Hong Kong retained its crown as Vietnam’s leading source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first seven months of this year, pouring US$5.44 billion in the country, according to the Foreign Investment Agency said.

If Vietnam doesn’t have a reasonable policy on using capital from FDI, it will have to pay a heavy price for it, experts say.

With recent movements in Taiwanese investment, Vietnam is seeking to attract more high-quality capital flows for the economy in alignment with the country’s new foreign direct investment attraction strategy.

Shih Rui-Chi, representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam, writes about the prospects of Taiwanese investment in Vietnam in the context of the country entering the CPTPP and the EVFTA this year.

Foreign direct investment flows to ASEAN rose to all-time high of US$137 billion in 2017 from US$123 billion in 2016, according to ASEAN Investment Report 2018.

Foreign investors have been encouraged to take advantage of the double benefits Viet Nam is offering through its commitments in the many trade pacts signed with other countries.

Coastal economic zones (EZs) were established with an aim to help attract more investment, but they have not brought the desired effects.

With Vietnam’s new foreign direct investment attraction strategy towards 2030 set to be unveiled soon, international investors are making fresh moves to benefit from privileged incentives.

In the face of escalation of the US-China trade conflict, FDI to Vietnam will increase, with most of it coming from South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Vietnam has attracted plenty of FDI into industrial manufacturing, and while previously overseas investors talked about the weakness of supporting industries, the current changes are step-by-step contributing to the attraction of FDI for the future. 

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) must review obstacles in disbursing public investment as well as accelerate the speed of capital allocation, especially Government bonds and official development aid (ODA).

Foreign direct investment (FDI), especially in southern provinces, is expected to increase sharply with a number of billion-dollar projects in the pipeline, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).

Vietnam has borrowed big money to develop industrial infrastructure, but this has mostly brought benefits to foreign invested IZs (industrial zones) and FIEs (foreign invested enterprises).

Experts say that casinos are no longer attractive to foreign investors but appear to be a promising field for Vietnamese enterprises.

The confidence of Vietnam's economy is increasingly being placed in private corporations.

The State Securities Commission (SSC) is working with relevant ministries and agencies to issue specific guidance to facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) firms in listing on the Vietnamese stock market.

Vietnam has the opportunity to become a new production base for the world amid the US-China trade war.

Vietnam’s industrial and economic zones attracted 340 foreign-invested projects with a total newly-registered capital of 8.7 billion USD in the first six months of 2019.

The rent in industrial zones (IZ) has increased rapidly. Some provinces in the eastern part of the south have no more land to lease, while investments in the processing and manufacturing industry continue to rise.

According to the Vietnam Logistics Business Association, Vietnam’s logistics market has grown by about 12-14 percent annually in recent years.