SLIDE 1: Vietnam: next Singapore in the making?

 Booming economy, grew 8.5% in 2005 and more

than 7% for a decade
 Vietnam this year might wrap up negotiations for
World Trade Organization membership in Nov 2006
 $1 billion improving its roads and airports in recent
years
 Eagerness and highly educated and untapped skilled
labor force
 Half of the population under 30 years old and not shy
of technology
 A population of 83 or 84 million, a growing economy,
and low cost
 Vietnam's political and social stability
 Rapid Export, Industrial Growth
(Source: Businessweek)

SLIDE 2: Vietnam: No more low-tech box

 Intel Corp. $605 million investment in chip factory

o Intel chose Vietnam over China, Malaysia, or
the Philippines because of the country's lower
costs for skilled workers and its booming
economy, which grew 8.5% last year.
  Canon Inc. $110 million on an ink jet printer project
 Nidec Corp. of Japan plans to build two plants to
make electronic components, at a total cost of $940
million
 Fujitsu Ltd. (FJTSY ) has invested $200 million and
employs 3,200 people making circuit boards for PCs
and phones.
 Virginia-based utility AES Corp. (AES ) is negotiating
to build a 1,000-megawatt power plant in the northern
province of Quang Ninh that could cost as much as
$1 billion.
 And Cisco Systems (CSCO ), Nortel Networks (NT ),
and Motorola (MOT ) are installing telecom
equipment
 2005 saw approved foreign direct investment jumped
41%, to $5.8 billion
 IDG Ventures Vietnam, US 100m
 Vinashin ???
 Hi-tech from dometic investment.
(Source: The Businessweek)

SLIDE 3: Vietnam: the land of opportunities

 Explosive Private Firm Formation: more than 30,000
businesses had been created with encouraging role
in the economy
  Good Social Indicators: Vietnamese were the most
optimistic people of the 44 countries covered in an
international survey conducted by the Pew Research
Center concerning their future expectations as
reported in the International Herald Tribune on
December 5, 2002

o Refer to new update: VN is the happiest contry

of Asia (an12th in the w).

 most expensive land for factories costs only slightly

more than half what China's priciest areas do

 shipping from Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon) is

about 6% to 8% cheaper than from Thailand or
Indonesia (though slightly more than rates from
Shenzhen, China)

 Vietnam offers corporations an alternative location in

the event their operations in China get shut down

Source: Businessweek, The economist, The Fulbright VN

Program
SLIDE 4: Vietnam: updated business news and events
 Business News - Vietnamnet Bridge
 Vietnam Business News (by EIN News)
 Vietnam Today
 Thanhnien News
 Vietnam News
 Saigon Times Weekly
 Vietnam Investment Review
 Time Out (Supplement of Vietnam Investment
Review)
 Le Courrier du Vietnam (Language: French)
 VN Agency
 VN Agency (in French)
 VN Agency (in Spanish)