A top executive of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) said Thursday that the private sector arm of the World Bank plans to double its investments in Vietnam over the next few years.
– We have seen lots of opportunities and have an ambition to increase our commitment even further, Lars Thunell, executive vice president of the IFC, said at the end of a three-day visit to the South East Asian country.
Since 1992, the IFC has provided nearly 500 million US dollar to private companies in Vietnam involved in finance, health care, education, information technology and manufacturing, with an average annual investment of 50 million to 75 million dollar over the past few years.
– We can double that to somewhere between 100 million to 150 million dollar over the next couple of years, he said.
The IFC is already a shareholder of ACB and Sacombank, the two top joint-stock banks in Vietnam, and has identified the banking sector as a strategic priority.
– We can never reach all the small companies but the banks can do that. That is why we work through the banks to improve their abilities, Thunell said in Hanoi at the end of his visit.
Vietnams financial sector has long been dominated by state banks, many saddled with bad loans, but the sector is set to face stiff foreign competition when Vietnam joins the WTO, a move expected later this year.
Thunell also mentioned one of the corporations priorities to boost the role of private sector in major infrastructure projects.
The Vietnamese government wants to spend up to 140 billion US dollar in the next five years in infrastructure. Poor road, incessant power cuts and difficult access to basic services are considered key obstacles for businesses.
But the target cannot be reached only with public funds and the amount of work on this sector is ‘tremendous because of the development of the country that generates new needs, Thunell said.
Future priorities for the IFC include making investment and offering technical assistance in such sectors as labor-intensive industries, agribusiness, tourism, information and communication technologies.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
