VAFIE to maintain core strength focus – offer policy advice, facilitate economic ties

The Vietnam's Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE) will continue participating in policy and law building activities and facilitating multilateral economic relations, its executive committee said at a review meeting Tuesday.

At the meeting to review Q1 performance, general secretary Ha Ba Tuan said the VAFIE has been collecting feedback from members, businesses, economists, organizations and individuals to make practical and effective recommendations to authorities.

He noted that making policy recommendations was a key strength of the association, thanks to the participation of VAFIE leaders in major advisory groups.

These included the Prime Minister's Advisory Group on Global Minimum Tax; the North-South high-speed railway project; the National Quality Award Committee chaired by the Ministry of Science and Technology; Working Group for Appraisal of Legal Documents chaired by the Ministry of Justice; Economic Advisory Group of the Minister of Planning and Investment; National Brand Council chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade; and drafting team for a decree on Global Minimum Tax (GMT) implementation chaired by the Ministry of Finance.

Regarding ongoing programs that the VAFIE was implementing, a key focus is on Vietnam-Northern Australia cooperation, collaboration with the government-run Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, and consulting for South Korea’s environmental firm Techcross, Tuan said.

He said the association had arranged a meeting of Techcross’s leaders with Hanoi authorities.

Techcross is set to visit Hanoi again in July to proceed with the next steps of its plans, he said, adding that VAFIE vice chairmen Nguyen Anh Tuan and Hoang Hung Quang would support the Korean firm in working with Hanoi’s Department of Construction and signing a consulting contract with the association later this year.

VAFIE considers boosting Vietnam-Northern Australia cooperation, with the backing of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other authorities, an important task amidst the recent upgrade of Vietnam-Australia bilateral ties to that of a comprehensive strategic partnership, Tuan said.

Accordingly, the association will participate in selecting Vietnamese businesses to invest in priority areas in Northern Australia, connecting Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province with Australia’s Darwin city, as also facilitate business delegations’ studies to understand the market and investment environment in Northern Australia.

Tuan also said that in Q1/2024, VAFIE leaders have worked with many foreign partners on investment opportunities, including delegations from China’s Sichuan province, CCCC Group, and Qinghai provincial commerce department. It has also worked with the Iranian Embassy in Vietnam on issues of mutual interest.

Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, general director of Invest Global center, said at the meeting that as a VAFIE partner, the center had interacted with business delegations and partners from the United States, China, Canada, and India.

She noted that a large American semiconductor enterprise was set to invest millions of dollars in Vietnam’s central region. This was happening in the context of many large technology enterprises showing interest in investing in AI and Big Data in Vietnam, she added.

Major tasks for rest of 2024

VAFIE will continue to be active in making recommendations regarding legal frameworks and solutions to boost economic recovery, maintain relations with partners and boost dissemination of important information.

Another key task would be the organization of conferences on Global Minimum Tax implementation and draft decree on sports gambling later this year.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, standing vice chairman of the VAFIE and editor-in-chief of Nhadautu.vn/The Investor, said the association should focus more on collaboration with Vietnamese businesses on outbound investments.

Concluding the meeting, VAFIE chairman Nguyen Mai emphasized that Vietnam-China cooperation and the implementation of excise tax and the Global Minimum Tax would be major issues for the association to work on in the coming time.