In addition to having a representative office in Cambodia, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)has cooperated with the Phuong Nam Company to set up the Cambodia Investment and Development Joint Stock Company with initial capital of US$100 million.

Meanwhile, the national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, has joined Cambodian partners to set up the US$100-million Cambodia National Airlines.

The US, Australia, the EU, Japan and Singapore have also been named as potential destinations for Vietnamese business investment. At present, several investment projects on real estate, agro-forestry-fishery processing and software production in these countries are awaiting approval from the Foreign Investment Agency.

In the first six months of this year, Vietnamese businesses invested over US$1.5 billion abroad, raising the country’s total overseas investments since the first overseas operations in 1988 to over US$5.9 billion.

In Laos, a traditional market which attracts an increasing number of Vietnamese enterprises, the scope of their investments has expanded from mining and afforestation to tourism services.

However, the size of Vietnam’s investment projects is still small and the connection between Vietnamese businesses and the local market is limited.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, providing information on markets and locations that Vietnamese businesses are targeting, is part of the government’s overall overseas investment promotion programme.

The list of priorities and regulations on remittance management relating to overseas investment activities has been amended in order to create a clear mechanism for Vietnamese enterprises to take advantage of low-cost investment opportunities during the crisis period.