Vietnam expects rebound in M&A activities next year

The market is expected to rebound to $4.5-5 billion in 2021 and to $7 billion in 2022 after a 51.4 percent slump this year to $3.5 billion.

Vietnam is emerging as a safe and attractive investment destination after controlling the Covid-19 outbreak well, experts said.

The World Bank forecast GDP growth of 2.8 percent this year, making it one of only two economies in Southeast Asia to expand, the other being Myanmar.

The process of privatization of state-owned enterprises has stalled since last year, but the government hopes to make major divestments soon.

Its plan to privatize 128 state-owned companies in 2017-20 has fallen way behind schedule, with only 29 percent completed so far. The 128 are part of 177 the government has identified for privatization.

In September market research firm Euromonitor ranked Vietnam second out of 50 economies in the mergers and acquisitions environment attractiveness index.