Ahmed Yeganeh, country head of Wholesale Banking at HSBC Vietnam, expressed his optimism about Vietnamese growth prospects over the coming years thanks to a recovery occurring in the country’s major trading partners this year.

The HSBC representative also described demographics as one of the country’s main advantages, saying Vietnam has benefited from a young and growing population with a rising urbanisation rate and a fast-growing middle-class amid the North Asian region facing population declining and aging.

Recent statistics also indicate that many Taiwanese (China) and Republic of Korean (RoK) electronics manufacturers have moved production facilities to Vietnam. Several global tech groups such as Intel and Amkor have also expanded their assembly and manufacturing facilities, opening up opportunities for further investment in the high-tech field in the country.

Recently, Vietnamese digitalisation efforts have breathed a new life into startup businesses, thereby creating opportunities for them to provide technology-based solutions which in turn improves the existing systems in the fields of agriculture, financial services, and logistics.

Google and Temasek also forecast that the Vietnamese Internet economy will reach a value of US$45 billion by 2025.

In fact, FDI attraction last year surged by 32.1% nearly US$36.61 billion, representing the highest and impressive growth rate since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

According to the General Statistics Office, these positive results can be attributed to the country’s improved investment climate, the Government’s economic diplomacy, and the recent lifting of the country’s comprehensive strategic partnership with both Japan and the United States.

These factors are therefore expected to continue providing a fresh impetus for further high-quality investment in Vietnam in 2024 and beyond.

Experts pointed out that Vietnamese involvement in new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) have also created favourable conditions for the country to attract foreign financiers to expand their investment opportunities locally.

Most notably, these investors have maintained their confidence in the country’s macroeconomic stability, as well as open and transparent business climate.

Moreover, the Government has always supported the business community to overcome challenges and develop production with fiscal and monetary policies being implemented effectively.

These factors are forecast to exert a positive impact on foreign investors’ decision to make new moves and expand existing projects in the Vietnamese market in the near future.

However, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung admitted that although Vietnam remains a global bright spot in attracting FDI, linkages between the foreign-invested sector and domestic enterprises remain weak, which has not facilitated technology transfer or improved the country’s position in global value chains.

Dung affirmed his ministry would finalise the human resource training project for the chip and semiconductor industry soon in a bid to seize upon opportunities and projects to develop the filed in the coming time.

The strategic goal is to green the economy and improve the internal capacity and competitiveness of the economy, he said.

VOV