Vietnam is a magnet for attracting green FDI from the United States

Mr. Wade Cruse – Southeast Asia Managing Partner of Bain & Company (a consulting company headquartered in the United States) and Mr. Andrea Campagnoli – Founding Partner and Head of Bain’s office in Vietnam, together discussed the prospects of attracting green credit capital flows from the United States for the sustainable development journey in Vietnam.

How do you assess Vietnam’s economic prospects and attractiveness to foreign investors in general and US investors in particular?

Mr. Campagnoli: Vietnam is going through a period of rapid growth, with an impressive spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. Our global clients, including many international funds and large corporations, are increasingly interested in Vietnam. We also place our trust and desire to accompany many Vietnamese companies to make strong progress on a global scale.

In the late 2022 and early 2023 period, Vietnam’s economy will face some challenges. However, we believe that the difficulties are only temporary. We predict that Vietnam will soon return to its historic growth trajectory and that US businesses like ours here will continue to grow, despite obstacles.

Regarding the field of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), we have a very optimistic view of this field in the coming time. In Vietnam, we have participated in about 50% of M&A transactions conducted by financial investors, not corporate organizations. Specifically, transactions related to private investment funds (Private Equity) exceeding the 50 million USD mark in the past 2 years in Vietnam all involved consulting, support and connections from Bain. We have played an important role in many different sectors, from healthcare, consumer goods industries, to financial services. We see great potential from M&A activities in the above industries, especially from foreign investors.

With the application of the global minimum tax rate, how do you assess the impact of this policy on investment capital flows into Vietnam in the coming time?

Mr. Campagnoli: In general, assessing the impact of the global minimum tax on FDI attraction is relatively complicated due to the current uncertainties surrounding the application of this tax rate. However, even with the adoption of this new regulation, the core fundamentals that make Vietnam a top investment destination remain unchanged.

Vietnam possesses a large, high-quality human resource, infrastructure is gradually being completed and is relatively diverse, many industrial parks have been built, along with preferential policies from the Government to attract FDI. All of these factors increase Vietnam’s long-term appeal.

Vietnam aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This is a relatively ambitious target. Many opinions say that, in this race for sustainable development, many companies will “greenwash” rather than be truly “green”. What is your opinion on this issue?

Mr. Cruse: Vietnam’s transition to net zero emissions has both economic and non-economic implications, so companies need to look beyond economic benefits. They need to think about true value – reducing pollution, improving community welfare, promoting diversity…

While futuristic technology solutions like carbon capture and storage may seem appealing, the real impact comes from leveraging existing, proven technologies.

Our Green Economy report highlights the immediate efficiencies companies can achieve by reducing emissions using current technology. We urge companies to start their sustainability journey now with what’s available and, as technology evolves, incorporate them. This proactive approach not only ensures clear results, but also minimizes the gap between words and actions. The key is to focus on current solutions that can drive real change.

In your opinion, how can artificial intelligence (AI) support Vietnamese businesses as well as US companies operating in Vietnam in improving their governance and management capacity?

Mr. Cruse: We have established a cooperative alliance with OpenAI and believe that the potential of AI in the current context is huge.

For example, we support Coca-Cola, one of our pioneering customers in this alliance, focused on personalizing advertising for consumers through AI. This often manifests itself in the form of electronic advertising, directly targeting users through platforms such as their smartphones or social networks. AI capabilities allow us to create ad copy that not only caters to broad demographics, but also caters to specific individual interests.

Another important application is in call centers, where AI can be used to enhance customer service. For example, AI can provide real-time recommendations to service agents, allowing them to resolve customer queries or problems more effectively. This is especially useful because it is unrealistic to expect service agents to have all the information in mind. Therefore, AI can effectively close this knowledge gap, benefiting both our customers and their customers.

Source: Vietnam Posts English