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Vietnam’s economic success over the past three decades has been built in no small part on its openness to international trade and investment. It is now among the world’s most open economies, according to the IMF – in the last 15 years alone, its share of world trade has quintupled, with combined imports and exports now equal to around 160-170% of GDP. Along with its location, Vietnam’s political and social stability, and the consistency of its legislation regarding trade, make it a natural base for manufacturers feeding into global supply chains, where reliability of supply is a prerequisite. This chapter contains interviews with Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment; Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade); and Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Trade.

Mexico has long recognised the importance of research and innovation to the development of a strong and sustainable economy. To date, however, the goal of boosting research and development (R&D) spending to 1% of GDP has remained somewhat distant, with public spending across a variety of programmes having an only limited effect on encouraging the development of new technologies and innovative companies. Facing lower budgets in 2017, the government will be more selective in the projects it sponsors and is looking to incentivise further private investment in R&D. Improvements to the intellectual property framework are set to give foreigner investors additional confidence in this area. The target of spending 1% of GDP on R&D by 2018 looks out of reach; nevertheless, the belt-tightening process is likely to have positive effects on the efficiency of public R&D spending in the future. The increased focus on advanced-stage projects and closer monitoring of outcomes should lead to more demonstrable results. This chapter contains an interview with Guillermo Echeverría Miller, CEO, Vuhl.

This chapter provides an overview of Mexico’s legal framework, covering a range of topics from improvements to the framework for intellectual property and public-private partnerships to regulations and obligations governing value-added tax. In addition, it features a viewpoint by César Maillard Canudas, Managing Partner, Maillard, Cerbón, Canudas, Argumedo, Palma y Asociados, on the labour reform.

This chapter provides an overview of Mexico’s tax regime, covering areas of particular interest to investors such as individual and corporate income tax, dividend taxation, foreign operations, tax audits and other investor considerations. This chapter contains an interview with Ricardo González Orta, Partner, Deloitte México.

The reform of public education in Mexico has been one of the thorniest political issues that President Peña Nieto has faced. However, as teacher assessment and training schemes gradually become standardised, the constitutional commitment to prioritising learning in schools is advancing a step closer to achieving its goals. Private sector and international support at the tertiary level and in vocational skills training will also be crucial to the development of one of Mexico’s key competitive advantages, its pool of skilled labour, and may help pave the way for greater productivity in the industrial sector. However, in 2017 the government will have to learn to do more with less, as education has not escaped the wide-scale cuts brought about by the country’s economic challenges.