Billions of US dollars from RoK expected to head to Vietnam

Investment from the Republic of Korea (RoK) in Vietnam is expected to accelerate in the near future, including many large-scale projects worth up to billions of US dollars as a series of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on cooperation between the two countries' ministries, sectors, and businesses was signed at the Vietnam - RoK Business Forum that took place last weekend within the framerwork of the state visit to Vietnam by the RoK’s President Yoon Suk Yeo.

Up to 205 Korean businesses including major corporations like Samsung, LG, SK, Hyundai Motor, and Lotte, accompanied President Yoon during the Vietnam visit.

Speaking at the forum, Director of the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Do Nhat Hoang highlighted that the RoK's investment in Vietnam has seen breakthroughs in the past six or seven years. RoK is now the largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of 82 billion USD.

Although in the first five months of this year, RoK’s investment in Vietnam slowed down due to the general trend of global investment flows, a bright future is ahead, Hoang said, adding that the agency has received dozens of investment project proposals with some worth hundreds of millions of US dollars or even billions of US dollars.

Large corporations are still looking to Vietnam and consider the country the number one investment destination, said Hoang.

Chairman of the Hyosung Group Cho Hyun Joo said his firm considered Vietnam a strategic market. Hyosung has developed production facilities in many localities throughout the country, such as Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces.

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

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

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

The RoK’s firm and the Nghi Son 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.

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang Mo affirmed that LG chooses Vietnam as its production base. LG currently invests 7.5 billion USD in the country and is planning to invest another 5 billion USD shortly.

Similarly, the SK Group is planning to add 1.3 billion USD for investment in the renewable energy sector.

Meanwhile, at a recent meeting with Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Chairman of the CJ Group Kyung Shik Sohn said that CJ has invested about 1 billion USD in a series of companies in Vietnam and it plans to build a logistics centre, expand to other areas such as veterinary medicine, biotechnology, and join renewable energy-using projects.

In his speech at the Vietnam-RoK Business Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said Vietnam is giving priority to three strategic breakthroughs regarding institutional reforms, infrastructure, and human resources.

The country is 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, Vietnam welcomes 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 wished for their further investment in the cultural and entertainment industries.

For his part, RoK’s President Yoon Suk Yeo urged Korean businesses to invest in Vietnam. He called Vietnam "the centre of the restructuring of the global supply chain".

The investment market in Vietnam has therefore been upgraded.

A new opportunity is opening up for RoK, more than any other country, which has a close connection with Vietnam, President Yoon said, adding that the solution for the current crisis can be found in Vietnam./.