VIR conference attracts hundreds of participants

VIR’s conference attracts hundreds of participations

On the morning of May 15, Vietnam Investment Review held the conference “Strong Investment Partnerships for a Thriving Vietnam.”

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The conference was organised amid ever-stronger competition among developing countries in attracting foreign investment, with foreign investment inflows forecast to decline in 2023.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, global foreign investment flows tend to focus on high technology, innovation, research and development, green economy, digital economy, circular economy, and clean energy. These are all areas in which Vietnam is making many special incentives and support measures.

Just over three weeks ago, at a conference to meet foreign investors, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said he appreciated the determination and efficiency of businesses, and foreign investors in doing business in Vietnam in the spirit of trust, sincerity and responsibility.

These factors are key to successful cooperation between the two parties and when these factors are present, difficulties and problems will be resolved more efficiently, the PM said.

Le Trong Minh, editor-in-chief of VIR

Le Trong Minh, editor-in-chief of VIR said, “We believe that now is the reasonable time for us to share, discuss and evaluate together to draw lessons from successful models in foreign investment cooperation, identify new trends and successful competitive opportunities in attracting new capital flows, especially high-quality foreign investment flows."

"Besides this, it is necessary to propose ideas and solutions to overcome problems to promote foreign investment flows into Vietnam, and improve Vietnam's position in the global production chain in line with the Party and state's plan," he said. “Such good experiences, ideas and solutions will certainly be useful to the investment resonance of the foreign-invested enterprises – an important component of the Vietnamese economy – and other economic sectors continue to promote their strength and contribute to the prosperity, and sustainable development of the country.”

Minh added that Vietnam had become a leading country and achieved many important achievements in attracting foreign investment in the country.

“Your stories and sharing are also very meaningful in enriching information about the journey of attracting foreign investment to Vietnam over the past 35 years since the Law on Investment took effect in 1988. This brief information has been partly expressed in the special publication '35 years of attracting foreign investment in Vietnam' that you hold in your hands today,” he said.

With four keynote speeches and two-panel discussions, the event covered success stories, lessons to learn, future plans, and possible solutions to welcome new investments across a range of sectors nationwide.

During the first-panel discussion, business leaders from HSBC Bank, Frasers Property Vietnam, DKSH, Nestlé, Hoiana Resort & Golf, and AIG shared success stories and lessons learned from businesses as well as their operations in Vietnam.

The discussion "Fostering new capital flows" had the presence of leaders of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, economic experts and representatives of international organisations such as the German Development Agency, renewable energy with CME Solar, and international educational investment enterprise such as British University.

The discussion focused on Vietnam's policies towards foreign investors, and comments on investment trends and tastes of foreign investors in Vietnam.

In addition, experts also provided identification of new capital flows and competitive opportunities in the region, especially high-quality foreign investment flows into Vietnam.

Furusawa Yasuyuki, General director AEON Vietnam AEON had studied the Vietnamese market since 2009 before opening its first shopping mall in 2014. To date, AEON has eight companies in Vietnam, investing in multiple business segments including shopping centres, retail outlets, financial services, and exports. The investment environment in Vietnam continues to change, but overall, we see more potential than challenges. The nation will continue to entice more foreign investors in the future. Japanese businesses want to invest in Vietnam thanks to its various attractive features. Firstly, with fast population growth, especially among the middle class, the country has high economic development potential. People's living standards are gradually improving, and the growth rate is higher in comparison to other Asian countries, including Japan. Secondly, Vietnam and Japan have a good diplomatic relationship, and both sides put great effort into promoting the strategic cooperation between them. Besides retail, there are many other fields in which Vietnam and Japan have a long history of cooperation. When looking back on the last 11 years, we have achieved our expectations for the first stage of our development in Vietnam. AEON Group has invested a lot in foreign markets in a short time, and we can still expand our current scale. AEON Group has determined that Vietnam is the second key market after Japan where we can accelerate our investment activities. As a retailer, we understand that there will be differences in the regulations of each country. However, we do expect the related procedures to be simplified to allow us to accelerate our investment in Vietnam.

VIR to hold major foreign investment conference on May 15 Vietnam Investment Review will hold a conference on May 15 to gather government officials, senior economists, international organisations, and the business community to discuss foreign investment inflows in Vietnam, and how to foster more in the new era.