Building on cooperation towards common prosperity

Do Thanh Trung - Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment

Over the years, foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) have made great contributions to Vietnam’s socioeconomic development, to the formation of a number of industries, promoting economic restructuring, import and export, creating jobs, transferring technologies, contributing to the state budget, and supporting domestic enterprises to develop together.

FIEs have also made important contributions to Vietnam’s international integration process, expanding relations with other countries, as well as enhancing Vietnam’s position in the world. They are motivated and contributing to Vietnam’s perfecting the socialist-oriented market economy institution, promoting economic reform and restructuring, renovating the growth model, and improving labour productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness.

Especially, in recent years, there are more multinationals and large foreign-invested enterprises funding large-scale projects with modern technologies, increasing quality and efficiency, and contributing to enabling Vietnam as a manufacturing hub for numerous important economic sectors, especially the electronics industry, as well as levelling Vietnam’s reputation up in the global value chains.

Thereby, Vietnam highly appreciates and respects these great contributions of the FIEs, especially during difficult economic periods.

The world is still facing many issues greatly affecting the global investment flow, along with some issues related to the global minimum tax rate in the time coming. However, the situation is gradually advancing; the number of newly registered projects is still rising, and capital contributions and share purchases are also more active. Foreign investors express their confidence in the growth potential of the economy and in efforts to enhance the business environment here.

Vietnam’s government has been directing drastic and effectively solutions to promote economic growth, ensure and maintain macroeconomic stability, and ensure major balances of the economy. Along with that, in order to boost the quality and efficiency of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, the government has also directed to continue institutional reform, improve the business environment, and create improvements for the business community, including FIEs.

With the orientation of attracting FDI selectively based on quality, efficiency, technologies, and environmental protection, the foreign investment cooperation strategy 2021-2030 set the goal of progressing the efficiency and comprehensive quality in attracting and using foreign capital. It also wants to attract projects of high technologies, new technologies, modern management, high added value, positive spillover effects, and connecting global production and supply chains; while building and developing innovation centres, and regional and international financial centres.

To implement these goals, in addition to some breakthrough and effective solutions related to macroeconomic stability, enhancing infrastructure, and developing human resources, Vietnam’s government and the Ministry of Planning and Investment will focus on several areas.

The first is building and developing an ecosystem of science-technology and innovation with a flexible management mechanism, suitable for the digital business environment. Innovation is the breakthrough stage of the national competitiveness improvement strategy.

Second is developing a strong domestic enterprise sector, capable of international integration, to enter into joint ventures and association with FIEs. Such projects applying advanced technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, modern services, manufacturing, IT, and financial services will be prioritised.

The third aspect is promoting internal capacity and taking advantage of competitive leverage to improve the efficiency of foreign investment cooperation, enabling FIEs to closely connect to local private enterprises and contributing to the sustainable development of the economy.

Therefore, in order to promote the efficiency of such cooperation, Vietnam calls and encourages foreign investors to continue putting money into the aforementioned fields, giving priority to ventures using less labour, energy, land, and resources, generating high added value, and promoting green growth and sustainable development.

At the same time, FIEs should further strengthen links with domestic enterprises, support capacity building, and create more new advantages for Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in global value chains, manufacturing and supplying more to their partners.

Based on the attention and drastic direction of the government and the Prime Minister, the solidarity and efforts of the whole political system, and the investment cooperation of the business communities, we will together overcome challenges, seize opportunities, and cooperate for mutual development towards common prosperity.

Vietnam takes on pressures of foreign capital attraction While maintaining attractiveness to international investors, the imminent global minimum tax and international uncertainties are putting pressure on Vietnam, urging it to have breakthrough steps to foster new foreign inflows.