Hanoi (VNA) – Up to 78 percent of businesses havebeen positive about Vietnam’s economy, according to a survey on the privateequity (PE) sector conducted by Grant Thornton Vietnam, which providesassurance, tax and advisory services.

In this survey, the 16th edition, the respondents expressed optimism towardsVietnam’s investment outlook with regards to the increase in investmentattractiveness and level of investment activities. Vietnam has been seen as thesecond most preferred destination for PE investors in Southeast Asia.

The transportation and logistics sectors gain more interest from PE investors,increasing seven percent compared to the firm’s previous survey.

Meanwhile, the retail and food and beverage maintain the position as the toptwo most attractive sectors for PE transactions, the survey revealed.

With the growth of the middle income class among its population of 94 million,the influence of western lifestyle and increasing disposable incomes, food andbeverage remains the prominent industry in terms of rapid growth and foreigninvestment inflow.

Besides the increase of e-commerce, the sector is growing and expanding rapidlyin terms of retail store chains, distribution channels, and retailing culturewhich is attracting attention from foreign retail giants such as Emart, AEON,Big C, Lotte and 7-Eleven which has entered the market through franchiseagreements.

In terms of sources of deals, the equitisation of state-owned enterprises(SOEs) has made its way to the top, with 52 percent agreement from PEparticipants.

Equitistation provides PE investors with opportunities to penetrate theVietnamese market through investment in key areas such as telecommunications,oil and gas trading, infrastructure and retail.

It is forecast that there will be a focus more on quality of companies beingequitised rather than quantity in 2017.

The report shows that in terms of investment attractiveness, PE investorsconsider Vietnam’s investment environment to be more attractive and extremelyattractive accounting for the largest proportion, with 72 percent illustratinga similar trend as in 2016.

Despite the expected demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement,the respondents claimed that it will not negatively impact the Vietnam economicsituation as Vietnam is party to 16 other free trade agreements, includingthose with the Republic of Korea (RoK), the EU, Russia and ASEAN.

Therefore, 87 percent of survey responses foresee an increase in the level ofinvestment activity in Vietnam in the next 12 months.

The formation of the ASEAN Economic Community is also expected to bring aboutmore opportunities for Vietnam.

Apart from advantages such as abundant labour force and the development of themiddle income class, the survey, however, pointed out that corruption,constraint of the national budget, weak competitiveness from small-andmedium-sized enterprises as well as restrictions on infrastructure arepotential problems for the economy in the future. -VNA