“Businesses from the UK consider Vietnam a potential investment destination with market of high growth, large population of young, dynamic and hard working people and strategic geographical location in Asia.” This is the opinion of Lord Puttnam, Trade Envoy of the UK’s Prime Minister in charge of representation to Vietnam at the UK – Vietnam Business forum. The forum was held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with the British Embassy in Vietnam, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), and Harvey Nash Group on the occasion of, the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the UK.
The main purpose of this forum is to create opportunities for enterprises of Vietnam and the UK to meet directly, make proposals for business cooperation and investment, thus make plans to cooperate effectively and successfully.
Companies from the UK participating in the forum operate in the fields of financial solutions, information technology, education and training, advertising and communications, marketing, fashion, retail, investment consultation, services, and general trading.
According to Mr Hoang Van Dung, VCCI Standing Vice President, in recent years, Vietnam ‘s exports to the UK increased by an average rate of 17 percent a year. Exported items include shoes, textiles, tea and coffee, rice, seafood and rubber. Items that Vietnam mainly imports from England consist of processing and industrial equipment, chemicals, telecommunications equipment and tobacco.
Mr Dung said that British companies entered Vietnam as early as in 1988-1989, and at the beginning they focused only on the oil and gas sector, accounting for 70 percent of the total investment. To date, UK investment has expanded into new areas such as banking, finance, manufacturing industry, services, garment, etc.
According to statistics, the UK is taking most investment in the mining sector with 7 projects with the total investment capital of US$715.6 million. Following is the processing industry with 55 manufacturing projects and total registered capital of US$714.4 million, accounting for 32.2 percent of the total degree. The third position is the field of real estate business with registered capital of US$548 million, accounting for 25.3 percent.
By the end of 2012, the UK had 163 valid projects with total registered capital of US$2.69 billion, ranking fourth in the EU countries and 18th out of 98 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. In particular, Vietnam offers many great opportunities for British businesses to invest in Vietnam since Vietnam continues to lack electricity and gas, petrochemical development, etc.
Mr Dung shared that Vietnam has a lot of advantages for UK businesses to take investment. Particularly, Vietnam is a big market with the population of nearly 90 million, strategic location in East Asia, and currently a member of many regional and international trade regimes. Vietnam now has diplomatic, economic and commercial relations with almost all countries and territories around the world. Vietnam is a member of ASEAN, which will become a free trade zone from 2015. Vietnam is also a member of APEC, WTO, etc. Vietnam has also joined many liberal tariff agreements, bilateral economic cooperation with many countries. Currently, Vietnam is involved in negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), bilateral FTAs with the EU and a number of other partners to expand the market and further strengthen supply chain in the region and around the world.
Lord Puttnam assessed that Vietnam is a country with rapid economic growth. Along with the existing advantages of the UK, this forum is not only a good opportunity for businesses from both countries to learn from each other, but also an event which promises to produce better results in the future.
Mai Anh
Đăng ký: VietNam News
