Vietnam is a top destination for investment beyond BRIC

In 2010, Vietnam has held its place for the third year running at the top of a list of emerging markets, outside of the BRICs, where UK firms should be looking to do business, according to global investors surveyed by UK Trade & Investment and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

In the next five years Asia's economy will grow by 50 per cent, and be comparable in size to the economies of the United States and Europe. By 2030 Asian GDP will exceed that of the G7 (June 2010 IMF report 'Asia Leading the way').

Vietnam is a top destination for investment as companies seek new sources of growth beyond the BRICs. Companies are now prioritising a range of second-tier countries alongside their well-established operations in the BRIC countries. In all, 71 per cent of respondents agreed that emerging markets beyond the BRIC countries collectively offer an opportunity too big to ignore. Asked to name their top three countries for investment over the next two years, Vietnam (selected by 19 per cent) was second only to China (20 per cent), edging out India in third place (18 per cent). This is the third consecutive year that Vietnam has been selected by executives as their number one investment target outside of the BRIC countries. Brazil was chosen by 14 per cent of respondents, putting it approximately in line with Indonesia (15 per cent) and South Africa (13 per cent). Russia, hard hit by the global recession, was chosen by just 8 per cent of respondents, making it less popular than Mexico (11 per cent), and roughly on a par with Turkey (9 per cent) and Nigeria (8 per cent).

Source: UKTI