Investment promotion: big money, big efforts still ineffective

By 2010, the Ministry of Planning and Investment had sent 10 officers abroad as  investment promotion representatives. Cities and provinces have also spent a lot of money to organize conferences to call for foreign investment. However, the effects of these campaigns remain far below expectations.

Investment promotion officers and local authorities uncooperative

 

The lack of cooperation between investment promotion officers and local authorities is a big problem as shown at the conference held in Binh Duong on December 27.

At the conference, an official from the Binh Thuan province’s Planning and Investment Department said that besides the advantages in tourism, the province was now trying to develop supporting industries. Eight industrial zones in the province have been planned, but no interest had been shown. Therefore, the local authorities now wanted to call for investment in the industrial zones, targeting at South Korean and Japanese investors. .

On hearing this, Nguyen Thi Minh Hien, investment counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy in South Korea, was very surprised. “I know that there are eight industrial zones in Binh Thuan province, but I don’t know anything about them,” she said. “I have been here for one month, but canal I could see were hotel complexes. As I didn't find any industrial zones, I don’t know how to call for investment. I have never heard about your proposals”.

Hien said that local authorities should send updated information about investment projects and  policies to the investment promotion representatives in foreign countries.

Hien stressed that local authorities should clearly state the strong and weak points of their localities, so that the representativescan find suitable investors. “Local authorities should point out their weak points as well. They should understand that they cannot hide their problems,” she said.

Giang Thanh Tung, Economic Counselor under the Vietnamese General Consulate in San Francisco in the US, said that most of the lists of projects calling for foreign investment sent to Vietnamese embassies covered the period of 2006-2010. “Local authorities should exclude the projects which have already found partners and those which have got licenses, and they should release the updated lists of investment projects,” he said.

Besides,  the representatives have suggested local authorities to create profiles for every project, with the information provided in the languages of the foreign partners, such as South Korea or Japan. However, some local authorities replied that they do not know how to draft a standard profile. Nguyen Thi Bich Van, Deputy Director of the Foreign Investment Agency FIA also admits that there is still no sample for project profiles, especially the big projects, such as for sea port and bridge constructions.

Local authorities also complain that they do not know how to contact and work with the investment promotion representatives. In fact, embassies all have the funds for organizing investment promotion events, especially focusing on provinces with less favorable economic conditions.

According to Tung, an investment promotion representative in the US, the fund can also be used to purchase information on the profiles of US enterprises. The US embassy can also help by sending staff to go with Vietnamese business delegations or help Vietnamese businesses meet the US banks.

Investment promotion conferences everywhere

According to Van, investment promotion conferences are booming. “Two conferences took place in the same month in the same city in South Korea. Three Vietnamese business delegations stayed in the same hotel in Japan,” Van said, adding that the overlapping has caused a big waste, while the promotion activities do not bring the desired effects.

Representatives from local authorities also admit that they organized a lot of such conferences, but the effects have been far below expectations.

Meanwhile, Tung has suggested that instead of organizing general conferences, local authorities should directly contact the companies which have financial and technologicalpotential. In order to convince big economic groups to make investment in Vietnam, it is necessary to offer specific policies, including high-ranking commitments.

Source: Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon