In 2005 in particular, Vietnam's National Assembly adopted 14 laws-the highest number of laws to be adopted in a year up to now, including the General Investment Law and the Unified Enterprise Law-and has been debating 8 draft laws for approval in the coming session.
As a result, foreign investment flows to Vietnam have recovered, especially since 2004. Generally, over the past five years, Vietnam has attracted over USD 18 billion of newly-registered FDI and USD 13.6 billion of realized FDI which have contributed to increasing development investment capital, production capacity and export value of the economy. It is estimated that foreign-invested economic sector is contributing 14% to GDP, more than 20% of the total social investment capital and more than 1/3 of the total export turnover of the country (not including crude oil). Over the last five years, the sector has contributed about USD 1 billion/year to the state budget, directly generated about 800,000 jobs and indirectly about 2 million others.
There are reasons for increasing international investors and organisations trust in Vietnam: Vietnam is a stable and peaceful country; having sustained high economic growth and increased per capita income as well as rising domestic demands. The international community gives their confidence to Vietnam for her efforts and determination to integrate into the world economically. This confidence was shown at the 2004 Consultative Group meeting of international donors for Vietnam with the amount of committed ODA up to USD 3 billion.
Responding to a question of Vietnamese Investment Review's correspondent, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan said: the Vietnamese Government advocates that besides opening the industrial sector to foreign investment, Vietnam would gradually op ...