Addressing at the 12th Annual Vietnam Merger – Acquisition (M&A) Forum – 2020, Mr. Tran Quoc Phuong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment commented that Vietnam’s M&A market over the past decade has reached 50 billion USD.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the value of the deals. Which has decreased by 3.5 billion USD by 46.8% compared to 2019. However, Euromonitor International predicted Vietnam will reach 102 points. In addition, they predict that M&A activities can recover from mid-2021, and bring the market back to normal.
This is based on the fact that Vietnam basically achieves the dual goal of controlling COVID-19 and stabilizing social security.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that Vietnam is the only country to maintain positive economic growth; among ASEAN-5 countries in 2020. Inflation is under control. The monetary market is basically stable while the stock market had positive signals. The international community highly appreciated these important results. Affirming Vietnam as an attractive and safe investment destination for foreign investors.
“With the consistent standpoint that foreign investment is an important part of the economy, the Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment emphasized that the Government always creates favorable conditions for foreign investors to invest in Vietnam. The Government also continue to direct policy formulation to create conditions for the private sector to participate in the process of restructuring State-owned enterprise through capital contribution and share purchase promoting linkages along the value chain between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises both at home and abroad … ”, Mr. Tran Quoc Phuong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment emphasized.
Achievements
In 2020, the Ministry of Planning and Investment presided over drafting and submitting the Enterprise Law, the Investment Law, and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Law to the Government and the National Assembly with many reforms procedures for market entry, creating favorable conditions for businesses in investment, including M&A activities.
This is an important reform that gives foreign investors the same access to the market as domestic investors for all industries and sectors not listed above.
Along with that, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is also urgently completing the Strategy to attract FDI in the new period, with the aim of prioritizing the attraction of projects using high technology, advanced technology, new technology, clean technology, modern governance, high added-value, spillover effect, technology transfer, commitment to support Vietnamese enterprises participating in the production chain, associated with training human resource.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) opened a new market with nearly 30% of the world’s population and about 29.1% of global GDP.
Plan for 2021
In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic is still unpredictable, creating risks and uncertainties for the world economy. Besides, trade tensions between major countries are still taking place drastically; an increase of trade protectionism and the new risks to global financial instability; the slow recovery of foreign investment inflows … is the major dangers and challenges that the Vietnamese economy will face.
According to Mr. Phuong, in order to “rise up in a new normal state”, businesses and investors need to continue to innovate their development thinking, act more drastically, effectively, overcome difficulties, make good use of the achievements of the fourth industrial revolution and global investment shifting trends, and increase the efficient use of other resources.
“A rational M&A strategy is an important tool for businesses in the current context and in the coming years”, Mr. Phuong emphasized.
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