Dr. Ngo Cong Thanh, Vice Chairman of the ISC Board of Members, said that the Institute's research on two sets of FDI criteria has received attention and financial support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The criteria are determined on the basis of compliance with the provisions of the Investment Law and related legal documents, based on practical needs, combined with expert consultation.

To develop the two sets of criteria mentioned above, ISC organized a working delegation to work with the authorities of the provinces: Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong, Tuyen Quang, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and asked for comments from many other provinces and cities. ISC also organized 3 workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to ask for comments from experts from ministries and localities nationwide.

The set of criteria is highly feasible, easy to implement, and can be quantified to rank localities when evaluating the effectiveness of foreign investment cooperation. “The document guiding the two sets of criteria is an extremely useful reference document for the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee in the process of directing and operating foreign investment cooperation activities in the locality. This is also a valuable document in supporting provincial authorities in performing their tasks, as well as foreign investors in the process of preparing documents to seek investment opportunities and implementing investment projects,” affirmed Dr. Ngo Cong Thanh.

The set of criteria for appraisal of proposals for approval of investment policies for FDI projects will support the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee and provincial authorities to more easily carry out the task of reviewing and selecting investment projects, shortening the appraisal time and responding to foreign investors when reviewing dossiers for approval of investment policies.

The set of criteria for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of FDI at the provincial level provides an effective tool for the Provincial Party Committee and provincial government to monitor and correctly evaluate the position, role and contribution of the FDI sector to the socio-economic development of the locality, as well as the results of achieving the set goals in investment cooperation with foreign countries.

According to Dr. Phan Huu Thang, Chairman of ISC, after 35 years of implementing the open-door policy and attracting foreign investment, the FDI sector has become an important component of our country's economy. In recent years, Vietnam has shifted to attracting new-generation FDI with higher quality and efficiency. The FDI sector has developed rapidly and achieved certain successes, contributing positively to the country's socio-economic development.

Resolution No. 50-NQ/TW dated August 20, 2019 on orientations for perfecting institutions and policies, improving the quality and efficiency of foreign investment cooperation by 2030 sets out the requirement to “Proactively attract and selectively cooperate with foreign investment, taking quality, efficiency, technology and environmental protection as the main evaluation criteria. Prioritize projects with advanced technology, new technology, high technology, clean technology, modern management, high added value, spillover effects, connecting global production and supply chains”.

Resolution No. 58/NQ-CP dated April 27, 2020 promulgating the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution 50-NQ/TW also sets out the task of innovating, raising awareness, thinking and unifying actions on foreign investment, including the important content of "proactively improving the quality of attracting and the effectiveness of foreign investment cooperation in localities, to become one of the measures to assess the responsibility of leaders, and at the same time an index to evaluate and rank the effectiveness of foreign investment in localities".

In recent times, the National Assembly, the Government, the Prime Minister and ministries and branches have issued many legal documents, including provisions on conditions and criteria for selecting FDI projects to create a legal corridor for localities to proactively consider and approve investment policies before deciding to grant investment registration certificates to foreign investors. However, the criteria for selecting FDI projects are scattered in many different legal documents, so when applied in practice, they can lead to errors and unwanted projects being missed.

Current reports on FDI mainly evaluate FDI based on the results of attracting and using FDI as well as the contribution of the FDI sector to the economy. There is no complete set of criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of FDI at all levels, sectors and localities as a basis for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of attracting and using FDI at the national and local levels.

Speaking at the Conference, Mr. Cosimo Thawley, Minister Counselor - Chief Representative of the Southeast Asia Region of the Australian Treasury, highly appreciated the research results of ISC experts and believed that the two sets of FDI criteria proposed by ISC will be useful tools to support leaders and provincial authorities to better perform their tasks, contributing to improving the quality and effectiveness of foreign investment cooperation in localities in the spirit of Resolution 50-NQ/TW.