Vietnam needs to have a law on the supporting industry to aid its development, according to the chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will implement action plans to promote
the development of the domestic supporting industries (Photo: baochinhphu.vn)

VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said new waves of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam will focus on the supporting industries.

Therefore, if the domestic supporting industries are not developed to reach to higher levels in the supply chains, other industries could not escape from the processing of goods, even though Vietnam can attract tens or hundreds of billions of US dollars in FDI.

Loc was informed by the Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam that many Japanese enterprises have chosen Vietnam to move their production and business from other countries. Meanwhile, Samsung Vietnam's representative also told him its largest research and development centre in Southeast Asia is being built in Hanoi, reported Phap luat Vietnam (Vietnam Law) newspaper.

At the Indo-Pacific Business Forum held in Hanoi last month that drew participants from 50 countries and territories, Vietnamese and US businesses signed investment agreements worth more than US$11 billion in total. The investments were mainly in infrastructure development and renewable energy, said Loc.

There are many opportunities to attract investment to Vietnam in the future, he said.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh recently issued action plans of the ministry to implement solutions on promoting the development of the domestic supporting industries, reported the Vietnam News Agency.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) requires agencies and enterprises of the industry and trade sector as well as departments of industry and trade of provinces and centrally-run cities to implement the action plans.

Specifically, the Department of Industry will work with agencies to build and efficiently implement synchronous mechanisms and policies on developing the supporting industries and the processing and manufacturing industries, especially credit and tax policies.

The Department of Legal Affairs and agencies will study and build the Law on Development of Manufacturing and Processing Industry and then submit the law to the Government for approval.

In addition, this department will review current legal documents on industrial management and supporting industries of the industry and trade sector to find problems and overlaps. Then, it will propose amendments and supplements to improve the quality of those legal documents and ensure their feasibility.

Besides that, the ministry will strengthen activities to attract foreign investment in the supporting industries as well as the processing and manufacturing industries. It will also support businesses to take opportunities from free trade agreements to develop those industries.

The Department of Science and Technology will improve the science and technology ability of enterprises in the supporting industries, and the processing and manufacturing industry. That will facilitate technology transfer and absorption of the supporting industries.

It will also strengthen domestic and international cooperation in research, development and application of science and technology as well as trading and transfer of scientific and technological products.

The ministry will build and implement national programmes on developing human resources and improving their skills for the supporting industries and the processing and manufacturing industries. It will promote links between training institutions and enterprises.

The Department of Trade Promotion will develop a project to enhance trade and investment activities between Vietnamese enterprises producing industrial products and foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam as well as foreign importers and investors to build production chains in the industrial sector.

Meanwhile, the Trade Remedies Authority will assist domestic producers and exporters in the supporting industries and the processing and manufacturing industry to deal with trade remedies imposed by importing countries.