Vietnam Retail Sector Most Attractive to Foreign Investors

Up to 70% out of 169 interviewed foreign firms’ executives in Vietnam said that the retail sector is the most appealing to foreign companies in the country, auditing and consultancy firm Grant Thornton said in a survey released on May 21.

The Vietnamese economy has been on recovery with various promising opportunities, which will make retail a top choice for foreign companies, Matthew Lourey, corporate finance director at Grant Thornton said.

The survey covering healthcare and bio-tech, oil and gas, agriculture, real estate, transport, financial services, manufacturing and hospitality and tourism indicated that healthcare and biotech ranked second with around 65% of the respondents.

Between 23% and 26% of the interviewees selected the tourism and manufacturing and oil and gas and natural resource sectors are the least attractive, according to the survey.

Up to 81% of the asked executives were upbeat about the national economic prospects, up from 36% and 56% of the surveys carried out in the second and fourth quarter of 2009 respectively.

The survey also disclosed that 88% of the respondents faced problems related to red tape, and 85% complained about legal system.

Tags: vietnam retail industry, Vietnam retail market, Vietnam Retail sector