From the years of calling for FDI capital to hope for production and food and clothing, the story of attracting FDI capital has now turned a new page when Vietnam has become a dynamic, adaptive and deeply integrated economy...
A 4,500-ton desalination device manufactured by a FDI enterprise in Vietnam is exported to Saudi Arabia. Photo: DS
The office of Mr. Phan Huu Thang - former Director of the Foreign Investment Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment - has the most solemn place reserved for photos that he took with leaders and statistics on FDI attraction in the period 1987 - 2000 printed in color, framed and hung on the wall...
The first days
At nearly 75 years old, it seems that the first director of the Foreign Investment Agency still has a lot of energy when talking about the story of attracting FDI.
Excitedly sharing about the projects he is working on as the chairman of the Vietnam Industrial Park Finance Association, he said one of his biggest concerns is that the occupancy rate in industrial parks is still low.
So how to attract investors, especially green finance and high-tech sectors, to industrial parks is what he wants to do most right now.
Looking back over the past four decades, he said that the journey of attracting FDI was full of worries and caution. But then when the first industrial park opened in Dong Nai, the officials and leaders assigned to the task went there, set up every table and chair in the office, their hearts filled with joy...
Initially, only two cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, were approved for projects with a capital scale of 40 million USD, while other localities received 10 million USD.
Gradually, localities "raced" to issue licenses. Mr. Thang said that at that time, licensing was almost done within a week, with many projects having small capital scale.
Catching FDI wave in new era
After nearly four decades, Vietnam is considered one of the 16 most successful emerging economies in the world. Vietnam has a new position and strength in the era of national development.
Mr. Thang expects that Resolution 50 of the Politburo with its innovation in the perspective of FDI ATTRACTION to COOPERATION will contribute to improving productivity, quality, and restructuring the economy.
"Attraction is passive, inviting, or even acquisitive. But collaboration is win-win, creating balance and diffusion.
If we can do this, we will be able to promote the advantages of FDI capital flows and overcome internal shortcomings to build an independent and self-reliant economy..." - Mr. Thang said.
For effective FDI cooperation in the new situation, the prerequisite is to ensure capital safety, a favorable investment and business environment, unified and stable policies, and create conditions for domestic enterprises to grow and cooperate.
Recounting the story of inviting Intel, Mr. Thang said that it was a lesson about "lining a nest to welcome eagles" in the future.
At that time, the Investment Attraction Team had a very compact composition, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem, a Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, Chairman of VCCI and Director of the Foreign Investment Agency. With a capital scale of 1 billion USD, Intel considered three locations: India, Thailand and Vietnam.
In terms of comparative advantages, Vietnam is "inferior". But as a result, in addition to meeting conditions such as location, human resources, incentives... the most important thing to convince investors is the belief and determination of Vietnamese leaders. Combined with the potential they saw, Intel chose to locate its factory in Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park in 2006 and has been operating until now.
Need a strong domestic business team
However, there are still concerns. According to Mr. Thang, FDI capital contributes 25% of total investment capital but accounts for 70% of exports.
We have not yet built a large number of domestic enterprises capable of cooperating and participating deeply in the world supply chain.
The investment environment needs to be improved further, barriers reduced, and more transparent... to welcome more technology "eagles", emerging fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and attract large investment funds...
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/goi-von-fdi-voi-vi-the-moi-20250107183441012.htm
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