VAFIE commits to stronger support for business community

Vietnam’s Association of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, or VAFIE, will continue its contributions to the improvement of institutions, policies and laws, and propose solutions to support businesses in 2023.

This was announced by the association at a conference Tuesday held in Hoa Binh province to review its 2022 performance and finalise plans for 2023.

Addressing the conference, VAFIE general secretary Ha Ba Tuan said the association and its affiliated units will continue focusing on three major initiatives. The first is to support investment ties between Vietnam and Northern Australia.

On the basis of relevant meetings, conferences, cooperation contracts, and VAFIE leaders’ business trips in Vietnam and Australia, VAFIE will make contributions to strengthening economic relations and cooperation between the two countries.

VAFIE plans to select 10 Vietnamese enterprises with the potential to invest in Northern Australia in fields like construction and agriculture. It plans to connect Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province with Darwin city to establish closer cooperation ties, and send business delegations to Northern Australia.

The second initiative is to cooperate with Vietnam’s Committee for Ethnic Minorities.

The program will support the development of the northern mountainous region, with a focus on infrastructure, tourism, medical plants, and others.

As part of the program, the Ho Chi Minh City-based VABIS Group has proposed a 400-hectare resort and golf course project in Trung Thanh district, Ha Giang province, with an estimated investment of VND5 trillion (around $210.9 million).

In addition, Japanese firm VOS is running a trial of cultivating red Ganoderma (a medicinal mushroom) in the middle of the forests in the region. VOS expects to shift to mass cultivation in February 2023.

VAFIE and the Committee for Ethnic Minorities will collect information on business projects in Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho, and Yen Bai provinces to call on investors to take up opportunities.

The third initiative is the VAFIE-published annual Vietnam FDI report. The association will finish the draft in January 2023. Ideas and comments from the Ministry of Planning and Investment for the draft will be collected in February, then the report will be published in March.

Fruit achieved in 2022

During 2022, VAFIE chairman Nguyen Mai wrote many articles on policy development and forecasting, and proposed development solutions for the post-pandemic recovery via media interviews, presentations, and opinions expressed at conferences and seminars.

VAFIE leaders are also members of some agencies at ministries and state entities.

The association had been successful in 2022 through its three key initiatives, namely promoting business ties between Vietnam and Northern Australia; cooperating with the Committee for Ethnic Minorities; and publicizing the Vietnam FDI annual report 2021.

The report has been highly evaluated by the public, professional agencies, media agencies and newspapers, international organizations, as well as the business community, said VAFIE general secretary Ha Ba Tuan.

During the year, VAFIE has responsibly solved complaints from its members, asking for settlements in the direction of ensuring the legitimate interests of investors. The association admitted 18 new members in 2022.

VAFIE magazine Nha dau tu (The Investor) organized 11 forums, workshops and seminars to discuss hot issues in business and economic areas. Participants at the events included high-profile policy makers, regulators, experts, researchers, and business executives, who offered policy recommendations and solutions to help improve Vietnam’s business and investment environment.

VAFIE's online publication Nhadautu.vn continues to develop stably, strengthening its reputation in the business community. During the year it attracted more than 4 million users with 7.5 million page views. In terms of content, Nhadautu.vn deeply analyzes data about investors, and focuses on publishing exclusive articles and groups of articles.

The launch of Theinvestor.vn publication as planned on May 4, 2022 showed the great efforts made by the Editorial Board to carry out the task assigned by the parent association to build the media entity into a multi-publication, multi-language press agency, meeting the requirements of both domestic and foreign readers.

Theinvestor.vn has been attracting the attention of readers using English with news about laws, policies, the economic situation and investment environment in Vietnam for international investors; connecting domestic and foreign enterprises.