The Bangkok Post quoted Tharabodee Adichaiwit, BBL's senior vice-president and general manager for its Ho Chi Minh City branch, as saying that opportunities had been opened up for Thai and other foreign firms to invest in manufacturing facilities for export, as well as infrastructure development and tourism industry.

According to Tharabodee, lending rates in Vietnam have risen to 21% from 8.5% in order to cool down the economy, resulting in higher financial cost for companies operating there. But foreign companies could use offshore borrowing to finance their investments, for example with an interest rate of about 4-5% in Thailand, to lower their financial costs.

He added that industrial land-leasing prices in Viet Nam were still reasonable, while wages remained competitive.

Thailand currently ranks 13th among foreign investors in Vietnam with accumulated investments of US$1.6 billion, the paper said.