Trent Davies on The Effect of Trade Focused FDI in Vietnam at RMIT University

On March 6th, 2019, our Vietnam International Business Advisory Manager, Trent Davies, participated in a panel discussion on the impact of trade focused foreign direct investment (FDI) across Asia and Vietnam, hosted by the Hinrich Foundation at RMIT University.

Trent was joined in the panel by Adidas Sourcing’s Senior Director of Operations Management, Van Nguyen, and research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation, Stephen Olson.

The panel discussion focused on “The Effect of Trade Focused FDI in Vietnam and Asia”.

Vietnam’s Trade and Development – Opportunities and Challenges for FDI

The Hinrich Foundation was established with the mission of promoting sustainable global trade by supporting trade leadership development and fostering international trade research.

Topics addressed during the discussions included the current trade war between the US and China and how Vietnam has benefited. Vietnam’s development through openness to trade & FDI was also covered, as well as a review of challenges faced by foreign investors expanding to Vietnam.

Trent pointed out that Vietnam has benefited significantly from the ongoing trade disputes north of its border – since companies see Vietnam’s close proximity to China, lower cost of labor, and multiple free trade agreements as essential to formulate strategies to hedge against US tariffs on exports from China.

Further Resources for Doing Business in Vietnam

If you are interested in relocating a manufacturing operation to Vietnam, read our Vietnam Briefing issue on China plus One Manufacturing. In it, we discuss:

• What Vietnam can do for your China business;
• How to plan a supply chain shift;
• Trade Agreements, Rules of Origin, and Tariff Avoidance.

You can also subscribe to our investor resource library, Asiapedia, for free.