Hanoi (VNA) – Foreign investmenthas proven itself as a dynamic economic sector, with significant contributions to thegrowth of the national economy as well as its integration into the world, hearda recent Hanoi workshop.

The September 7 event was jointlyheld by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and the Ministry ofPlanning and Investment to mark 35 years of Vietnam’s foreign investmentattraction.

Deputy Minister of Planning andInvestment Tran Duy Dong highlighted foreign investment’s positive impacts onthe reform of economic institutions and the improvement of the domesticbusiness environment, the State apparatus, and Vietnam’s reputation andposition in the international arena.  

The official cited statistics as showingthat Vietnam has so far counted 38,084 valid foreign-invested projects with atotal registered capital of 453.26 billion USD, of which nearly 287.1 billionUSD has been disbursed.

In the first eight months of this year,the country attracted 1,924 new projects, while 830 others registered to adjusttheir investment capital, and 22,268 transactions of capital contribution forshare purchases were recorded in the period with a combined value of nearly18.15 billion USD.

Deputy Minister of Science and TechnologyLe Xuan Dinh called foreign investment a bright spot since Vietnam started to embark on reforms in 1986, adding that the source of capital hascontributed to sharpening the national economy’s competitiveness, generatingjobs and raising the State budget collection.

The official noted a string of policiesadopted by the Party and the State to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) andimprove its efficiency.

Vietnam has regarded science-technologyand innovation as one of the most important strategic breakthroughs, Dong said,pointing to positive outcomes the country has recorded in luring foreigninvestment in this regard, with the presence of such tech giants as Intel andSamsung.

However, limitations still remain intechnology transfer, said Dang Dinh Tung, deputy head of the MoST’s Departmentof Technology Appraisal, Examination and Assessment, elaborating that althoughthere were 400 technology transfer agreements by FDI firms recorded inVietnam between July 2018 and the end of 2022, they were only in theparent-subsidiary relationship, with no effects on others.

According to the MoST, among the more than100 multi-national groups investing in the Southeast Asian nation, only Samsungand LG of the Republic of Korea (RoK) have built their research and development(R&D) centres in Hanoi.

Dong stressed that the competitionpressure from FDI firms has prompted domestic businesses to raise their productivityand revamp technology, thus better adapting to the globalisation.  

However, Vietnamese enterprises have notbeen able to absorb technologies from FDI firms yet, he said, proposingpolicies and mechanisms to link domestic and foreign enterprises, coveringsupport industry development, and connectivity in product supply chains.

At the same time, domestic businessesneed to proactively seek technology transfer channels, he said./.