US firms push ahead with investment plans in Vietnam

Many enterprises from the US are planning to make or expand investments in Vietnam, showing their intention to turn the Southeast Asian country into one of their important bases.

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 1 billion USD 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.

SpaceX, a supplier of spacecraft, satellite launch and satellite communications services, is planning to invest about 500 million USD 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 US 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 US have come to Vietnam to learn about the local investment climate to prepare for chip manufacturing.

Among them, Amkor Technology has poured 1.6 billion USD 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 1.6 billion USD into another plant in Bac Ninh between now and 2035.

Marvell and Synopsis have also said they will develop semiconductor incubation and design centres in HCM 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 US 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 HCM 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-US 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 US 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 US, recently channelled more than 200 million USD 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 US enterprise can raise its investment to 500 million USD.

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./.