The determinants of Vietnam’s outward foreign direct investment: the push factors approach

Abstract

In the context of integration, in addition to increasing foreign capital inflows, Vietnamese enterprises are becoming more and more interested in outward foreign direct investment activities. This research expands the Investment Development Path model to assess the influence of some macroeconomic factors (GNI per capita, the proportion of expenditure on science and technology, FDI flows, USD to VND exchange rate, total import-export turnover) on Vietnam's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) flows. Using the 32-year dataset (1989-2020), the regression results depict that the proportion of expenditure on science and technology, the amount of FDI, GNI per capita had a positive impact on the capital OFDI of Vietnam. However, the growth rate of total import-export turnover harmed OFDI flows in the same period. Meanwhile, the difference variable of exchange rate USD to VND in the multiple regression model was not statistically significant. Based on regression model results combined with qualitative studies, the authors propose some policy implications to promote OFDI flows of Vietnam in the near future.