Vietnam News Today (May 5): Vietnam Seeks Broadened Cooperation with OECD

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Do Thanh Trung (left) speaks at the Government’s regular press conference on May 4. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam improving readiness to attract foreign investment: official

Vietnam has been applying itself to making institutional, infrastructure, and manpower improvements in efforts to attract more foreign investment, especially in such big industries as electronics and semiconductor, said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Do Thanh Trung.

He made the remark at the Government’s regular press conference on May 4 in response to the media’s question about some large foreign businesses’ interest in the Vietnamese market.

Trung pointed out that foreign businesses invest in not just Vietnam but various countries. Their investment decisions depend on many factors of which objective factors, subjective factors, and Vietnam’s readiness are main ones.

Objective factors include the geopolitical and economic situation in the world, the region and Vietnam, investment trends, and the shift of supply chains among countries around the globe.

Subjective factors include investment strategies and targets of businesses, the suitability of each country and region to them, resources, and implementation feasibility, cited VNA.

Meanwhile, the Government, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), and other ministries and sectors have been striving to promote the institutional, infrastructure, and manpower readiness of Vietnam to attract those firms, he noted.

In terms of regulation, Trung elaborated, the country has been perfecting policies, laws, mechanisms, and policies to improve the business and investment climate. It is also considering specific mechanisms and attractive incentives for technology, semiconductor, electronics, and chip companies.

Vietnam has been working to ensure the best possible transport infrastructure, including road, waterway and air transport facilities, along with infrastructure serving production such as electricity. Hi-tech parks and innovation centers are also being developed to create an even better environment for investors.

Regarding human resources, it has been building concrete programs, Trung went on, saying that aside from the units capable of training and researching like universities and big companies, the Government and the Prime Minister assigned the MPI to draft a plan on training 50,000 engineers for the semiconductor industry, and the draft has already been submitted.

He revealed that foreign businesses highly value the Government’s determination to develop the semiconductor and chip industry. Aside from the US, investors from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China) have also moved to make investments in Vietnam.

The Deputy Minister expressed his belief that with efforts by the Government and agencies, clearer results will be recorded in the time ahead.

Vietnam seeks broader cooperation with OECD

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son has proposed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) coordinate with the nation to realize their cooperation focuses at a meeting with Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the OECD, on the sidelines of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting 2024 (MCM) held from May 2 to May 3 in Paris.

FM Son called on the organization to go ahead with its continued support for the implementation of the 15 projects within the Vietnam-OECD action plan for 2022 to 2026.

He therefore requested that both sides strive to enhance their partnership on the basis of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed, while also suggesting the OECD facilitate the country’s ongoing intensive integration into its specialized bodies. This should be done alongside helping the country to understand and contribute more to the building of global governance policies, especially in finance, tax, economy, development, digital policies, investment, and science-technology.

The Minister presented Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s thank-you letter to the OECD, in which the leader appreciated the organization’s invitation for the nation to attend the MCM, as well as its support for the country’s co-chairmanship of the OECD’s Southeast Asia Regional program (SEARP) for the 2022 to 2025 period.

In response, Cormann greatly valued the country’s role, as well as its active and responsible contributions to the SEARP, saying that he is willing to work alongside the country to select the specialized bodies that can help it to seize global trends and standards in service of its making of suitable development policies.

As part of the occasion, Minister Son met with Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing of Australia Tim Ayres, during which the Vietnamese official suggested the two sides soon complete the action program in a bid to implement the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

This would create a firm foundation for them to deepen their collaboration across several spheres, particularly economics, trade, investment, agriculture, education-training, and labor, while also expanding co-operation in new areas such as the green economy, energy transition, and digital transformation, he said. The Assistant Minister went on to suggest that the Australian side continue its official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam in terms of climate change response and human resources development.

Assistant Minister Ayres highlighted co-ordination between the two countries as SEARP co-chairs for the 2022 to 2025 period, affirming Australian support for Vietnamese efforts in enhancing its relationship with the OECD.

He also voiced his support for the cooperation project between Vietnam, Australia, and Laos, expressing his wishes for stronger ties with the Vietnamese side in all fields, according to VOV.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (left) and OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann.

On May 3, Minister Son held a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Minister Kamikawa Yoko, where he called on the Far East nation to increase its investment in the Vietnamese market in new realms like semiconductors, as well as helping the Southeast Asian nation to join its regional supply chain.

He also suggested the two countries bolster linkages in culture, people-to-people exchange, labor, and personnel training.

For her part, Minister Yoko said Japan backs the initiatives, orientations, and priorities proposed by the Vietnamese side to promote cooperation with the OECD, agreeing to forge ties between the two countries at multilateral forums like the OECD and the ASEAN.

Japan will therefore continue its assistance to Vietnam in industrialisation and modernisation in the new context, she pledged.

As part of his working trip, Minister Son visited the headquarters of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) in Paris, where he met with Louise Mushikiwabo, secretary general of the OIF.

The Minister said the nation always supports the OIF’s efforts in promoting cooperation for peace and development worldwide, noting that the country will attend and actively contribute to the 19th Francophonie Summit slated for October in France.

Mushikiwabo emphasized that the OIF attaches importance to the Vietnamese role and position within the Francophone community, promising to help Vietnam enhance its economic, trade, investment, and tourism ties with French-speaking countries in a sustainable manner.

The OIF will therefore strive to beef up cooperation with the nation in terms of spreading the language and providing French language training for Vietnamese peacekeeping forces, she said, affirming the organization’s readiness to admit Vietnamese