Vietnam remains a top destination for int’l investment
A SURVEY of business leaders in t he Asia-Pacif ic region has revealed Vietnam is a top dest i nat ion f or c r os s-border investment.
More than 1,000 leaders were questioned by PwC as part of their survey “Doing business across borders in Asia Pacific 2019-2020”.
Results have revea led companies in Vietnam are confident revenue wil l hit a f iveyea r hig h, wit h a l most ha l f say ing t hey are “ver y conf ident”.
The su r vey showed businesses here are more optimist ic t ha n t hei r A sia-Paci f ic E c o n o m i c C o o p e r a t i o n (Apec) counterparts, as only 34 per cent of businesses elsewhere are confident of reaching such highs.
Four out of f ive busi ness leaders in Viet na m told t he sur vey t hey are pla nning to increase budgets in automat ion a nd work forc e sk i l l s, whi le 80 per cent st rong ly believe technolog y advancement is key to success.
PwC Vietnam director-general Dinh Thi Quynh Van said: “Amid anticipated pressure from increased challenges to cross border activities, Vietnam is holding on to i t s momentum for continuous growth with business leaders’ confidence boosted with uplifted optimism, and the economy continues to attract investments not only from overseas but also from its expanding domestic force.”
The survey quizzed business leaders from 21 Apec economies, whi c h c o l l e c t i v e l y account for half of world trade and more than half of global gross domestic product.
Of those already doing business in Vietnam, 44 per cent s ay t hey pla n to i ncrea s e i nvest ment i n t he cou nt r y over the next 12 months.
But the survey reveals there is still room for improvement.
Of those questioned, 23 per cent of Vietnamese leaders say they struggle to recruit staff with the right skillset to accommodate automation and only five per cent, compared to 12 per cent Apec-wide, say they are creating more jobs with automation.
PwC global chairman Bob Morit z said: “Business leaders don’t of ten ca ll for more reg u lat ion, but compa n ies are acutely aware of t he risk t hat disconnected or inef fective policies in areas such as AI, cybersecurit y and privacy protection can have on their plans for investment and the trust that consumers have in business.”
Also in the survey, 62 per cent of Vietnam’s respondents expect to increase their domestic investment in the next 12 months, higher than other economies such as China, Japan and Singapore.
Foreign direct investment in Vietnam inched up by three per cent during the first 11 months of this year to $31.8 billion, data from the Foreign Investment Agency shows.