A Study on Investment Strategies of Korean Corporations in Vietnam

우리나라 기업의 대베트남 투자전략에 관한 연구

Vietnam is gaining much attention as an attractive emerging market that can replace BRICs for the corporations who are destined to always look for a new market in order to secure competitive powers in the global market. The reason for Vietnam's becoming an attractive place for production is that much uncertainty has been found in China, which has been the traditional country that absorbed the most amount of capital investment. Also, the favorable conditions of Vietnam market itself and the environmental changes such as the open-door policy of Vietnam government attract the investment of Korean companies, and Korea currently holds the most amount of cumulative investments in Vietnam. However, it is necessary to remember that Vietnam is still a socialist nation, and many required components for corporate activities are not sufficiently provided in Vietnam market. Also, many unstable environmental factors exist such as the lack of infrastructure, the lack of many required institutions, the prevalent corruption, the excessive processing time and cost for adjusting the investment, the lack of advanced work force, and the underdevelopment of part and material industry. Therefore, those companies who are planning to invest in Vietnam should take a long-term perspective in planning the investment strategies, carry out a detailed market investigation and analysis in advance, diversify the investment areas and investment sectors, carefully make a joint venture and management, carefully determine the factory location, establish a local agency, make co-investments with the part suppliers, etc.