|
Retail remains most attractive industry in Vietnam
Retail continues to be the most attractive industry in Vietnam in terms of investment and outlook as indicated in a survey that Grant Thornton Vietnam released on Monday.
Up to 70% of the 169 respondents ranked retail as attractive in the “Private Equity-Vietnam Investment Environment and Outlook Survey,” which the company conducted in March.
The company carried out the survey among selected participants covering a broad cross-section of the Vietnamese and foreign investment community with an interest in private equity investments.
Matthew Lourey, corporate finance director at Grant Thornton, commented on the result of the survey that the robustness of Vietnam’s domestic economy and the opportunities that will arise as this sector is liberalized further makes retail an attractive investment option.
“There is also the continued shift towards modern trade within Vietnam which fosters new investment opportunities and the existing shortage of quality retail space in city center makes the sector desirable to be part of,” Lourey said.
Neither healthcare/bio-tech nor retail was ranked negative by any respondents. But, only 23% and 26% of respondents rated hospitality and tourism, and manufacturing as positive respectively, with around one-third of the respondents rating them as negative.
They have a reason as hospitality and tourism is in the same boat with the global tourism industry that faces falling demand for travel, due to the impact of the global downturn.
Figures show the number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first four months of this year fell by 17.8% year-on-year to nearly 1.3 million.
Administrative procedures remain great concern as 88% of the respondents said they had a substantial problem dealing with Governmental red tape, while 85% of the respondents viewed legal system as a substantial obstacle for investments.
About 25% of the respondents named transparency of business activities as the most important factor when making their investment decisions. The survey shows investors still find it time consuming, costly and difficult to obtain timely and accurate information on operations in Vietnam.
One-third of the respondents pointed out corporate governance as most concerning at Vietnamese companies.
However, Grant Thornton Vietnam’s managing partner Ken Atkinson said there was an increasing trend of Vietnam-based companies to recognize the importance of corporate governance.
“Many are now taking the opportunity during the global slowdown to investigate and commence the groundwork for sound corporate governance and reporting functions,” he said.
VietNamNet, SGT
|
