by Vu Kim Chung
30-6-2001
Vietnam needs to take specific steps to make itself more attractive to foreign investment, which is vital to its growth plans, representatives of donor countries said on June 20, 2001.
French ambassador Serge Degallaix said Vietnam had seen an upsurge in committed FDI due to substantial reforms and a change in the perception of investors of the country as an investment destination, adding that he expected FDI inflow to continue to increase in the coming time.
"The coming ratification of a trade agreement with the U.S. will help create a predictable business environment and hence beckon more foreign investment," said U.S. ambassador Pete Peterson. He told a meeting of the Consultative Group for Vietnam that with the stable development posted in recent times, Vietnam was very likely to be able to join the World Trade Organization sometime in the next few years.
Japanese .ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki said Vietnam should grasp the opportunity to entice FDI and should compare its economic plans to those of other Southeast Asian countries so as to allow some revision in the second half of the year if it was to attain the objectives set for 2001.
Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Xuan Gia said that, in an attempt to reverse the economic slowdown, Vietnam had issued policies to assist farmers and traders in expanding outlets, allowed private businesses to participate in export, and provided incentives to good export performers. The country had also embarked on economic integration by committing to cutting import tariffs, eliminating quantitative restrictions and liberalizing trading rights under the ASEAN Free Trade Area commitment and the trade pact signed with the U.S. in 2000, he said.
The donor country representatives said they believed Vietnam's reforms were in the right direction. Peterson said of the Government's solutions, the State-owned enterprise shake-up seemed to be most sticky issue.
"SOE reform should take first priority in Government policy. SOEs play an important role but should stand on their own feet rather than continue to rely on State protection."
"SOE restructuring should start by forcing them to disclose information and eliminate activities hampering competition between SOEs and the private sector," he added.
The two-day meeting between donor countries and agencies and Government officials was held in Hoi An under the auspices of the World Bank. An agreement on promoting partnership relations in natural calamity control in Vietnam's central region was signed at the two-day meeting of the consultative group of donors to Vietnam held in Hoi An, central coastal Quang Nam province, on June 18 and 19. Signatories were representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Dutch Embassy, the Ministries of Finance, Planning, and Investment as well as the provincial authorities.Under the agreement, 113 projects in infrastructure, irrigation, communications, and forestry in the central region will receive US $78.2 million in the immediate phase, of which US $40.7 million would come from donors. Forty-one members of Vietnam's relevant ministries and agencies and 99 representatives from 39 countries attended the two-day meeting.
Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Xuan Gia informed the participants of the national socio-economic development in the first six months of 2001 and spoke of measures to fulfil the tasks of the next six months. These measures would aim to accelerate production and product consumption and exports by turning to good account internal resources and re-arranging State-owned enterprises.
The participants focused their discussions on the country's economic situation, growth programmes, and credit programmes on poverty reduction. They also held informal discussions on issues relating to hunger eradication and poverty reduction, partnership relations, and the building of a strategy for hunger eradication and poverty reduction in Vietnam with the aim of finding suitable measures to help Vietnam's economic development and poverty reduction.