VBI Fast Track luring investment inflows from US

Mary Tarnowka (sitting, left), director of the AmCham Vietnam, and Pham Phu Truong (sitting, right), CEO of VBI Fast Track, sign a memorandum of cooperation in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, August 20, 2020. Photo: Nhu Binh / Tuoi Tre

Vietnam Business and Investment (VBI) Fast Track, an organisation that offers assistance in promoting business and investment opportunities in Vietnam, is rushing to organise consultancy and investment promotion activities to connect with US investors.

This week, VBI Fast Track will organise a dialogue on improving the business environment and boosting private investment and new-generation foreign investment with the participation of the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham). A representative of Amcham will share the concerns of US investors as well as propose solutions to lure more large-scale US investment. Last month the two parties signed a new MoU in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mary Tarnowka, director of AmCham Vietnam, said that the memorandum is expected to draw more US investment flows to Vietnam in the near future. She added that US entrepreneurs are paying particular attention to the sectors of renewable energy, infrastructure, and healthcare.

Pham Phu Truong, CEO of VBI Fast Track, told VIR, “Investment inflows from the United States to Vietnam have yet to reach potential due to the difference in culture and the geographical distance, and a lack of information about the investment environment in Vietnam.”

Thus, the organisation’s target is to remove these obstacles to foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, including capital from the US. “Notably, we will introduce distinctive features about the country and culture. In addition, VBI will also address difficulties that they may face when investing in Vietnam and are willing to help deal with these problems in order that they can feel secure about their choice,” Truong said.

VBI Fast Track focuses on luring in projects of at least $500 million and plans to become a bridge that brings foreign investors, including US entrepreneurs, closer to the Vietnamese government.

The Vietnamese government has recently announced many policies with a view to attracting FDI, with US investors being a prime target.

At an online discussion in Washington DC in July, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc highlighted the favourable factors for US investors in Vietnam, including the two countries’ flourishing comprehensive partnership and Vietnam’s network of free trade agreements.

Vietnam is home to the manufacturing arms of billion-dollar US groups like Intel, Microsoft, IBM, Coca-Cola, GE and PepsiCo. Furthermore, other groups like AIG, ExxonMobil, and Boeing, are also looking for opportunities to invest.

Most recently, Millennium Group announced plans to develop a 600-hectare liquefied natural gas project with the capacity of 9,600MW in the South Van Phong area in Ninh Hoa town of the central province of Khanh Hoa.