The review will be based on a report on 25-year FDI attraction and a similar survey for 2012-2017 collecting feedback from ministries, agencies, localities, business associations and experts. They offered insight into support industry, connectivity between domestic and foreign firms, technology, FDI attraction into infrastructure and high-quality agriculture and services, taxes and incentives and State management in FDI.
Since the Law on Foreign Investment was promulgated in 1987, the foreign-invested sector has expanded and contributed to Vietnam’s development. However, there have been violations of legal regulations on environment and tax, as well as transfer pricing, among others.
FDI inflow saw a 54.8 percent surge annually in the first half of this year to reach 19.22 billion USD, according to the ministry’s Foreign Investment Agency. The figure included 11.83 billion USD poured into new projects.
Japan surpassed the Republic of Korea to become Vietnam’s leading source of FDI in the period, pumping 5.08 billion USD into the country, 26.5 percent of total FDI. Investors from the RoK invested 4.95 billion USD, or 25.8 percent, while those from Singapore poured 3.48 billion USD, or 18.1 percent.
In the same period, FDI disbursement experienced a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent to 7.72 billion USD. The foreign-invested sector accounted for 71 percent of the country’s six-month export turnover. The sector also recorded a trade surplus of 10.22 billion USD in the period.
As of June 20, 2017, Vietnam is home to more than 23,590 foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of 306.3 billion USD.
