VietNamNet Bridge - US investors are interested in at least four areas in Vietnam, said Mr. Pham Viet Muon, former Vice Chair of the Government Office, an organizer of Vietnam’s investment promotion conference in the US on July 1-5.

The event, themed “My Vietnam - Your investment destination” took place in New York City from July 1- 5 with the purpose of strengthening US investors’ confidence in development potential of the Vietnam market.

The event hosted by the State Securities Commission (SCC) and the Vietnam Ministry of Finance in collaboration with US partners was designed to create a substantive dialogue channel helping US businesses and investors better understand the situation in Vietnam and the Government’s renewal policies toward building a comprehensive and extensive partnership in the financial sector for the benefit of both countries.

Those in attendance included Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung, the head of Vietnam’s Permanent Representative Delegation to the UN, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, Marc Mealy, Vice President for Policy of the US-ASEAN Business Council, the Harbinger Foundation President, along with 150 Vietnamese businesses and over 160 US business representatives.

- Which fields of investment in Vietnam are interested in by US investors, especially billionaires?

Pham Viet Muon: There are four areas of the most interest, including: equitization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the stock market, government bonds and business establishment.

Indeed, foreign investors in general and US investors in particular have not participated much in the process of restructuring SOEs through equitization because the process of equitization has mainly occurred at SOEs of small and medium size, while US investors are interested in large ones.

- Vietnam’s capital market has great potential for US investors. Do they have an interest in this market, for example the stock market?

Pham Viet Muon: It is true that they are interested in Vietnam's stock market due to stable economic growth and the prospects for Vietnam’s high growth rate of 7%/year, especially the change of the government’s policy in allowing foreign investors to own 100% of domestic enterprises, except for those operating with certain conditions.

- Some US billionaires participated in the investment promotion conference. Could you tell us about their biggest interests?

Pham Viet Muon: Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung talked with a number of US billionaires, who told the Minister about their concerns, such as their position when they invest in SOEs. Minister Dinh Tien Dung answered all of their questions. They promised to invest in Vietnam soon.

US investors also met with Vietnamese officials and representatives of big Vietnamese corporations as the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), the Vietnam Coal - Minerals Corporation ( Vinacomin), the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), and stock exchanges.

- Previously, many American corporations came to Vietnam to seek investment opportunities, but there are few US investors in Vietnam. How can you explain this fact?

Pham Viet Muon: The reasons did not come from us. Firstly, the time for investment was immature. Secondly, large projects did not appear at the beginning when we just opened the door to attract foreign investment. That was not attractive to American investors, including many large investors and the world's billionaires.

The current situation is different. We are equitizing large SOEs and this is the time for the US investors.

Moreover, the areas we are calling for foreign investments are broad, including power, petroleum, coal, aviation ...

- A group of US investors is visiting Vietnam in the coming time. Is this one of the signs for a wave of US investment in Vietnam?

Pham Viet Muon: Currently, US investment in Vietnam is quite large, but compared with that from Japan, South Korea, and Singapore it remains low. The reason is US investors still expect the business environment in Vietnam to improve dramatically.

But we have a foundation for hope of a wave of US investment in Vietnam because we have signed the Vietnam - US Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is also in the process of negotiations, and once it is signed, it will boost trade between Vietnam and countries.

This is a great opportunity for Vietnam's economy as well as investors interested in Vietnam. Vietnam has also issued many open policies to attract foreign investors, for example the issuance of Decree 60/2015.

The recent event in the US is one of the actions to promote and concretize the agreements that Vietnam and the US have achieved.

PLTPHCM