Michel Tosto, Managing Director and head of International Sales & Brokerage of Viet Capital Securities, told reporters on the sidelines of Vietnam Access Day held in Ho Chi Minh City last week that many clients are keen on investing in Vietnam thanks to growth potential, stable macro-economy and exchange rates. Vietjet Air, Vincom Retail, Techcombank and VPBank have attracted huge capital from foreign investors, he added.

Ian Gisbourne, ASEAN Research Director at UBS Investment Bank, said Japanese businesses are switching to Vietnam. In 2017, Japan surpassed the Republic of Korea to become the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 9.11 billion USD. Thai investors also spent big on consumer goods producers such as Sai Gon Beer, Nguyen Kim or Binh Minh Plastics. 

According to him, the consumer goods sector in Vietnam is offering promising opportunities as the country boasts a young population with higher incomes. 

Another attractive field is digital economy, notably non-cash payment, e-commerce or sharing economy such as Grab and Uber. Experts said potential of digital economy in Vietnam is huge as 41 percent of its population is using 3G services while half of population has smart phones and subscribe to the Internet. 

Yee Chung-seck, Executive Lawyer of Baker & McKenzie Vietnam, said digital economy is growing very fast in Vietnam. Specifically, e-commerce grows by 35 percent annually with more than 30 fintech providers. 

In the past two years, the market has seen big deals in digital economy such as JD.com buying Tiki, Sea Limited buying Shopee, or Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered Capital Equity with Momo e-wallet. 

He suggested that the country should refine legal regulations on digital economy, especially sensitive issues such as licensing, competition law and taxation.

Vietnam has a population of over 93 million people, one third of them age below 40.The annual gross domestic product growth surpasses 6 percent while urbanisation, smartphone and Internet subscription are more and more popular.-