BUSINESS CONFIDENCE TRENDSSingapore – Singapore businesses in Vietnam are still optimistic about the country’s economic outlook despite its high inflation, high interest rates and volatile exchange rates.
As at March 2012, Singapore’s cumulative registered investments in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s economic hub, stood at an estimated US$6.6 billion (S$8.2 b),
The Business Times reported. This represents more than a quarter of Singapore’s total investment of US$24 billion (S$29.8 b) in Vietnam.
“It’s important to remember that there are positive indicators as well: the CPI (consumer price index) has moderated; the [Vietnam] stock market has rebounded by more than 35% this year; and the deposit rate has come down by 2% - which means the borrowing rate will also continue to fall. I believe all these factors will help the property market going forward,” Linson Lim, Keppel Land’s Vietnam and Philippines president, said.
Lim Ming Yan, chief operating officer of CapitaLand also expressed confidence in Vietnam’s future.
“The current short-term economic climate in Vietnam, while challenging, has presented many good investment opportunities,” he said. “We believe that the fundamentals in Vietnam remain strong, and the real estate market will improve given the country’s strong GDP (gross domestic product) growth coupled with rapid urbanisaton and a substantially large population of young and middle-income earners.”
Currently, there are about 3,000 Singaporeans living and working in the city. This represents the high concentration of overseas Singaporeans living in Vietnam.
“I am confident that Ho Chi Minh will continue to play an important role in Vietnam’s transition into an industralised economy by 2020,” Tan said.
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