The drop was 14.2 points over the figure three months ago and 25 points from the value in first quarter of the year.

Europe’s confidence in Vietnam’s economy fell for a second consecutive quarter but the country continues to be part of the top five global investment destinations for companies there, according to the latest Business Climate Index published by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam. The index fell below the baseline to 48 in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Despite Vietnam’s economy growing by more than 8 per cent last year, the number of European companies expecting economic stabilisation or improvement in Q4 2022 dropped to 27 per cent from 42 per cent in Q3, while the number of such firms with growing sense of pessimism doubled from 19 per cent in Q3 to 38 per cent in Q4.

EuroCham chairman Alain Canym, however, said this is not a cause for concern. “In fact, Vietnam’s economic opportunities continue to exceed those of its regional and international peers. This is evident from the fact that so many of EuroCham’s members consider Vi?t Nam central to their global investment strategies,” he was quoted as saying by a news agency.

Forty-one per cent of respondents said their company is shifting operations from China to Vietnam, up from 13 per cent in the third quarter, while nearly 35 per cent of firms ranked Vietnam among the top five global investment destinations for their company, with 12 per cent stating that Vietnam was their firm’s top investment site globally.

However, the report also pointed out three most significant regulatory barriers to foreign companies operating in Vietnam: a lack of clarity regarding rules and regulations (51 per cent), administrative issues (41 per cent) and visa and work permit difficulties (30 per cent).

Despite that, 58 per cent of the companies were satisfied with the attention of policymakers paid to business needs when setting relevant policies.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)