Solutions proposed to increase 2010 FDI inflow

Solutions proposed to increase 2010 FDI inflow
08:14:14.0, 12-23-2009

FDI flow to Viet Nam in first 10 months of 2009, including both new
investment and capital increase, is estimated to reach nearly US$ 19 billion
and is forecasted at US$ 20-22 for the whole year, which is a sharp drop in
comparison with last year's figure. Concerning the global economic crisis,
the FDI flow to Viet Nam in 2009 is still considered a little bit positive;
however, effective and feasible solutions should be envisaged and exercised
to gain a brighter FDI scenario in 2010.

In a recent report on Vietnam's FDI drafted by the Ministry of Planning and
Investment, five categories of solutions are proposed to further improve the
investment environment and make it more attractive to foreign investors.
Among them, policy standardization and infrastructure improvement are
regarded as key elements.

According to the plan, the regulations on enterprises, investment, land
management, construction and business will be reviewed and systemized to
establish a coherent and synchronized system. Besides, the criteria and
conditions for some conditional investment fields will be formulated
comprehensively and clearly, and will be openly publicized so that all the
related parties, especially foreign investors can have full access to such
information. New regulations will be promulgated to govern new-arising
business practices related to foreign investors, while out-of-date, unclear,
conflicting regulations will be revised or removed. Simplified and
transparent investment procedures and "one-stop-shop" mechanism in
procedures processing are believed to help cut down investors' waiting time,
cost, confusions and loss of chance.

The overall infrastructure and utility supplies are always matters of
concern of foreign investors, because these factors directly affect the
smooth operations of their business and their operational costs. The areas
to be extensively focused on include: electricity supply, water supply,
waste water treatment, highways and railways connecting major economic hubs
and seaports, infrastructure and logistics at seaports ... In order to
archive this goal, more incentives on infrastructure development and less
restrictions on some conditional sectors such as port logistics will be
applied to encourage the involvement of private and foreign sectors in these
fields, besides the State's investment.

Also in the report, the issues of building a competent and skilled
workforce, streamlining and harmonizing the economic master plans of
different regions and provinces, improving the professionalism of investment
promotion strategies, activities, speeding up land clearance progress ...
are also important solutions. It's clear that much more work is required to
materialize the targeted US$ 22-25 billion of FDI attraction in 2010, and
it's clearer that no single solution is sufficient, but an overall strategy
to make the general investment climate more attractive and more
business-friendly is necessary.

By TV Danh