Electronics components produced at a foreign-invested company in Hai Phong City. Vietnam arises to be a star in attracting FDI. — VNA/VNS
HANOI (Vietnam News/Asia News Network): Vietnam was seeing a new wave of foreign investment, fuelled by an improved investment climate, upgraded infrastructure system, high-quality human resources, and leveraged diplomatic relations with major economies.
Nikkei Asia recently wrote that a fourth boom of foreign investment in Vietnam might be in the making, led by the capital influx from the US after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Vietnam last month.
Following the meeting between President Biden and General Party Secretary Nguyen Phuc Trọng, Vietnam and the US announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership.
After Biden’s visit, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính held a six-day visit to the US, during which Chính visited the headquarters of Nvidia in San Francisco, calling on the chipmaking giant to establish a production base in Vietnam.
Chính also worked with leading corporations of the US, including Microsoft, Meta, SpaceX, Coca-Cola, and Pacifico Energy, to promote investments in prioritised sectors such as manufacturing, technology, renewable energy, aviation, and innovation, as Vietnam was aiming to pivot from its traditional labour-intensive industries.
According to Nikkei’s analysis, Vietnam witnessed three significant booms in foreign capital influx. The first boom occurred in 1997 when Japan’s Honda Motor began local two-wheeler production, 10 years after Vietnam passed the Law on Foreign Investment.
The second boom spanned the period from the early 2000s up to the time around the global financial crisis in 2008 with a notable investment of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics in a mobile phone production base in Bac Ninh. The third was believed to have come into full swing in the mid-2010s.
“Now Biden's visit may trigger a surge in American investment in Vietnam... Biden's diplomatic move may be interpreted by American businesses as a green light to invest in Vietnam,” Nikkei wrote.
