Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc says Vietnam will lift restrictions on foreign investment in a bid to lure more businesses to the country.

At the Netherlands Business Forum earlier this week, he told representatives from 450 companies that state-owned firms were set to launch share offerings.

Vietnam has rapidly privatised since 2001 with the number of state-owned enterprises dropping down form 6,000 in 2001 to 700 at the end of last year.

Foreign investors have their eyes on the state-owned dairy company Vinamilk and beer brewers Sabeco and Habeco.

The Vietnamese government has already signalled that it plans to sell parts of these companies which could bring in as much as $7 billion US Dollars.