Despite a decline in global investment flows, Việt Nam remained an attractive destination for foreign companies, especially large-scale ones, experts have said.

Over the past five months of this year, foreign investment registered in the country reached nearly US$10.86 billion, up 10.6 per cent month-on-month, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).

Of the sum, more than $5.26 billion was injected into 962 new projects, representing year-on-year increases of 27.8 per cent in value and 66.4 per cent in number, the agency said.

Koh Chiap Khiong, Sembcorp Industries’ CEO of Singapore and Southeast Asia, told vtv.vn that his company had focused on expanding the renewable energy portfolio in Việt Nam, in line with the country’s climate goals.

He added that there were many opportunities to drive business growth in line with the country’s energy transition as the supply chain was expanding.

Chairman of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Hyosung Group Cho Hyun Joo said his firm considered Việt Nam a strategic market. Hyosung has developed production facilities in many localities throughout the country, such as HCM City, Đồng Nai and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu.

He told baodautu.vn that his group would not only want to expand the scale but also to turn the country into a sustainable investment destination.

Another RoK firm, Doosan Group, said it was looking to expand eco-friendly energy investment in Việt Nam as one of the future strategies that it is aiming at the potential clean energy market in the Southeast Asian country.

Doosan Enerbility company had signed agreements with three companies operating thermal power plants in Việt Nam to promote an environmentally friendly fuel conversion project.

The RoK’s firm and Nghi Sơn 2 Power Limited Liability Company have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on energy collaboration to research the application of carbon reduction solutions in electricity production, coal consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.

These MoUs were among a series of cooperation deals inked among Việt Nam and the RoK firms during the Việt Nam-Korea Economic Forum, held in the capital city last week under the framework of the State visit to Việt Nam by the RoK President Yoon Suk Yeol.

They had proved the keen interest of South Korean investors in the Vietnamese market, experts said.

Đỗ Nhất Hoàng, director of the FIA, said that Việt Nam saw a breakthrough in the South Korean investment flow over the past six or seven years.

South Korea is now the largest foreign investor in Việt Nam, with a total registered capital of $82 billion.

Most notably, several leading Korean business groups, including Samsung, LG, and Posco, had initiated projects worth billions of dollars in Việt Nam.

Although Korean investment in Việt Nam tended to slow down in the first five months of this year, due to the general trend of global investment flows, a bright future was ahead, baodautu.vn cited Hoàng as saying.

He added that the FIA had a list of dozens of Korean-invested projects waiting for approval, some worth hundreds of millions of dollars, some valued at billions of dollars and his agency would soon publish the information about these projects.

Large Korean corporations were still striving to Việt Nam and considered the country as the number one investment destination, Hoàng noted.

In his speech at the Việt Nam-Korea Economic Forum, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính said Việt Nam was giving priority to three strategic breakthroughs regarding institutional reforms, infrastructure and human resources.

The country was also stepping up economic restructuring, industrialisation and modernisation based on sci-tech and innovation, including sustainable growth drivers such as the digital economy, digital transformation, green growth and circular economy in line with the country’s green growth strategy.

In such a process, Việt Nam welcomed foreign investors, especially those from the RoK, particularly in innovation, digital transformation, biotechnology, electronics, semiconductors, clean energy, green economy, smart city development, and hi-tech agriculture, he stressed.

He also wished for their further investment in the cultural and entertainment industries.

During the forum, RoK President Yoon Suk Yeol said Việt Nam and the RoK should boost joint work in digital transformation, energy transition and renewable energy.

Viet Nam News