Australia’s Northern Territory offers major opportunities to Vietnam investors

Nguyen Ngoc My, Vice Chairman of Vietnam's Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE) and Chairman of Northern Territory-Vietnam Business Council, talks with The Investor about the opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam and the Northern Territory of Australia.

What are the prospects for Vietnam-Australia cooperation?

Vietnam and Australia established official diplomatic relations in 1973 and signed a joint declaration on the establishment of the Vietnam-Australia Strategic Partnership on March 15, 2018. The two countries have close diplomatic ties and the two economies can supplement each other given their many different features. However, Vietnam is not among Australia's top 10 trading partners.

Meanwhile, Australian companies are exploring Vietnam as an alternative market for diversity. I confirm that Vietnam and Australia share aspirations to bolster bilateral trade and investment to support sustainable growth. In fact, there is little direct competition in trade between the two, but lots of potential for partnering, which means deep trade opportunities available.

Vietnam is diversifying its products with increasing larger volumes that makes the country more competitive and attractive among Australian buyers. The country's economic growth and improved living conditions have driven up the demand for energy, raw materials, food, and education. In the long term, I highly value the opportunity for sustainable development that the two countries offer to each other.

How do you, as Vice Chairman of VAFIE, assess the feasibility of the Strategy for Trade and Investment Cooperation between Vietnam and the Northern Territory?

When mentioning Australia, people often think of Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne. However, in terms of strategic geographical location, the Northern Territory’s capital Darwin plays a unique strategic role as the closest gateway connecting Asia to the rest of Australia.

The Northern Territory is abundant in natural resources like oil and gas, minerals, Aboriginal cultural heritage, and nature reserves. It also has the highest GDP per capita in Australia and is four times the size of Vietnam, albeit with a much smaller population.

Australia and particularly the Northern Territory have been striving to progressively avoid Chinese influences, which offers opportunities for Vietnam to expand its presence here.

To avoid significant competitive pressure in Sydney and Melbourne, some Vietnamese enterprises in Australia have relocated to the Northern Territory to benefit from the State's preferential policies.

Given my experience as an investor over the past 50 years, including 20 years in Australia, the Northern Territory has plenty of room for growth. I believe that the strategy is highly feasible and soon to be realized. The strategy will become a balance of interests between the two countries. Cooperation should be carried out under a mutually beneficial mechanism, based on each country’s competitive advantages.

However, a successful strategy necessitates the synchronization of all key parties, as well as the involvement of socio-economic specialists, scientists, and especially dynamic Vietnamese enterprises.

What opportunities will open for Vietnamese businesses in the Northern Territory?

Many Vietnamese enterprises have made overseas investments. In that inevitable trend, the Northern Territory can offer numerous strategic spaces and advantages for them.

The Northern Territory has great demand for a highly skilled workforce, as well as construction supplies and materials to develop its economic infrastructure, which is Vietnam’s advantage. We can use our relatively low cost of labor to produce various building materials in great demand in the Northern Territory's construction market.

Given the availability of naturally raised cattle in the Northern Territory, Vietnamese businesses can invest in slaughterhouses and freeze storage to import whole bulls and cows to Vietnam for processing; or to dry an appropriate part of the meat while the remainder is frozen and imported to Vietnam.

In addition, Vietnamese enterprises can collaborate with the Northern Territory on tour exchanges that combine market research and business, as well as vocational training and human resource development.

Which kind of support do you want to receive to promote the Strategy between Vietnam and the Northern Territory?

The two governments are vigorously promoting bilateral cooperation. On December 21, 2021, they announced Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy. This marked the start of a new chapter in the two nations' collaboration, especially if the Strategy for Trade and Investment Cooperation between Vietnam and the Northern Territory will be implemented shortly.

I hope the strategy will receive the government’s attention and will be included in the diplomatic agenda between the two countries in the coming time.

Vietnamese business associations should promote the strategy to all their members to possibly quickly access a promising environment like the Northern Territory, paving the way for Vietnamese corporations’ globalization.

VAFIE will play a role in regulating support and introduction, while businesses directly participate in and promote bilateral trade and investment cooperation. Vietnamese enterprises should also strengthen their collaboration with overseas Vietnamese who have worked and lived in Australia to jointly develop and narrow the gap between the two nations.