Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) Annual 2024: Waiting for specific solutions
There is no hesitation about the pioneering role of foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in implementing green strategies, but the business community still sends a message that it is looking forward to specific and strong solutions from the Government.
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| The Prime Minister's Conference meeting with the FDI business community and the annual Vietnam Business Forum held in Hanoi on March 19. Photo: Duc Thanh |
Heartfelt words from a "long-term investment" enterprise in Vietnam
“Intel has been present in Vietnam for 17 years and will continue to grow in Vietnam. We want to see Vietnam maintain its competitiveness in attracting FDI,” said Phung Viet Thang, Country Director of Intel Vietnam, at the Prime Minister’s Meeting with the FDI Business Community and the annual Vietnam Business Forum, which took place yesterday (March 19).
Not stopping at the message of commitment, Intel's leaders also sent 3 very specific recommendations that Mr. Thang called "very important for Vietnam not to miss the development beat". That is, investing in human resources, especially human resources for the semiconductor, chip, and artificial intelligence (AI) industries; developing new generation data centers; and specific tax measures.
“The government has very determined plans to build human resources, and there are discussions about implementing a global minimum tax in Vietnam. However, we want to see specific regulations,” Mr. Thang emphasized.
Present and speaking at the recommendation section to improve the investment and business environment in Vietnam, leaders of Samsung Vietnam and Bosch Vietnam sent similar recommendations and similar difficulties to the head of the Government as well as leaders of ministries, branches and localities.
Even Mr. Choi Joo Ho, General Director of Samsung Vietnam, frankly said that to increase the confidence of FDI enterprises, he suggested that the Government fulfill its commitments to enterprises on mechanisms and policies to attract investment, closely monitor the implementation of policies consistently and minimize legal uncertainties.
“Currently, many administrative procedures take 2-3 years to resolve,” Mr. Choi Joo Ho shared, with a clear view that, “Samsung is a long-term investor in Vietnam, wanting to contribute to and develop Vietnam’s economy.”
This is the first time within the framework of VBF that FDI enterprises have participated independently, in addition to business associations and VBF working groups. However, the message that these enterprises sent to the head of the Government in the Conference of the Prime Minister meeting the FDI business community is not beyond the common concerns of the FDI business sector.
On behalf of the Government, at the VBF Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hoped and believed that the Forum would continue to be an important and effective policy dialogue channel between the Government and the domestic and foreign business community in the coming time, continuing to make important contributions to the cause of innovation, integration and development of Vietnam.
Prioritize digital transformation
Reviewing the issues that business associations sent to VBF, concerns about complicated and inconsistent procedures still seem to dominate.
Representing the associate members of VBF (including the Singapore Business Association in Vietnam, the Australian Business Association in Vietnam, the Swiss Business Association, the Taiwan Business Association in Vietnam, the Thai Business Association in Vietnam, the Hanoi Business Association, the Indian Business Association in Vietnam and the Hong Kong Business Association in Vietnam), Mr. Seck Yee Chung, Vice President of the Singapore Business Association in Vietnam, said that Vietnam can significantly promote foreign investment by simplifying and streamlining procedures for granting and renewing business licenses, certificates and other permits.
“This is especially important for foreign investors who are often wary of complicated bureaucratic processes. Until now, the licensing procedures and time for FDI enterprises to obtain business licenses for sectors including retail, equipment rental and e-commerce from the Ministry of Industry and Trade are still cumbersome and time-consuming. Typically, enterprises have to submit multiple documents and go through rounds of explanation and clarification with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Department of Industry and Trade. This can take up to 12 months,” Mr. Seck Yee Chung reported as a typical example.
This is the reason why the associations have sent very specific recommendations, hoping for specific and clear solutions to ensure effective implementation. Specifically, the group associated with VBF proposed expanding the online portal and electronic filing, with the hope of allowing more government applications and procedures to be completed online, making the process faster and more convenient.
Along with that, businesses want agencies to accept electronic signatures, accept email communications, and reduce dependence on paper.
While some procedures, such as company registration, have been done online, Mr. Seck Yee Chung said that many foreign investment-related processes still require face-to-face meetings and in-person submission of documents. These include investment registration, M&A approval, foreign loan registration, representative office establishment, and foreign retail business license applications.
“By providing online options for these procedures, Vietnam can attract more foreign capital and partners,” Mr. Seck Yee Chung conveyed the expectations of businesses.
Focus on investing in human resources
Concerns about the quality of human resources also emerged quite clearly, especially in the green development needs of the Vietnamese economy. The results of the ESG survey conducted by VBF and reported at the Forum showed that continuing to invest in developing the workforce is very important.
“Upskilling and retraining the Vietnamese workforce will not only increase overall productivity, but also position Vietnam as a more attractive destination for FDI enterprises looking for skilled and adaptable labor,” said Stuart Livesey, Country Director of Copenhagen Offshore Partners Vietnam.
However, businesses also said that implementing this requirement is not simple, as according to a survey, only 15% of foreign businesses consider labor quality an attractive factor, mainly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Previously, sent to VBF, the Human Resources Group also had detailed reports, with many obstacles making it difficult to develop a plan for highly qualified industrial human resources.
“International skills transfer involves foreign experts coming to Vietnam to transfer high technology and other skills. We fully agree and respect Vietnam’s cautious approach in managing this process to ensure that only the most suitable foreign experts are granted work permits. However, as is often the case with work permits, a clearer and more specific explanation would benefit both the foreign investment community and Vietnam’s development goals,” said Colin Blackwell, Head of Human Resources, explaining the rather lengthy bullet points related to the administrative burden that businesses and foreign experts are facing.
This difficulty is not only seen in the manufacturing group. In his speech, Mr. Denzel Eades, Vice President of the British Business Association, also shared his views on the challenges that Vietnam is facing in its strategy to attract global talent to Vietnam.
“In the face of strong regional competition, Vietnam needs to continue to reduce the burden on talent and other visitors (such as tourists) and accelerate progress in digital application processes and technology use at airports,” Mr. Denzel Eades emphasized.
The main goal of these very detailed recommendations, as Mr. Denzel Eades shared, is for Vietnam to take advantage of international treaties to simplify and eliminate the requirement that foreign documents need to be legalized for use, as more than 100 other countries have done.
More importantly, Mr. Dominik Meichle, General Director of Bosch Vietnam, said that businesses are placing high expectations on the dialogue, which they believe will bring benefits to all parties.
“Many of the tasks we are implementing follow the Government's green and circular development needs, but are facing procedural problems, so having specific instructions and a clear mechanism will promote implementation,” Mr. Dominik Meichle shared.
With its potential and geo-economic position in the global supply chain, Vietnam is facing a great opportunity in green growth to be able to transform, catch up, move forward, surpass, take shortcuts and create momentum for a leap forward in economic, social and environmental development. Green growth orientation is the key to ensuring the successful implementation of the goals in the 10-year Socio-Economic Development Strategy for the period 2021-2030; creating opportunities for Vietnam to continue the momentum of innovation, promote in-depth transformation of the growth model, promote quality, efficiency and sustainability at the scale of the entire economy as well as at the enterprise level.
The selection of the theme “FDI enterprises pioneering the implementation of the Green Growth Strategy” for this conference has strongly demonstrated the Government’s determination as well as affirmed the particularly important role of the business community, especially FDI enterprises, in implementing green growth to realize strategic goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; greening economic sectors; strongly promoting the green transformation process on the principles of inclusiveness, equality, shared benefits, enhancing resilience and leaving no one behind.
- Mr. Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment
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