With its medium-and long-term advantages, Viet Nam remains an attractive FDI destination, according to the head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Department, Phan Huu Thang. Some newly-licensed projects in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province show just how attractive. In the first days of the Year of the Buffalo, the southern province has approved seven projects involving more than US$5 billion. The Sai Gon Atlantis Hotel received the nod to increase its capital from $300 million to $4.1 billion; the $600-million Toc Tien Urban Area will be developed; and the $500 million Binh Chau-Viet Nam Resort and safari will be developed by a joint venture between a foreign and two Vietnamese firms.

Thang says considering the recession, the investments provide an impetus for the development of not only Ba Ria-Vung Tau but also other provinces. Despite the dire economic forecasts for this year, there is also optimism about positive developments in the global economy in the fourth quarter. "That is why foreign investors continue to invest in Viet Nam, awaiting a recovery in the world economy," Thang explains. Many of them first come to Viet Nam on fact-finding tours and consider the situation carefully before making any investment decisions. "The bigger the challenges posed by the global economic recession to the country’s investment environment, the warmer the welcome we should give foreign investors," Thang says. While it is difficult to attract investors to a country, it is even more difficult to make them stay for a long time, he points out. It is not only the responsibility of the ministry to make foreign investors stay here but also that of other related agencies and provincial authorities, he says. Besides the inexpensive labour, the country must also offer better and more competitive services to woo investors. "Top priority should be given to administrative reform," Thang says.

(Source: VNS)