Samsung, Nokia - Microsoft landed, what does Vietnam get?

Experts all have relatively positive assessments of the trend of shifting production "headquarters" of famous brands.

Experts say that the move of Samsung, Intel, LG, Canon and most recently Nokia - Microsoft to move their production "headquarters" to Vietnam is an opportunity to develop the engineering industry.

Experts have a relatively positive assessment of the trend of shifting the production "headquarters" of famous brands such as Samsung, Nokia - Microsoft and previously LG, Canon... to Vietnam. Dr. Nguyen Thi Hien - former member of the Prime Minister's Research Board said that the prerequisite factor for the above brands to move to Vietnam is political stability. In addition, some other reasons that make the above "giants" withdraw from foreign markets, including China, are labor costs, policy systems, incentive mechanisms...

According to Ms. Hien, the biggest benefit when Vietnam opens its doors to these big brands is the level of technology. Previously, foreign investment enterprises only focused on a number of service sectors, low-tech manufacturing or real estate projects. However, with Samsung or Nokia - Microsoft all being high-tech enterprises, if they transfer, we have the opportunity to absorb high technology. Once accepted, Vietnam will have the conditions to develop technical sectors that require high technology content in the future.

The shift of electronics manufacturing to Vietnam means opportunities for the development of the high-tech industry. Illustration: Mai Nguyen.

Agreeing with this view, economic expert Pham Chi Lan said that the arrival of global brands has helped Vietnam "score points" as an effective investment destination.

According to Ms. Lan, currently in the world, the competition to attract investment is still fierce. Therefore, when Vietnam is chosen by "big guys" with global names, it is not only good for us, but also contributes to raising the overall reputation of a country. Big brands pouring money into investment not only solve jobs for people but also make the picture of Vietnam brighter in terms of export structure, especially export of high-tech fields. In addition, according to economic expert Pham Chi Lan, at that time, the state budget - which is already in difficulty - can also increase thanks to corporate income tax collected from these enterprises.

Concerned about the situation of transfer pricing, tax evasion, and fake losses that has occurred in some FDI enterprises, Ms. Hien said that the problem lies with us. “This has been the situation since ancient times. In the world, I am not sure that there is a single enterprise that has ever done business without transfer pricing or tax evasion,” Ms. Hien said. According to this expert, Vietnam currently has policies and sanctions to limit and handle the above situation. Therefore, these shortcomings will be gradually overcome and we must have measures to solve them.

Ms. Pham Chi Lan also frankly admitted that along with the "good" things, Vietnam also has to face problems in FDI enterprises' investment and business. However: "Whether the impact is bad or not must first be on us. Mainly on us", Ms. Lan said.

Regarding concerns about transfer pricing and tax evasion, Ms. Lan said that allowing businesses to circumvent the law depends on our capacity. When we are not capable of controlling it, we will be "knocked on our backs" by others. According to her, the cases of transfer pricing and tax evasion that have occurred in the past will be a lesson for Vietnam to be able to more strictly control new businesses. "However, we should have a more objective view of this issue and not generalize all FDI enterprises. We should not deny the direct contributions to the national economy that FDI enterprises bring," Ms. Lan said.

With the shift of traditional production areas of big brands to the Vietnamese market and the risk of "turning" Vietnam into a technology dumping ground, Ms. Lan believes that it is not easy and not likely to happen. According to this economic expert, businesses themselves will also have to balance the development of products and industries with potential.

Ms. Lan believes that we need to be careful when talking about "technology landfills". Because when evaluating, we must first consider what industry, what product, from what technology source and investor. "Currently, China has a huge demand for technological innovation, so it is willing to transfer old technology products to Vietnam to sell, even at very high prices. That is what we should worry about," the above expert expressed.

According to Zing