Singaporean investors seek partnership opportunities in Vietnam

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc and Vietnamese authorities answered many questions from participating investors regarding Vietnam’s policies on foreign investment activities.

Afred Chia C K, CEO of SingCapital, commented that Vietnam is a promising land that many foreign investors are interested in. However, a lack of information in English is among the difficulties facing them, he held, suggesting that the Vietnamese Government support relevant parties from securities firms to asset management funds, while cooperate with not only Singapore but also the ASEAN region to better supply foreign investors with information on the risks and opportunities when investing in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, YEO Wee Yap, Managing Seatown Holdings which is investing about 600 million USD in Vietnam, said that the country is an attractive investment destination thanks to a steady economic growth, a golden population, and the Government’s strong actions to support businesses.

He said investors hope for faster administrative procedures, especially those in land use and sale licences.

Vu Quang Dong, Vice Director at Vietcombank, stressed the need to upgrade the Vietnamese stock market to benefit both foreign and domestic investors. The upgrade will affect not only the capital and stock markets but also Vietnam's position, thereby helping it attract more foreign investment.

Affirming that the policy of creating favourable conditions for and active support from the Vietnamese Government, especially in the stock market, Vu Chan Phuong from the State Securities Commission of Vietnam pointed to the need to remove regulations related to margin trading for foreign institutional investors to create conditions for foreign investors to access the market more flexibly, save costs, and minimise risks when converting foreign currencies to VND.

She also mentioned the need to increase information supply in English and updates on foreign investors' ownership rates on mass media so that foreign investors can easily access and know the foreign ownership ratas for conditional or restricted business areas.