Impact of International Trade Cooperation and Distribution on Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Vietnam

Purpose: This study aims to find the impact of international trade cooperation and distribution on foreign direct investment (FDI). The study also tests the impact of lag variables of trade cooperation and distribution on FDI in the future. Research design, data, and methodology: Autoregressive Distributed Lag model is applied to analyze the impact of chosen variables such as total trade (TRADE), trade openness (OPEN), the exchange rate (EXR), inflation (INF), and gross domestic growth (GDP) on FDI. Quarterly data is collected from Vietnam General Statistic Office, Vietnam General Department of Customs, International Monetary Fund, and The World Bank from 2006 to 2020. Stata 14 software is used to analyze the regression and test variables. Results: The findings indicate that TRADE, OPEN, INF, GDP, and their lags affect both positively and negatively on FDI in different periods. While OPEN still expresses an unclear impact on FDI. Moreover, this study proves that the FDI of a nation is influenced by international cooperation. Conclusions: This study indicates the importance of international trade cooperation and distribution in not only attracting foreign investment sources but also developing the economy. Findings are necessary bases for governments or authorities in signing international trade agreements in the future.