Many recommendations for Vietnam's infrastructure at APEC

Infrastructure investment in Vietnam is considered by many APEC delegates to be very attractive but needs further development.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Vietnam is leading Southeast Asian countries in infrastructure spending, accounting for 5.7% of GDP. Meanwhile, this rate in countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines is below 3%. Vietnam's demand for infrastructure investment is still very large, creating a great attraction for investors.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Binh - Vice Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee said that investment and modernization of infrastructure system has helped the local GDP growth rate reach double digits from 2016 to present, far exceeding the period of 2011 - 2015.

“From a local perspective, we particularly appreciate the important role of the infrastructure system. Hai Phong still has a lot of potential and room to develop its infrastructure system. Therefore, in addition to the city's internal strength, we hope to continue to receive strong investment from the Central Government, international organizations, governments of other countries and investors,” said Mr. Binh.

Both transport and urban infrastructure in Vietnam are considered very attractive.

From the perspective of a long-term investor, Phu My Hung representative is still optimistic about the long-term future of the real estate sector.

“The real estate industry here is still sustainable and potential in the long term. We see that there will be up to 20 million people without homes in the future. Moreover, when you become richer, you do not want to die. That is why education, healthcare and infrastructure will still be very attractive industries,” Mr. Kwang Hung Ting – Chairman of Phu My Hung predicted.

Public infrastructure projects are also supported by foreign businesses. For Ms. Karren Reddington - President of FedEx Express Asia - Pacific, the infrastructure system serving logistics needs to be invested even faster.

“Over the past ten years, Vietnam has undergone very positive changes. GDP has increased rapidly, infrastructure has developed, and the policy and innovation environment has improved. However, the government should find a way to quickly reduce the load on airports. For example, building Long Thanh airport. We support this project,” said Ms. Karren.

However, in order to strongly stimulate capital flows into infrastructure in Vietnam, many opinions say that perfecting policies to attract non-budgetary investment must be improved.

Diversifying financial resources and promoting private sector participation in infrastructure investment are among the contents agreed upon in the 'Declaration of the 24th APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting on October 21.

Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee Nguyen Ngoc Tuan said that the locality is taking advantage of ODA capital for sustainable development projects, taking advantage of central capital for regional projects and attracting private capital for new urban projects. However, he said that the policy framework related to investment in transport infrastructure needs to be more complete.

“The city proposes that the Central Government complete the legal framework related to investment in developing transport infrastructure such as the Law on Public Investment, PPP investment policy, PPP financial policy combining many sources such as government bonds, ODA, private capital…”, Mr. Tuan said.

Next to the story of capital is vision. Sometimes, some projects are not stuck in capital but in consensus. Mr. Kwang Hung Ting suggests the principle of 3-way win.

“We must have a win-win-win mindset, meaning both sides win, not just win-win. If every project benefits all three parties, the people, the government and you (the business), then you will be strongly supported,” said Mr. Ting, expressing optimism about the upcoming investment prospects.

"We hear about many people having the American dream, but I see that there are many Vietnamese people dreaming of the Vietnamese dream. Recently, overseas Vietnamese from Silicon Valley have returned to invest a lot in the country. I want to say that if in the past 30 years you have not been here to witness the change in Vietnam, then you should be here now to witness the change in the next 30 years," he recommended.

According to VNE