Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) mid-term 2018 with the theme of "Connecting domestic enterprises and FDI enterprises - Cooperation for the common good" was opened on July 4, 1818 by VCCI, World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) mid-term 2018 with the theme of "Connecting domestic enterprises and FDI enterprises - Cooperation for the common good" was opened on July 4, 1818 by VCCI, World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Through the main three meeting sessions about (1) walking up the value chain, (2) facing technological challenge and (3) Sustainable finance growth, representatives from enterprises and VBF working groups presented the Government their concerns as well as recommendations, requests.
VBF 2018 has been discussed by six trade associations representing six countries: Vietnam (VCCI), Japan (JCCI), Korea (KOCHAM), United Kingdom (BBGV), USA (Amcham ), EU (Eurocham).
Currently, Japan is the biggest investor in Vietnam in the first 6 months of 2018 with total registered capital of nearly 6 billion USD. Japan's investment is mainly in the fields of industrial production, energy, infrastructure development, trade services, agro-processing….
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< Data from Vietnam Country Report 2018H1 - VietnamCredit>
Strengthening the relationship between FDI enterprises and Vietnamese enterprises is a very important requirement for Vietnam to take on the leading role in the Global Supply Chain. In the Vietnam Business Forum - Mr. Koji Ito, President of Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, JCCI point out 3 main ideas proposed to the Government of Vietnam related to administrative reform, public debt and environmental issues.
Firstly, on the "reforming administrative procedures", JCCI proposed "piloting the project of accelerating the reform of administrative procedures". Specifically, the government should choose the General Department of Customs to pilot and cooperate with business associations of other countries to accelerate the process of transparency and progress of processing customs procedures.
The second is the public debt problem, the JCCI representative raised the concern that if the government's fiscal policy too tight, specifically limiting public debt to less than 65% of GDP, will obstruct infrastructure investment, while Vietnam is in dire need of these investments to ensure economic growth in the medium and long term. Downplaying infrastructure will reduce Vietnam's attractiveness to foreign investors, and will further undermine the opportunity to connect Vietnamese businesses with foreign firms. "We urgently ask the government taking measures to deal with the problem such as strengthening structural reforms in both revenue and expenditure, as well as reviewing the effectiveness of using public debt. We really want Vietnam could be tap the necessary capital to build infrastructure, thereby tightening the relationship between domestic and foreign businesses. " Mr Koji Ito said.
Thirdly, on "environmental issues", Vietnam's environmental situation is going badly every year, but it is also a new opportunity for foreign enterprises with environmental technology. Vietnamese enterprises are eager to solve this problem. Japan has experienced a period of serious environmental problems during the rapid growth period and has overcome this problem mainly through "modern environmental technologies" and "policies to encourage businesses to be environmentally friendly”. They would like to cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in environmental issues.
Finally, JCCI highly appreciates if the Vietnamese government considers and implementation their proposals, so that Vietnam becomes more attractive to foreign investors.
