Start "tailoring" policy

A meeting between the leaders of the Ministry of Planning and Investment was held earlier this week to discuss special investment incentives for large investors and important projects. Details of the meeting, as well as special investment incentives were not disclosed, but this move shows that Vietnam has started to "tailor" the policy to attract foreign direct investment ( FDI).

A few months ago, when discussing how to catch the shifting investment capital after Covid-19, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) said, The most important thing is to define what you want and design policy packages in the form of "tailoring" for each type of investor.

Currently, investment incentive policies, although classified by sectors, fields and areas, are still generally applicable. Only when the revised Investment Law is passed by the National Assembly and comes into effect early next year, will the provisions on "special investment incentives" be mentioned.

Under the provisions of Article 20 of the Investment Law 2020, the Government will decide on the application of special investment incentives and supports to encourage the implementation of a number of investment projects that have a major impact on the economy - the commune. festival. These incentives may exceed the framework of the current regulations.

“In the past, when inviting investors to come, there was always a question, whether we ’got anything’ to tell investors, the answer was no, because it was all very clear. in legal documents. And now, with a special investment incentive package, we have something to discuss with investors, thereby attracting quality investors, ”commented Mr. Phan Duc Hieu, Deputy Director of CIEM.

In fact, after the information that the Government will give large investors special investment incentives, the two sides can negotiate in a "mutually beneficial" direction, leading a water enterprise. Besides, there are large-scale projects in Vietnam that have expressed their agreement and support.

For a long time, each time preparing to invest in a new project, this group often submitted proposals to the Government of Vietnam on investment incentives. However, the public opinion always reacts that this business is too demanding. Now, when special incentive packages are tailored to catch the shifting investment inflows, investors can negotiate politically on how to achieve preferential rates at home. the highest possible level. Of course, in this story, national interests must be put together.

Quick "action" so as not to miss the opportunity

Not only investors are happy, but Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung is also very happy when the National Assembly has approved the addition of special incentive mechanisms for large projects, when voting through the Law on Investment. private revision.

He said that the investment shift is providing a very good opportunity for Vietnam to attract selective investment. “To attract investment this time, it is necessary to choose projects with good technology, spillover effects, link with Vietnamese enterprises, and stick to socio-economic development orientations and restructuring. economy, ensuring investment efficiency ”, said Minister Nguyen Chi Dung.

The direction is clear, the investment shifting trend is very large. However, according to the Minister, do not think "our house is good", they will come in, but must make efforts, otherwise investors will go to Indonesia, Thailand or other countries in the region.

Concerning this issue, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cung also once said that it is necessary to "scour" to the big headquarters of investors to "lure" them to Vietnam.

In fact, to catch the shifting investment flow, a special working group to welcome the "eagle" to nest has been established. Many important activities have been carried out by the Working Group, many meetings with large corporations have been organized, with commitments to invest billions of USD in Vietnam. However, so far, not many commitments have come true, at least reflected in newly signed investment registration certificates.

After 10 months, Vietnam attracted $ 23.48 billion of foreign investment capital, equaling 80.6% over the same period in 2019. This figure is positive in the general downward trend of investment capital flows bridge, for Covid-19.

However, looking at the data recently released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), there are many things to note. That is, global FDI inflows have declined by nearly 50% in the first 6 months of the year compared to the same period in 2019 and is expected to decline by 40% for the whole year, but FDI into Asia is recovering. In which, China is emerging as a bright spot.

Going against the general downtrend, FDI in China still increased by 2.5%, in which the value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals increased by 84% over the same period last year. This proves that the attraction of this most populous market in the world is still very strong, so it is not easy for investors to move out of China.

The competition to attract FDI in the Covid-19 "era" is thus more difficult. Many investors still want to stay and look to China. Meanwhile, Indonesia, Thailand, India ... are also having attractive offers. In Vietnam, if it does not "fight" quickly, a missed opportunity is possible ...

“Currently, countries compete very fiercely. Therefore, in order to catch the shifting investment capital flows, it is necessary to ’fight’ with each investor, each project, change the way of investment promotion, to urge and motivate them to make early investment decisions. , if not, it will lose the opportunity ”.