Development forum looks for ways to improve business climate

An important strategic priority for the Vietnam government is to broaden the country’s engagement with other economies around the globe and to that end it has negotiated a series of both free and bilateral trade agreements.

The Government places a high priority on building economic partnerships with other regions so that it can create a business climate that can be a crossroads for trade and ideas.

This effort includes working with transnational and domestic businesses in the private sector to improve the business environment to enhance investment opportunities, which will in turn benefit the country’s economic growth.

The overarching goal of the forum is to build upon this range of cooperation and collaboration and give it momentum to propel the economy forward to yet higher levels of growth.

At the forum, the high level public and business leaders in attendance engaged in frank discussions on a wide range of novel ideas on how to best improve the business climate that would in turn benefit investment and business opportunities.

In addition to its natural resources, the Vietnamese people themselves are a resource that should not be overlooked. The Government puts great value in education and science to prepare its young people for success in business endeavours, but attendees emphasized that much more need be done in this area.

Vietnam has a large population of young energetic people who offer great potential to those looking to do business here but much more investment must be made to increase opportunities for education exchanges with foreign countries.

Vietnam domestic businesses have shown promise in developing their own technological capabilities within the manufacturing segment, however attendees noted more need be done to ensure that local companies benefit from the country’s impressive GDP growth over recent years.

Participants also discussed the fact that Vietnam is competing with countries around the globe to attract investment and talked about ideas to ensure that investors know that their investment will be secure and that they will have access to hard currency for the import of inputs and that they can repatriate profits.

They also dilated on impediments such as the requirement for visas for foreign citizens and touched on methods to simplify them along with other practical steps that the Government could take to improve the country’s business climate.

The forum provided those in attendance the opportunity to discuss potential business opportunities in diverse segments, the goal of which is to provide Prime Minister Phuc and other public sector leaders insight and input from the business communities of the various nations operating in the country.

The Prime Minister’s wish is that the forum will highlight the country’s potential, and result in concrete new business partnerships between the domestic and foreign business communities.

He also hopes that the event will result in an open and constructive dialogue for ideas on how to make Vietnam a more attractive destination for business, increasing engagement and cooperation with other economies around the globe helping to advance peace, economic stability, and sustainable growth across the region.