This year, Vietnam and Australia will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations. VIR’s Kim Oanh talked to Phan Huu Thang, director of the International Institute for Investment Research, about the achievements so far between the two countries.

Vietnam’s foreign capital attraction achieved much last year. VIR’s Kim Oanh met with Phan Huu Thang, former director-general of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, to review recent highlights and weigh up predictions for 2023.

Foreign-invested projects in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, and in rural development have been fairly diversified, focusing on fields such as planting, animal husbandry, seafood, forestry processing items, forestation and paper production, and sugar production, among others. However, achievements in attracting foreign investment into the agricultural sector are still limited, failing to fully bring into play the sector’s enormous potential.

Numerous international investors, including Chinese groups, plan to relocate their facilities to ASEAN countries to avoid the impact of the US-China trade dispute.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is exerting a powerful effect on foreign capital inflows to Vietnam, forcing the local government to issue far-reaching reforms in order to catch up with new-generation foreign-invested investment (FDI).

Dr Phan Huu Thang's "FDI: Double-sided coin" has become a handbook for people wishing to learn about Vietnam's FDI journey.