At their recent meetings with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Microsoft, Gates Foundation, SpaceX, Coca-Cola, and Pacifico Energy have revealed their investment and business plans in Vietnam.
After nearly 30 years, Coca-Cola has poured over USD 1 billion into the country, with three beverage factories in Hanoi, Central Da Nang city, and Ho Chi Minh City. It recently launched the construction of another plant in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.
Dau tu (Vietnam Investment Review) cited James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, as saying that his firm wants to expand production in the country, and plans to relocate the factories situated in residential areas and innovate technology towards sustainability.
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Coca-Cola has invested over USD 1 billion in Vietnam, with three beverage factories in Hanoi, Da Nang city, and Ho Chi Minh City. |
SpaceX, a supplier of spacecraft, satellite launch and satellite communications services, is planning to invest about USD 500 million in Vietnam. It hopes to be licensed to provide the satellite internet service of Starlink in the country.
Expressing its wish to continue investing in renewable energy, Pacifico Energy has shared the idea on developing offshore wind power in the country. The biggest renewable energy investor of the U.S. has invested in a 40MW solar power project in the South Central province of Binh Thuan and a 30MW wind power one in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre.
Meanwhile, many members of the Semiconductor Industry Association of the U.S. have come to Vietnam to learn about the local investment climate to prepare for chip manufacturing.
Among them, Amkor Technology has poured USD 1.6 billion into a semiconductor factory in Northern Bac Ninh province. This plant is the biggest and most modern of the company around the world. The firm will also invest USD 1.6 billion into another plant in Bac Ninh between now and 2035.
Marvell and Synopsis have also said they will develop semiconductor incubation and design centers in Ho Chi Minh City.
The largest factory of Intel is also located in Vietnam and has been continually expanded since the firm started investment here in 2006.
Vietnam is emerging as one of chip manufacturing bases of U.S. enterprises. Many companies from the North American country are also helping with manpower training and transfer patents to Vietnam to raise the Southeast Asian country’s role in global semiconductor supply chains, according to Dau tu.
At the investors’ conference 2023 recently held in Ho Chi Minh City by VinaCapital, foreign investors voiced their interest in potential industries in Vietnam such as clean and renewable energy, green production and semiconductor, especially after the Vietnam - U.S. relations were elevated to the comprehensive strategic partnership.
Andy Ho, Chief Investment Officer of VinaCapital Group, perceived that the fall in Vietnam’s exports to the U.S. has ended and that he hopes the number of orders will bounce back. The stable USD/VND exchange rate and the middle class expanding by 10% annually will prolong consumption growth for the next over 10 years.
All these factors will help sustain the foreign investment flows into Vietnam, he noted.
Bain Capital, a private investment firm of the U.S., recently channeled more than USD 200 million into Masan Group via share purchases. Together with Bain Capital, other investors are also planning to negotiate with the consumer-focused conglomerate. Basing on their Masan’s capital demand and market conditions, the U.S. enterprise can raise its investment to USD 500 million.
Barnaby Lyons, a leader of Bain Capital, said the cooperation with Masan is a strategic investment project in Vietnam, which is assessed as the fastest growing consumer market in Southeast Asia with an annual growth rate predicted at 7.7% during 2022 - 2040.
Source: VNA