Vietnam has remained an attractive destination for foreign investors in 2017 with total foreign direct investment (FDI) capital hitting 36 billion USD, a record over the past 10 years. According to experts, FDI has improved not only in quantity but also in quality. The changes have created a driving force for domestic enterprises’ development.

Starting to invest in Vietnam in 2013, Fushan Technology Vietnam Limited Company is one of the branches of a leading mobile phone spare part manufacturing firm. In 2017, positive achievements have created a foundation for the enterprise, a Nokia branded business, to expand its production.

According to Pham Thi Huong, Director of Fushan Technology Vietnam Limited Company, the company's production output increased by 10 percent, showing the efficiency of our investment in Vietnam. The company will continue to expand production in 2018.

Fushan is one of the large-scale technology projects of trans-national groups that have chosen Vietnam as an investment destination. These projects have contributed to the country’s economic growth, which exceeded the target of 6.7 percent.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, total newly registered, additional foreign investment capital reached 35.88 billion USD in 2017, 44.4 percent over the previous year.

FDI disbursement also saw a record, as it increased 10.8 percent to 17.5 billion USD.

Director of the Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Planning and Investment) Do Nhat Hoang  said "Foreign investors see Vietnam as a long-term investment destination thanks to the efforts of the government, ministries and localities in improving the investment climate and the economy’s development."

Meanwhile, Prof., Dr. Nguyen Mai, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises said "the figure is not as important as the quality of foreign investment in Vietnam. In 2016-2017, five to fix research and development centres opened in Vietnam".

With its improved position in the region and the world and the attractive business climate, Vietnam is clearly an attractive destination for foreign investors. Together with the recovery of the world’s economy, experts said Vietnam’s FDI attraction will continue to keep advancing at least until 2020.

Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong, economic expert said "large-scale FDI businesses are not those from the EU, in contrast, most of them are from Asia," adding that some of the projects caused negative impacts on the environment, such as the Formosa incident.

According to Luong Van Khoi, Vice Director of the National Centre for Socio-economic Information and Forecast "FDI attraction strategy will focus on environmentally-friendly enterprises".

The government will support FDI businesses which transfer technology for domestic ones, he added.

According to experts, Vietnam is capable of looking for partners suitable for the revised strategy.

FDI project verification also needs to change in accordance with the country’s benefit. Only by doing so, does FDI capital bring sustainable value for Vietnam.-VNA