VAFIE publishes Vietnam FDI annual report

Vietnam’s Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE) has published an English-Vietnamese annual report on foreign direct investment in the country, with the first unveiled on Tuesday.

The report comprehensively assesses the results of FDI attraction and use, business activities of FDI companies, and analyze Vietnam’s investment environment. It also includes opinions and suggestions from economic experts, investors and owners of FDI enterprises, which will be useful inputs for Vietnamese policy makers.

The 250-page overall review of FDI in Vietnam in 2021, which also contains comparisons with the ASEAN region and some other countries, is a partnership between VAFIE and auditing firm KPMG Vietnam, with supports from Fiin Group and a number of economic experts.

Addressing Tuesday’s report launching ceremony in Hanoi, VAFIE Chairman Professor Nguyen Mai highlighted the FDI sector's significant role in Vietnam’s development.

Vietnam first introduced its Law on Foreign Investment in December 1987. Together with the law, political and economic reforms (or Doi moi) launched in 1986 have transformed the Southeast Asia country from one of the poorest nations in the world to a middle-income country within a quarter of a century.

The rise of this aspiring Asian tiger economy resulted from a shift from a centrally planned to a market economy, with the resulting inflows of FDI, emergence of the domestic private sector and a more globalized approach to business and trade as a result of Vietnam’s WTO accession in 2007, which has driven its economic growth engine.

Prof. Mai said the FDI sector has become a key growth engine of Vietnam, now accounting for a quarter of the country’ total investment capital and 55% of the total industrial production value. Among the FDI enterprises are majors in oil and gas, manufacturing, information technology, telecommunications, financial services, banking, insurance, auditing, hospitality and other business areas.

The FDI bloc currently accounts for more than 70% of export turnover in this export-driven economy, one of the fastest growing in Asia and the world, he said. Thanks to that, Vietnam has won global recognition for its development and poverty reduction successes on the back of rapid economic growth during the past three decades.

Amid the background, VAFIE has been aware of the need to work out an English-Vietnamese annual report on the overall FDI picture in Vietnam, based on the approach of the United Nations Trade and Development Forum (UNCTAD) Annual Report, and the ASEAN FDI Annual Report by the ASEAN Secretariat.

Work for the report started last December. In completing the publication, VAFIE has received comments and suggestions for correction from the Legal Department, the Economic Zones Management Department, the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM), and the Development Policy Institute – all under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, VAFIE Permanent Vice Chairman.

“Published for the first time, the annual report still has room for improvement. However, VAFIE believes the pubication will be a useful information resource for policy-makers, research and training institutions, FDI enterprises, and international investors,” he said.