"Given its fast response to the virus, we expect foreign investment to pour in to Vietnam after the pandemic," Kizuna Joint Development Corp, which builds ready-to-go factories in Vietnam, told Reuters in a statement. Before the pandemic, many China-based businesses looking to escape rising labour costs and fallout from the US-Sino trade war had been looking at Vietnam. Hanoi's growing portfolio of trade deals, such as the European Union Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), was also encouraging investment. After five years of growth, foreign investment in Vietnam fell 15.5% in the first four months of the year to $12.3 billion, according to data from the General Statistics Office (GSO). Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about foreign investment in the wake of the pandemic.

Source: Dhaka Tribune May 08, 2020 16:03 UTC