Accelerating the attraction of large, high-quality FDI capital flows

Foreign investors increase supply chain construction

Foreign investment flows into Vietnam continue to grow positively in the context of many fluctuations in the global economy. This assessment was made by the Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Finance) in a recently published report on foreign investment attraction in the first 4 months of 2025.

Specifically, in the first 4 months of the year, nearly 13.82 billion USD of foreign investment capital was registered, an increase of 39.9% over the same period in 2024. Of this, except for newly registered capital that is still decreasing (reaching more than 5.59 billion USD, down 23.8% over the same period in 2024), which is mostly due to the lack of large-scale projects, additional investment capital and investment through capital contribution and share purchase increased sharply. The corresponding figures are 6.4 billion USD, an increase of nearly 3.9 times and 1.83 billion USD, nearly 2.1 times higher than the same period last year.

Not only has the capital increased, but the number of newly registered projects, capital adjustments, and the number of capital contribution and share purchase transactions has also increased rapidly. According to the Foreign Investment Agency, this shows that foreign investors' confidence in Vietnam's investment environment continues to be strengthened. They not only come to make new investments, but also expand their scale of operations.

The quality of capital flows has been improved. According to Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang, recently, many large enterprises from the US and EU have continued to make new investments and expand their investments, building supply chains in Vietnam.

Specifically, Qualcomm Group (USA) has acquired VinAI's artificial intelligence development company, expecting to build the company's third largest AI R&D center in the world in Vietnam. LEGO Group (Denmark) recently inaugurated a factory worth more than 1.3 billion USD in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the SYRE Group (Sweden) is aiming to turn Vietnam into the first global textile and garment center, applying high technology according to US and EU standards. The project that SYRE plans to invest in Binh Dinh province has a scale of up to 1 billion USD.

“We want to choose Vietnam as a strategic investment location because Vietnam is developing strongly in green energy, and also has a strong textile industry. SYRE is committed to using the most raw materials from Vietnam, strengthening the supply chain and manufacturing in Vietnam,” said SYRE President Susanna Campbell.

In other positive news, recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared that “almost all” of the company’s devices, including iPads, Macs, Apple Watches and AirPods sold in the US this quarter came from Vietnam.

In recent years, Apple has continuously shifted its production chain to Vietnam. Foxconn, Luxshare, Goertek - manufacturers of components and devices for Apple, have continuously opened and expanded projects in Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Nghe An... to increase production capacity.

“This shows Vietnam's important position in global supply chains,” Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasized.

Beware of risks from US tariff policy

Although foreign investment flows into Vietnam are still positive and foreign investors have always affirmed their confidence in Vietnam as a destination, warnings about the impacts and risks related to US tariff policies have been issued.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, in the first 4 months of 2025, although the US maintained investment growth in Vietnam (reaching 176.3 million USD, up 82.2% over the same period - PV), special attention should still be paid to the new US reciprocal tax policy imposed on a number of key export items from Vietnam.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, these measures could put pressure on foreign-invested enterprises with supply chains linked to the US market, changing their investment strategy calculations in the future. “Some enterprises may temporarily stop expanding their scale, adjust their export structure or shift their investment to industries less affected by taxes. Accordingly, it is necessary to continue to closely monitor the trade policy developments of the US and major partners, and at the same time increase dialogue with enterprises to develop stable policies, supporting investors to maintain confidence in the domestic investment environment,” the Foreign Investment Agency said.

Speaking at the recent regular Government meeting in April 2025, Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasized the need to "closely monitor the developments of foreign-invested enterprises because some enterprises are planning to gradually shift assembly activities and low added value to other countries".

To continue to gain an advantage in attracting foreign investment, success in tariff negotiations with the US is very important. In addition, it is necessary to continue to improve the investment and business environment.

The 2024 Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) Report indicates that, although 2024 data shows that Vietnam has made significant progress in reducing procedural burdens and cases of enterprises being inspected four or more times in a year, to maintain investor confidence, Vietnam needs to continue to promote administrative procedure reform and improve customs clearance efficiency, creating more favorable conditions for the operations of foreign-invested enterprises.

In a recent forum on attracting foreign investment in the new era, Mr. Seck Yee Chung (SingCham Vietnam) said that Vietnam has done very well in attracting foreign investment, as well as investing in infrastructure and human resources to increase attractiveness, but "it would be great" if administrative procedures were improved so that projects could be approved faster.

“It takes from nine months to a year for a project in the energy sector to get a license,” said Mr. Seck Yee Chung, expressing hope that barriers to market entry for foreign businesses will be lowered in the future.

To increase foreign investment attraction, the Ministry of Finance has proposed a series of solutions, including promptly grasping, advising on handling, and immediately removing obstacles and making recommendations for large foreign investment projects. In addition, promoting the role of working groups to accompany, support, and quickly resolve investment procedures for large foreign investment projects to speed up project progress.

Build an effective mechanism to selectively attract foreign investment, focusing on large-scale, high-tech projects; build a "National Investment One-Stop Portal" to be completed by August 2025 and a "Provincial Investment One-Stop Portal" after the provincial restructuring...

Source: https://baodautu.vn/tang-toc-thu-hut-dong-von-fdi-lon-chat-luong-cao-d280321.html