HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - While a number of foreign companies have movedpart of their production or orders to other countries, many still see Vietnamas a good location for investment in the long term.

Speakingat a virtual conference called ‘Invest in Vietnam. Wins and challenges’organised by Adamed and Davipharm last week, Nguyen Hai Minh, partner at Mazarsand Vice Chairman of EuroCham, said: “In Vietnam, FDI plays an important role,contributing a lot to the growth of the country, especially exports.”

Therewas a slowdown in foreign investment in the country due to COVID-19 this year,and some people were even concerned that foreign investors would not come oreven move out of the country, he said.

“SoEurocham did a survey in August. It showed that 18 percent of surveyedcompanies have already shifted part of their production to other countries andanother 16 percent are still considering.

“Butwe need to be very specific here to have a correct understanding of thesituation. Companies actually are not moving factories or investment out of Vietnam,but just part of their production and orders.

“Wetalked to many companies. [Many said] ‘COVID will not last long, we see Vietnamis still a good location for investment.' Many companies are even looking at Vietnamas a hub for sales in the region.”

MichalWieczorek, CEO of Davipharm, said he saw a great opportunity in Vietnam’spharmaceutical market.

Domesticallyproduced drugs only met 47 percent of demand, healthcare spending was expectedto continue to grow, there was an ageing population with an increase innon-communicable diseases, and there was growth in the private hospital sector,he said.

Vietnam’spharmaceutical market would remain one of the fastest growing in the world, hesaid.

Whenin 2017 Adamed bought 70 percent of shares in Davipharm, becoming the biggestdirect Polish investor in Vietnam, it had a crystal-clear strategy, he said.

Despitepandemic challenges, the company succeeded in achieving the EU-GMPcertification for the drug manufacturing line in its factory in Binh Duong.

“Withthis EU-GMP certification, we are ready to achieve our other ambitious goals,”he said.

Speakersat the event also talked about challenges that businesses had faced.

Minhsaid the business environment had improved a lot, especially in the last threeor four years, though administrative procedures was still a big barrier,especially in terms of  implementation of regulations at the provinciallevel where there were a lot of uncertainties in terms of implementingregulations. 

Jean-JacquesBouflet, former head of Trade Affairs inthe EU Delegation to Vietnam, said since last year foreignbusinesses had experienced many regulatory challenges.

Today,faced with the pandemic reality, the country should also find a solution tolive with COVID-19 since having workers live on-site proved to be verydifficult for companies to implement, he said.

“Theglobal COVID situation has proved that it is possible to combine both healthprotection and economic activities. This is what we need in Vietnam today:running an economy with welcoming institutional regulations for foreigninvestors, especially the pharmaceutical industry, which is so critical forprotecting health.”

Wieczoreksaid: “If the Government creates an attractive and welcoming investmentenvironment for the pharmaceutical industry, I’m convinced that many morecompanies will follow in our footsteps.”

“Butwe need incentives, not obstacles. Unquestionably, Vietnam isgoing to stay on the list of top priorities for Adamed this year and in future,”he said./.