Weekly News Bulletin - No. 03, August 2023

Vietnam has been voicing support for renewable energy and semiconductor investment in recent years. Apart from traditional investors such as Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan, new companies are coming from Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain, with a strong focus on renewable energy. Recently representatives of the U.S.’ Semiconductor Industry Association with 32 members have come to Vietnam to look for investment opportunities.

The draft amendment to the Housing Law will be submitted to the National Assembly during the year-end session. Accordingly, foreigners can own houses in Vietnam for a limited period of time, excluding the land. They have the same buying and selling privileges as local citizens and can renew their ownership after the term expires. This policy encourages foreign investment and provides favorable conditions for foreigners to live and work in Vietnam. Under the 2014 Housing Law, foreigners can own commercial houses in Vietnam for a period of 50 years. They can receive them as gifts and inherit them. In addition, foreigners can own less than 30% of the total number of apartments in a condominium building or a maximum of 250 individual houses in a project.

Last week highlight

Vietnam lured over 18.1 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) as of August 20, an increase of 8.2% year-on-year, reported the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. In the first eight months of this year, there were a total of 1,924 newly-registered FDI projects worth 8.87 billion USD, up 69.5% year-on-year in the number of projects, and up 39.7% in value. Foreign investors have invested in 18 industries out of 21 economic sectors of Vietnam. Which, processing and manufacturing continued to rake the largest FDI capital, with nearly 13 billion USD, accounting for around 67.8% of the total.

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Let’s look at some other key financial and business headlines during the past week

1. Vietnam receives rising interest from Western European, American investors
2. Hanoi seeks stronger partnership with Ile-de-France region
3. Training on green, social and sustainability bonds launched in Vietnam
4. Vietnam joins the ASEAN Regional Payment Connectivity
5. EVFTA positively affecting Vietnam's trade with EU, Germany: Expert
6. Foreign buyers allowed to own property for limited time
7. Vietnam to set up national online job exchange platform
8. Vietnam-Singapore Innovation Centre to be established in Binh Duong

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Key words: Vietnam, business, finance, economy