Wednesday September 5, 2007
Vietnam bullish on foreign investment
KUALA LUMPUR: Vietnam is bullish about attracting foreign investment with the latest change in its economic policy where foreign companies will enjoy the same benefits and incentives as local enterprises.
According to the embassy of the Social Republic of Vietnam trade counsellor Nguyen Thi Coi, foreign investments reached an all-time high of US$10bil in 2006 and are expected to rise to US$16bil this year with Malaysia being the second largest investor from Asean.
“Malaysian SMEs (small and medium-scale enterprises) have 223 projects in Vietnam to date with investments amounting to US$1.5bil and concentrated in food, garments, shoes and semiconductor manufacturing,” she said at the preview of the Global SMEs 2007 anchor event, Invest in Vietnam – Rising Star of Manufacturing Base.
The three-day Global SMEs 2007, the eighth International Strategic Partnership and Business Networking Trade Fair for SMEs, starts tomorrow at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Organising chairman Datuk Syed Amin Aljeffri said foreign participants had taken up 30% of the 350 exhibition booths. The countries represented included the United States, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Sri Lanka, Poland, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Participating sectors include IT services, trading and manufacturing.
“Sri Lanka, which is seeking to strengthen bilateral relations with a large trade mission to Malaysia, is a new participant at this fair,” he said.
Amin said the trade fair would also feature a forum and a session on tax planning based on the Budget 2008 announcement on Sept 7.
Held concurrently with the fair is the SME ICT Week 2007 by MCA ICT Resource Centre (MIRC) from Sept 3 to 8 covering SME ICT Global Leadership Forum, MIRC Chinese Seminar and Taiwan Innovation Pavilion.
Another highlight of the fair is the Golden Bull Award 2007 Gala Award Presentation to recognise outstanding achievements of local SMEs.
The trade fair is set to attract double the 10,713 trade visitors recorded last year.
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