FDI and growth in Vietnam: A critical survey

International audienceMore than ever, countries at all levels of development seek to leverage FDI fordevelopment and adopt measures aimed at improving their investment climate.Despite the exhaustive literature on the topic however, results on growth effects ofFDI still remain controversial. Notwithstanding the absence of any robust conclu-sions on the direction of causality between FDI and growth, most developing coun-tries continue however to pursue policies aimed at encouraging more FDI inflows.This paper provides an overview of economic reforms related to foreign invest-ment in Vietnam as well as the main trends and patterns of FDI inflows. It discussesthe literature on FDI, summarizes the main studies which have analyzed the impactsin Vietnam and suggests some research directions