Global corporations no longer coming to Vietnam because of incentives

As global capital increasingly prioritizes countries with transparent and stable investment environments and ability to protect intellectual property rights, the Politburo's Resolution 10 is viewed as a strong statement of Vietnam’s ambition to upgrade its position in the global value chain. The Investor talks with Dr. Su Ngoc Khuong, senior director of investment at Savills Vietnam, to get an insight into the new orientations.

After more than 30 years of attracting FDI based on advantages such as labor costs, geographical location, and investment incentives, what do you consider to be the most notable change in Vietnam’s approach to attracting foreign investment capital reflected in the Politburo's Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW issued on June 8, 2026?

I believe this is the most important breakthrough point of Resolution 10.

For more than 30 years of attracting FDI, Vietnam has achieved success thanks to advantages such as competitive labor costs, favorable geographical location, and investment incentive policies. However, in the current context, these factors are no longer sufficient to create sustainable competitive advantages. Countries in the region can all offer similar incentive packages, and some may even provide more attractive ones.

What multinational corporations are concerned about today is not only tax incentives, but also the stability of the investment environment, policy predictability, the level of asset protection, intellectual property rights protection, and the effectiveness of legal enforcement.

Resolution No 10 demonstrates that Vietnam is shifting from a mindset of “attracting capital” to a mindset of “attracting trust.” This is a fundamental change. In the long term, institutional quality and the reliability of the investment environment will be the decisive factors determining whether corporations choose to locate their R&D centers, operational headquarters, or regional headquarters in a country.

In other words, Vietnam is moving from competing based on costs to competing based on institutional quality and the safety level of its business environment.

Resolution 10 emphasizes the protection of property rights, intellectual property rights, and the principle of not applying unfavorable policies retroactively. How significant are these commitments to the long-term investment decisions of multinational corporations?

For global corporations, these are highly meaningful signals.

In today’s knowledge-based economy, the most valuable assets of a business are no longer factories or machinery, but technology, data, production know-how, brands, and intellectual property.

When a corporation decides to transfer core technologies or establish a research center in a country, the first thing it evaluates is whether these intangible assets will be protected.

In addition, the principle of not applying unfavorable policies retroactively is one of the most important standards of a modern investment environment. FDI projects typically have a lifespan of 10 to 30 years. If businesses cannot predict future policies or are concerned that previous commitments may be changed unfavorably, they will be very cautious in implementing large-scale projects.

Therefore, the commitments stated in the resolution are not merely principle-based declarations. In reality, they serve as a foundation for reducing “country risk” in the eyes of international investors. When risk levels decline, investors’ cost of capital also decreases, and the ability to attract high-tech projects will increase significantly.

What do you consider to be the most notable message that Resolution 10 sends to the international investment community?

In my view, the strongest message is that Vietnam is not only seeking more capital, but also aiming to become a long-term strategic partner of global corporations.

The resolution clearly demonstrates that Vietnam is no longer pursuing the goal of attracting FDI at all costs. Instead, the country is prioritizing projects that generate high added value, promote innovation, facilitate technology transfer, and create linkages with domestic enterprises.

This shows that Vietnam is moving toward a new stage of development, in which FDI is not merely a source of supplementary capital, but becomes a driving force to enhance the competitiveness of the entire economy.

For international investors, this is a signal that Vietnam aims to build a sustainable development ecosystem, where the interests of investors and national interests are aligned over the long term.

Vietnam’s goal of attracting R&D centers, data centers, operational centers, and regional headquarters of multinational corporations reflects what shift in the country’s development strategy?

This reflects a very important shift in Vietnam’s development strategy.

For many years, Vietnam has mainly participated in manufacturing and assembly stages within the global value chain. This was a necessary phase to accumulate production capabilities and integrate into the international economy.

However, the greatest added value does not lie in assembly, but in activities such as research and development, product design, supply chain management, data management, and regional operations.

The goal of attracting R&D centers and regional headquarters confirms one thing: Vietnam no longer wants to be merely a “manufacturing hub,” but is striving to become a regional center for innovation, governance, and decision-making.

If successful, this will represent an upgrade in Vietnam’s position - moving from a production link to a higher-value-added link in the global value chain. This is also the path that many successful Asian economies, such as Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, have taken.

From the perspective of international investors, after Resolution 10, what factors will the foreign business community expect most from the Vietnamese Government?

International investors usually evaluate a country not only based on its vision, but more importantly on its implementation capacity. Therefore, after Resolution 10, what they will be looking forward to most is the speed at which these orientations are transformed into concrete actions.

There are three particularly important areas.

First, reforming administrative procedures and investment licensing processes. Investors expect project implementation timelines to be significantly shortened and procedures to become more transparent and consistent across localities.

Second, improving the quality of human resources. If Vietnam wants to attract R&D centers and high-tech projects, technical talent, data specialists, AI engineers, and scientists will be decisive factors.

Third, ensuring consistency in policy implementation. For global corporations, consistency between central government policies and their execution at the local level is extremely important.

I believe that the 2026-2030 period will no longer be a competition to attract FDI based on capital scale, but rather a competition based on the quality of the investment environment. Resolution 10 has established a very clear vision.

The next challenge is to turn those commitments into the actual experiences of investors. If Vietnam can achieve this, the country has every opportunity to become one of the leading strategic destinations for technology and innovation-driven capital flows in Asia over the coming decade.