Vietnam Pledges Huge Incentives for Foreign Investors

Vietnam will further reform procedures and regulations on taxes, customs, banking, seaport, maritime and aviation, insurance and intellectual property right, as well as open more doors in the fields of goods and services to attract US$140 billion for the country's socio-economic development in the next five years, according to Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan.

 

Khoan said at the Vietnam Investment Forum, opened in Hanoi on March 15, that Vietnam is working hard to improve its business and investment environment and to bolster its legal system to suit World Trade Organization (WTO's) requirements.

 

Vietnam had successfully fulfilled its 2001-2005 socio-economic development plan and was implementing the 2006-2010 plan, which aims to lift the country out of its underdeveloped status, he added.

 

Vietnam has set to achieve annual GDP growth of 8 per cent in the next five years. So, foreign investment is needed to realize the target, according to Khoan.

 

At the opening of the forum, which is co-organized by the Ministry of Planning & Investment and the Euromoney Conferences with the participation of 1,300 business and financial executives from Vietnam and 22 foreign countries, Minister of Industry Hoang Trung Hai also announced that Vietnam is in need of US$3 billion per year between 2006 and 2010 to meet the domestic consumption demand of 110-118 billion KW of electricity by 2010. However, EVN can meet half of the total required investment. 

 

Hai also emphasized that Vietnam is willing to welcome foreign investors into the country's coal, mineral and power industries in the coming time.

 

Speaking with local newspapers on the same day as the opening ceremony for the forum, EU Ambassador to Vietnam Markus Conaro said that Vietnam should attract foreign investment into the fields of maritime, telecom, transport, tourism, and services, and not only focus on industry as it had done before.

 

Meanwhile, president of the Vietnam-US Trade Council Virginia Foote said the US business community is urging their government to complete WTO talks with Vietnam and shortly give Vietnam permanent normal trade status. Vietnam has so far completed about 90 per cent of the task of WTO talks with the US. 

 

In the first two months of this year, the country reported an economic growth rate of over 8 per cent, according to Minister of Planning & Investment Vo Hong Phuc. Vietnam has completed WTO talks with 24 out of 28 partners, and may join the world trade body within the year.