It’s believed this conclusion, alongside other recent good press for Vietnamese industry will boost investment.

Many projects raring to go

A number of existing foreign investors in Vietnam are putting programmes in place to expand businesses in Vietnam following the post-crisis period. Investors of many projects, which once were delayed by the global economic crisis, have committed to re-start in the first quarter.

After a period of relative inactivity, Nguyen Hoai Nam, general director of Berjaya Vietnam, has revealed that a $930 million project in the Vietnam Finance Centre in District 10 in HCM City will start construction in the first quarter of 2010.

In Ba Ria-Vung Tau in the south, the US investor behind the Saigon Atlantis Hotel project capitalized at 4.1 billion dollar has also committed to starting up in the first quarter after leaders of the province allocated 80 hectares out of a total 295 hectares for the project

However, retailing is the business field that has received the most attention from foreign investors.

Tham Tuck Choy, general director of Parkson Vietnam, said that the business results of Parkson Vietnam in 2009 was the best among Parkshon’s chain with the turnover growth rate of 30 percent per annum. Meanwhile, the figures are just 10-15 percent in Malaysia and China.

“This encouraging result has prompted us to make further investment. The fourth Parkson trade centre in HCM City was opened in late December 2009, which is the sixth one in Vietnam to set up over the last five years.

He went on to say that Parkson plans to have two more in Hanoi and one in Da Nang in 2010 and to have 15-16 trade centres in Vietnam by 2015. In fact, if the retailer can find retail premises, the number of trade centres could be even higher.

Meanwhile, domestic investors are also hurrying to prepare for the post-crisis period, and are expecting to cooperate with foreign investors as they arrive.

The Saigon Investment Group (SGI) in 2009 started the construction of the Saigon-Chan May non-tariff Industrial Zone in Thua Thien-Hue province, which covers an area of 650 hectares and kicked off the 100,000 square meter workshop complex in Can Tho City

“The project will be completed this year and will welcome foreign investors who come to Vietnam when the world’s economic difficulties are over,” said Dang Thanh Tam, Chairman of SGI.

Meanwhile, the number of Japanese business delegations the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) has been receiving over the last few months has increased sharply.

Tam from SGI, says up to date information about investment demand suggests that the FDI to Vietnam in 2010 my reach over $40 billion.

“However, I think that Vietnam should be selective in about FDI. It should encourage FDI in high tech fields by offering suitable preferences,” Tam said.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has given a more modest figure of 22-25 billion dollar.

Source: VietNamNet/DTCK