Hanoi (VNA) – Viewed as an attractive investment destination, yet Vietnam still needs moreattention to green and low-carbon economic development so as to sustainably attractforeign direct investment (FDI), according to experts.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’sserious impacts on global and domestic economic growth, FDI poured into thecountry still reached 31.15 billion USD in 2021, up 9.2 percent from theprevious year, the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper reported.

Much of the capital waschanneled into multi-billion-USD projects. For example, the Republic of Korea’sLG group raised its investment in Hai Phong city by 2.15 billion USD, the LEGOGroup of Demark is going to build a factory worth 1 billion USD in Binh Duongprovince, and Japan registered over 1.31 billion USD for the O Mon No. 2 thermalpower plant.

The FDI inflow into Vietnamcontinued in January 2022, with 2.1 billion USD, up 4.2 percent year on year.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, formerDirector of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said aftertwo years of the pandemic’s impact, the FDI wave has begun returning to Vietnamsince late 2021, and the country is forecast to remain a magnet for foreigninvestors in 2022.

A recent survey by the JapanExternal Trade Organisation (JETRO) showed that 55.3 percent of the Japanese firms in Vietnam interviewed said they plan to expand their operations in the next one - twoyears, rising 8.5 percentage points from 2021.

Takeo Nakajima, Chief Representativeof JETRO Hanoi, held that Vietnam will still be a popular choice for manyJapanese enterprises in the time ahead.

However, World Bank CountryDirector for Vietnam Carolyn Turk recommended that to boost economic growth andattract FDI sustainably and effectively, the country should pay more attentionto digital transformation and green technology application to production andbusiness activities, which will help manage climate change impacts and adapt tothis global phenomenon.

She noted the transition togreen development will generate numerous opportunities for Vietnam, especially as Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made relatively ambitious statements aboutachieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference(COP26).

This is a strong commitmenthelping address the global issue and improve Vietnam’s investmentattractiveness as many major import markets are concerned about carbonemissions by factories in the country, according to her.

Sharing the view, many economicexperts said consumers in developed economies currently care about not onlyproduct design or quality but also greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturingcountries. They prefer the garment, electrical devices, and food made under eco-friendlyproduction processes.

Therefore, developing a greeneconomy is also an important factor helping Vietnam become more competitive ininvestment attraction, they added./.