Hanoi (VNA) - The COVID-19 pandemic has hada serious impact on Vietnam’s economy but it’s also believed to create theconditions to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) as there have beensigns of a switch in capital flows away from China and to ASEAN membercountries.

The Lao dong (Labour) newspaper quoted StephenWyatt, Country Head of real estate consultants JLL Vietnam, as saying thatalthough the coronavirus outbreak has influenced the entire world, Vietnam remainsa promising destination. Many major enterprises are considering moving productionout of China - a major material supplier for companies around the world butalso where COVID-19 first broke out.

Echoing such views, General Director of theGeneral Statistics Office Nguyen Bich Lam said it’s an opportunity to attractinvestors planning to curb production in China.

Investment promotion agencies should proactivelywork with foreign investors who have such plans and speed up the relevantprocedures instead of waiting for the pandemic to end before doing so, he said.

Economic experts share the view that now is theright time for Vietnam to further step up its efforts to attract investmentfrom the US, Canada, and Europe so as to capitalise on agreements such as theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Investments from these countries are usuallyaccompanied by high technology and stricter standards, they pointed out, whichwill help Vietnam improve FDI quality.

Japan recently earmarked 2.2 billion USD to helpits enterprises move production away from China to Southeast Asia nations. The arrivalof COVID-19 has also prompted European companies to consider the establishmentof safer supply chains.

This will create major opportunities forbusinesses in Vietnam and elsewhere in ASEAN to take part in and raise theirstanding in global value chains, the Lao dong newspaper noted.

The Rong Viet (Viet Dragon) Securities Company hasforecast that new FDI in Vietnam will mainly be labour-intensive projects (textilesand garments and wood and wooden products), processing projects (food, paper,plastics and rubber, metal, and construction materials), or global innovation projects(computers, mobile phones, and electronics components).

It also believed that whether Vietnam cancapitalise on the opportunities presented will depend on the approach taken by businessesand the Government’s guidance and support policies.

Meanwhile, director of consultants EconomicaVietnam Le Duy Binh said that although Vietnam’s productivity has improvedthanks to having a young workforce, the country still lags behind itsneighbours in terms of skill levels and discipline.

He suggested it step up public investment ininfrastructure development while removing bottlenecks in air, sea, rail, androad transport to facilitate logistics and attract investment. It is alsonecessary to accelerate the settlement and transparency of taxation and customsprocedures.

Vietnam granted investment licenses to 758 new FDIprojects with a combined registered capital of 5.5 billion USD in the firstquarter of 2020, an increase of nearly 45 percent year-on-year, according tothe Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

More than 230 existing projects registered to add 1.07billion USD to their existing capital in the quarter, equivalent to 82 percent ofthe figure in the same period last year. The value of capital contributions andshare purchases by foreign investors reached almost 2 billion USD, equivalentto 34.4 percent of the figure in the same period of 2019.

Singapore topped the list of 87countries and territories investing in Vietnam during the first three months, with4.54 billion USD, or 53.1 percent of the total. It was followed by Japan (846.7million USD) and China (815.6 million USD)./.