The Prime Minister listened to the recommendations of investors and the assigned ministries, sectors and localities to consider removing obstacles for investors so that they feel secure to invest in Vietnam in the long term.
At the seminar entitled “COVID-19 and FDI: Impacts and prospects” held by the Government Portal on September 27, leaders of ministries and localities and representatives of FDI enterprises in Vietnam all affirmed their solidarity and willingness to share difficulties to overcome the impact of the pandemic and to grow in the near future.
According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, the FDI sector has become an important part of the national economy with positive contributions to the budget and export revenue whilst enhancing income of workers. The pandemic has caused many negative impacts on the FDI sector including regarding the attraction of foreign investment.
In particular, the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has directly hit major industrial centres such as Ho Chi Minh City, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Dong Nai, and Binh Duong where many FDI enterprises are located, causing disruption to production and supply chains and complete suspension to a number of enterprises.
Facing that challenge, the Government, ministries and localities have always accompanied enterprises and acted for the dual goal of both preventing the pandemic and supporting production and business activities following the Prime Minister’s motto “Anti-pandemic for production and production to fight the pandemic”.
The Vietnamese government has consistently created favourable conditions for foreign-invested enterprises, promoting investment attraction and economic development, demonstrated through the increasing nine-month FDI attraction figures.
In addition, the Ministry of Health is accelerating vaccination for workers at FDI enterprises so they can soon resume their operations as normal.
General Director of Samsung Vietnam complex Choi Joo Ho said Samsung Vietnam is currently operating six manufacturing plants in Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Ho Chi Minh City in addition to an R&D centre in Hanoi and a sales legal entity. Samsung has officially been investing in Vietnam since 2008 with total investment capital of over US$17.7 billion.
Despite the outbreak of the pandemic from the end of April, Samsung still achieved its export targets in the first half of the year. If the household electricity factory in Ho Chi Minh City can quickly resume normal operations, the company is expected to exceed its export targets this year.
Vietnam is providing an attractive investment environment, stable socio-political situation, and investment incentives for all foreign investors. Despite the negative effects arising from the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months, Vietnam remains an attractive investment destination for foreign investors in the long term.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said the National Assembly and Government have been making every effort to repel the pandemic as well as removing difficulties for businesses through many resolutions and decrees on tax and fee exemption and reduction.
The Prime Minister has also established two special working groups led by two Deputy Prime Ministers to review and ease the difficulties for businesses and people affected by the pandemic and to promote current investment projects.
According to a recent survey on more than 500 FDI enterprises conducted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Vietnam Business Forum alliance (VBF), foreign-invested business community highly appreciates the Vietnamese Government's efforts in responding to the pandemic while expressing optimism about Vietnam's economic recovery, pledging to continue investing and doing business in Vietnam in the long run.
Through the survey, 67% of European enterprises had a positive assessment of the prospects for Vietnam's business environment. Japanese businesses expressed optimism about the possibility of Vietnam's economy recovery in 2021 and 47% of them plan to expand production and business in Vietnam.
These positive signals show the optimism and confidence about Vietnam's ability to recover in the future and affirm Vietnam as a safe and attractive investment destination for investors.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said that the Ministry is urgently working to submit to the Government an economic recovery programme towards 2023, including solutions to support businesses’ recovery. Based on this programme, localities are also developing local economic recovery programmes in accordance with the characteristics of each locality and region.
The current difficulties are common to all businesses in all countries, not only Vietnam. With the drastic direction of the Government, the participation of ministries, and the consensus of enterprises, it is certain we will soon have an appropriate solution to both controlling the pandemic and rejuvenating the economy.
