Prime Minister: The time is ripe for the US to invest in Vietnam

The Government leader emphasized the message that the success of American investors is Vietnam's success.

On the second day of his visit to the US, the Prime Minister attended a roundtable discussion on Vietnam-US investment cooperation, with the participation of more than 20 financial corporations, investment funds and large enterprises from both sides.

The Government leader expressed that this is a good opportunity to discuss orientations and investment cooperation opportunities between Vietnam and the US, especially investment in banking and finance, a field with great development potential in Vietnam.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that the scale of Vietnam's financial market is still modest but growing rapidly with the participation of many newly equitized enterprises. "This is the right time for American enterprises with their brands, experience, technology and abundant financial resources to participate more strongly in the process of restructuring Vietnam's economy, especially banking and finance, and equitization of state-owned enterprises...", he told American investors.

The Prime Minister spoke with leaders of large US businesses and financial investment funds at the seminar. Photo: VGP

The US is currently Vietnam’s third largest trading partner with a turnover of 50 billion USD in 2016, and a total registered capital of over 10.2 billion USD in investment projects. Many of the country’s leading corporations have been present in Vietnam very early and have achieved many successes.

Using the image of Nike shoes to talk about the profits of American investors in Vietnam, the Prime Minister said that with 138 million pairs of shoes exported each year, if a pair of shoes costs 100 USD, Vietnam only benefits 22 USD, while the US benefits 78 USD. Therefore, he believes that during this visit to the US, more trade contracts will be signed, creating a more balanced trade volume, promoting the advantages of each side.

That trend is recognized by the Government leaders as not contradictory but complementary, such as Vietnam imports machinery, equipment and some products from the US, while exporting to this country products that Americans like such as fish, shrimp, fruit, shoes... In addition, not only American enterprises invest in Vietnam but many Vietnamese investors have also knocked on the door and invested in this market.

The Prime Minister used the image of a pair of shoes to illustrate the profits of American investors in Vietnam. Photo: VGP

Leaders of large US corporations and investment funds attending the seminar highly appreciated Vietnam's investment and business environment as "there are more and more opportunities here".

Mr. Charles Kaye - leader of Warburg Pincus, a group specializing in tourism investment, pointed out the advantages of Vietnam after a period of investing in Metropol Hanoi Hotel, which is the favorable infrastructure to access retail and healthcare services, new technology. "We are also considering investment opportunities in manufacturing and service industries, because Vietnam has a good workforce and reasonable labor costs," said Mr. Charles Kaye.

A representative of KKR Global Institute said that the company is preparing a fund of more than 9 billion USD for investment in emerging markets, including Vietnam, a market with a young population, high GDP growth and attractive global competitiveness.

Mr. Alexande Mirza - Cachet Hotel Group said that his subordinates had proposed 4 projects, including 2 hotels and 2 resorts in Vietnam last week. "I see many opportunities in the tourism sector," he said.

At the discussion, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked leaders of ministries and sectors to answer questions and create favorable conditions for US investors to invest in Vietnam. In addition, domestic enterprises attending the discussion also expressed their desire to become partners of US investors in areas of interest when investing in Vietnam.

Recalling the saying of the late President Franklin Roosevelt: "When you believe, you have achieved half the success", Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the Vietnam - US cooperative relationship has just turned 20 - an age of courage, youthfulness, overcoming many challenges and also full of aspirations, ambitions, reaching for noble goals.

According to VNE