Investment liberalisation in asean economic community (AEC): the contents of commitments, opportunities and challenges for Vietnam

Abstract

Investment liberalisation plays an important role in the development of an united market and production base in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The cohesion of ASEAN as a whole will increase the FDI flow into ASEAN as well as promote the formation of value and supply chain integrated in the region. This gives more opportunities for Vietnam to participate in the value chain as well as increase the investment capital for economic development. However, competition among ASEAN countries in attracting FDI is the fierce challenge for Vietnam. This paper studies the Vietnam’s participation in the AEC through investment liberalization analysis: (i) The Vietnam’s commitments and implementation in the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA); (ii) The status of foreign direct investment relations of ASEAN and Vietnam; (iii) Some opportunities and challenges that the AEC brings to Vietnam from the perspective of investment liberalization.