Vietnam is located on the east side of the Indochina Peninsula. The country is bound by Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan of China to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and the South China Sea to the east and occupies about 333,689 sq km. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 《World Population Prospects, the 2015 Revision》, the population of Vietnam in 2015 was 93,448,000. With about 1,055,962 Chinese ethnic people living in Vietnam, they account for 1.13% of the total population. Approximately 54 ethnic groups are spread across the country, and roughly 90% of this Chinese Vietnamese population reside in the densely-populated south, specifically Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC, formerly Saigon City). The majority of this Chinese-ethnic population are Cantonese, closely followed by Chaozhou, Fujian, Qiong and Hakka origins.
Since the 1986 Vietnamese reform and opening policy "Doi Moi", Taiwanese business people (66,000, including family members) have shown continual interest in investing and living in Vietnam. Most of them dwell in HCMC and the surrounding provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, Lam Dong, Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and other places. Following this wave of emigration, Taiwan External Trade Development Council set up a business office in Ha Noi and HCMC in 1991. In September 1992, Taiwan and Vietnam officially were open to navigation. In November of the same year, our government established TECO in Ha Noi and HCMC in order to better serve Taiwanese businessmen and overseas compatriots. The HCMC office served the area from Da Nang to the south.
Nowadays, overseas compatriots in Vietnam can engage with all kinds of communities, like artistic groups and sport clubs. After Vietnam's government adjusted a relevant policy concerning Chinese Vietnamese in Vietnam, many of the Chinese Vietnamese's relatives abroad are starting to come back to Taiwan for visiting and traveling.
With Vietnam's government becoming more accepting of Mandarin education, many cities and townships have established overseas compatriot schools or centers one after another. For important events, 30 of these centers meet up in HCMC, 16 centers gather in Dong Nai, 3 convene in Lam Dang, and 11 find other large centers. This totals these centers to 60. There are approximately 300 Mandarin teachers in HCMC.
Bilateral relationships between Taiwan and Vietnam are thriving. In 1987, Taiwanese industries gradually sought the business opportunities crowding into Vietnam. In the initial stage, most of the Taiwanese business ventures focused on Processing, Furniture and Handcraft manufacturing. Afterward, Textile and Garment, Footwear, Food Processing, Auto Parts and Accessories, Plastic, Land Development (office buildings, Export Processing Zone), Agricultural, Aquaculture and so on.
Taiwanese businessmen in Vietnam engage in a broad range of activities. Due to Vietnam's long and narrow land area (a bit less than 2000 kilos distance from north to south), the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce is based on region and divided into 14 branches. These include the north of Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Taiping and Ha Tinh (5 branches), the central parts of Da Nang and Lam Dong (2 branches), the south of HCMC, Dong Nai, Bihn Duong, KCX Tan Thuan (Export Zone), Xining, Long An and Ba Ria-Vung Tau and seven other branches.
Since establishing the interaction offices, Taiwan and Vietnam have signed "Agreement on Protection Investments", "Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income", "Agreement on Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperation", "Taiwan-Vietnam Fiscal Cooperation and Exchanges Memorandum", "Agreement on Customs Administrative Mutual Assistance," along with nearly 40 other cooperation agreements. In fact, the actual performance of the trade and investment reflected lucrative growth in the bilateral investment and trade. In 1992, Taiwanese investments amounted to $9.76 billion invested into Vietnam. Compare this number to the $306.93 billion invested at the end of 2015 - this is an increase of 31.35 multiples of the 1992 investment. If coupled with indirect investment via a third country, Taiwan is the first and biggest foreign investment country into Vietnam. In trade, the bilateral trade amounted from 400 million in 1992 to 13.07 billion in 2005 - a growth of nearly 32.7 times the original 1992 trade value. Taiwan is currently Vietnam's fifth largest trading partner.
Taiwan and Vietnam are also close culturally and romantically. Because of similar culture and living habits, about 90,000 Vietnamese women have married into Taiwanese households.
Update Date:
2023/12/08 Back