Vietnam unveils strategic investment guide Vietnam Today

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, VCCI and PWC Vietnam have officially launched the 13th edition of their publication, Doing Business in Vietnam. Could you tell us more about this publication, Phuong Anh? Yes, of course. Now, Wellesley, the publication serves as a strategic guide for investors and entrepreneurs looking to navigate Vietnam's rapidly evolving economic landscape. The launch comes at a time when the country is experiencing strong momentum with expressive GDP growth in the first nine months of 2025 and ambitious long-term goals aiming to become a high-income economy by 2045 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. According to Doing Business in Vietnam, in 2024, Vietnam's economy demonstrated remarkable resilience, surpassing government targets with a GDP growth rate of 7.09 percent. This economic stability, fueled by strong trade and FDI, firmly positions Vietnam as an attractive investment destination for 2025 and beyond. Backed by optimistic growth forecasts, the publication notes that Vietnam stands as a pivotal hub for global trade and investment and also points out that the country's economic outlook for 2025 is full of promise. Vietnam's growth has met the target and could even surpass expectations in the fourth quarter. The business environment has been steadily improving and the new two-tire government system is now operating more effectively. What's especially encouraging is that key policy resolutions have acted like a breath of fresh air, bringing new energy and a sense of revival to business activities. The Doing Business in Vietnam 2025 report also urges the country to accelerate institutional reforms, streamline bureaucracy, and empower local governments to create a more business friendly environment. It highlights the need for substantial investment in infrastructure and digital transformation, while also prioritizing strategic sectors such as semiconductors, renewable energy, and financial services to attract high-value investment and strengthen Vietnam's global competitiveness. One of the most notable highlights in Doing Business in Vietnam 2025 is the government's plan to restructure its administrative system and merge local government units, a move expected to have a significant impact on Vietnam's investment environment in the coming years. And experts say that consolidating provinces and cities will not only streamline governance and reduce bureaucratic procedures, but also expand the scale and competitiveness of local economies, paving the way for new strategic economic regions capable of attracting large-scale foreign investment to gain deeper insights into this transformation and its implications. We spoke with economist Raymond Mellon. Thank you for joining our interview today. And according to the result recently announced, a Vietnam key driver in attracting FDIs in the beginning of the year, all have seen strong FDI growth. So what is your assessment of the overall result? So I think it's really an incredible positive sign for Vietnam that it's emerging as a regional hub for investment, particularly nearly over two-thirds of the foreign investment inflows have been in the manufacturing sector. It sort of builds on what the government has been trying to do for many years in terms of the past investment in infrastructure and human development are paying off. The economic reform, the policy reform to improve the business enabling environment has improved over the decades, but I think the efforts have been reintensified in recent years. And after Vietnam implemented the mergers and rearrangement of the administrative boundaries, how has the flow of FDI into provinces and cities been affected? I think first just the streamlining of administration down from 64 to 31 provinces makes all the differences in the world in terms of trying to move towards greater policy coherence between the provinces. But it also provides a scale and you've got some of the, you know, with the merger in Ho Chi Minh City it's now counting for something like 28% of total FDI. It's a mega city, a whole area with the combinations now as big by any comparison in Southeast Asia. So that'll provide economies of scale. But you're also seeing that in the Bac Ninh, Bac Giang area, Hai Duong, Hai Phong area. They're all emerging as major growth centres. So as you get this bigger scale the provinces should be able to plan infrastructure better that take into account multimodal transport development. So the whole planning is a bit better integrated. They're also linked with the investments in human capital. And all of this should help facilitate the building of clusters that are very important. What scenario may has occurred in Vietnam FDI attractions in the year 2025 and the coming years? You know, if we take 2025 as a starting point and we continue to get a similar level investment to what we got in 2025 then the government could talk about, you know, getting 32, 30, 32, 35 million dollars in the forthcoming period. And I think that would seem to be very achievable if you like. But then you could look at a more optimistic scenario and you look around and you see their success in attracting some of these major players. I mean, in the high-tech area like NVIDIA and Meta and, you know, some of these players. Very, very big that will have catalytic impacts in terms of attracting other investors in. Then you could well imagine a scenario where the government targets of, you know, 40 million are very achievable. Ambitious but achievable. Once again, thank you for joining our interview.