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Vietnam longs for investments from the US, EU

Vietnam has been integrating more deeply into the global economy with an open national economy and improved business environment.

Some analysts think the trade deficit between Vietnam and the US explains why the foreign direct investments (FDI) by US businesses are still at a moderate level.

In 2017, on the occasion of the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to the US, many investment and cooperation opportunities between Vietnam and the US were opened. 

American businesses expressed their wish to invest in Vietnam to take full advantage of opportunities from state-owned enterprise equitizations through M&As.

At that time, American investors said the new wave of US investment in Vietnam was in line with policies pursued by Trump who is known for the ‘America first’ principle.

Chair of EuroChaim Denis Brunetti said to the local press that EuroCham’s members have been investing more in Vietnam because they can see the efforts made by the Vietnamese government in improving the business environment and competitiveness.

Experts also emphasize that what US and EU investors want is a business environment which ensures transparency and healthy competition. 

Vietnam needs to take action to continue improving the business environment not only to lure more investors from the US and the EU, but also to implement commitments in bilateral and multilateral treaties and new-generation FTAs (free trade agreements).

An expert, noting that Vietnam has attracted many Asian investors, said the country still cannot lure many investors from the US and the EU. He said the problem lies in cultural differences.

While Asians understand Vietnamese and they can be ‘flexible’ when doing business with Vietnamese and ‘patient’ when working with Vietnamese agencies, Europeans and Americans only ‘act in accordance with the rules’. They want everything to be predictable and transparent.

The AES Group from the US recently expressed its willingness to invest in Son My 2 gas-fired thermopower project under the BOT (build, operate, transfer) mode. This was a surprise to many people, though it is also the investor of the Mong Duong 2 thermal power plant and LPG depot.

The investment by AES will be an opportunity for Vietnam to eliminate outdated technology and access modern technology.

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Thanh Lich