and give us some much-needed peace of mind remains a question – but until then, the coronavirus will continue levelling global investment and business landscapes, including mergers and acquisitions.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stated in a report released on October 27 that global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the first half of 2020 plunged by 49 per cent compared to last year, much higher than the initial estimates. Of all categories, FDI inflows into developed economies saw the biggest fall in all sectors, largely due to lockdowns going into effect around the world. In the first half of 2020, FDI into developed economies plunged 75 per cent compared to 2019 while FDI into developing countries slid by 16 per cent. In particular, the total value of cross-border M&A transactions stood at only $319 billion. Of this, developed economies that account for 80 per cent of global M&A transactions saw a 21 per cent decline.

The drops, which previously came as a shock, now seem far more understandable. The world has been forced to get used to a new normal, without exception for investors and business circles.

“The Vietnam M&A Forum 2020 takes place in the new normal whilst Vietnam, as part of the global economy, is being hit hard by the pandemic and the new investment trends of the region and the world at large. Nevertheless, unlike most other economies, the outlook for the Vietnamese economy remains quite positive thanks to the country’s drastic measures to reform the domestic investment and business climate, effectively curb the pandemic, and potentially benefit from a noticeable shift in foreign investment flows,” said Minh.