Strategic partners play a highly important, even decisive, role in Vietnam’s economic development, according to Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc.
At a seminar in Hanoi on May 14, he said Vietnam currently has 16 strategic partnerships with major global economies, which are big financial and technological hubs in the world.
These strategic partners and the US, a comprehensive partner of Vietnam, have invested nearly 230 billion USD in Vietnam, while also contributing 50 percent of the nation’s total trade revenue, Loc noted.
Virginia Foote, deputy head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham), noted the importance of Vietnam’s policy on cooperation with partner countries.
She said many US businesses wish to invest in several fields like energy and transport in the country. They expect more observable improvements in both hard and soft infrastructure, along with the Government’s investment and business cooperation policies.
Foote recommended that Vietnam work on its hard and soft infrastructure, develop a non-cash economy, and pay more attention to intellectual property protection. She also pointed out problems in tax collection.
At the event, Hiromitsu Sho, head of the Hanoi office of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), said that more than 3,200 businesses from Japan – an extensive strategic partner – have invested in Vietnam, with their investment value increasing year-by-year.
In Vietnam, JETRO has been working to promote bilateral business, trade, and investment partnerships and help Japanese firms participate in building the vision for developing local supporting industries. As a result, the rate of locally-made components in their products and the number of Japanese businesses in Vietnam have been growing.
He cited a JETRO survey as finding that more than 70 percent of Japanese companies plan to expand investment in Vietnam, demonstrating the country’s attractiveness to Japanese firms. JETRO and Japanese firms see Vietnam as a country with a big market, low labour cost, and good living conditions for foreigners.
However, to further enhance the two countries’ investment and trade, apart from labour costs and administrative procedures, the investment climate also needs to be improved with greater strength, he added.
By VNA
