Vietnam First in Asia for Attracting Foreign Investment

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By Tran Que Chi

Apr. 26 – Vietnam is the only economy in Asia whose investment funds to attract investment flows every week so far this year as the VN Index jumped to an 11-month high, according to Emerging Portfolio Fund Research.

Meanwhile, India and China only saw investment in 8 of the past 16 weeks and Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore received inflows of foreign investment in 15, 13, and 7 of the last 16 weeks, respectively.

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“There’s some faith that Vietnam is getting its house in order at a time when China’s economic policy is likely to give the Vietnamese outsourcing story a significant boost,” Cameron Brandt, director of research firm EPFR, said in an interview with Bloomberg on April 20.

Brandt also said Vietnam is playing a larger role in the global supply chain. In particular, China’s rapidly increasing wages are expected to rein in the country’s export sector somewhat, opening up opportunities for Vietnam.

“Although economic growth is likely to slow this year, the bright prospects for its apparel industry are one reason why Vietnam should continue to grow strongly over the medium-term,” Gareth Leather, economist at Capital Economics, stated in a report dated March 28.

Vietnam’s economy grew 4 percent in the first quarter this year after expanding 5.89 percent in 2011. Monthly inflation stood at 14.15 percent in March, marking the seventh consecutive monthly decrease from a peak of 23.02 percent set in August of 2011.

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