Vietnam continued to witness a number of sizable FDI transactions and projects in the first quarter (Q1) this year, with the biggest coming from Hong Kong. 

(1) The biggest deal was recorded after Hong Kong-based Beerco Limited poured roughly US$3.85 billion into Vietnam Beverage Co., Ltd., according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. 

With the transaction, Beerco holds a 53.26% stake of Saigon Beer – Alcohol – Beverage Corporation (Sabeco), turning Sabeco into a foreign-invested company. 

Over the past years, Vietnam has offered brewers access to a fast-growing market thanks to a youthful population and beer drinking culture.  

Workers at GoerTek Vietnam. Photo: GoerTek Vietnam

(2) The second biggest project worth US$260 million came from Hong Kong-based of GoerTek Inc. which registered to manufacture smart hardware system products, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) products, and precision components in the northern province of Bac Ninh. 

On its website, GoerTek Inc. said that it’s one of China’s leading smart hardware manufacturers with 30 offices in Beijing, Qingdao, Shenzhen, and Nanjing.

(3) The third biggest project was an investment of China-based Guizhou Advance Type Investment Co., Ltd worth US$214.4 million into manufacturing and sales of tires and rubber products in the southern province of Tien Giang. 

(4) Singapore-based Royal Pagoda Private Limited was licensed to invest US$200 million in a textile plant to be located in the central province of Nghe An. 

Universal Alloy Corporation's CEO Kevin Loebbaka speaks at the project launching ceremony in Danang on March 1. Poto: Baodautu

(5) A project caught much public attention was an aerospace components factory worth US$170 million in the central coastal city of Danang with investment from US aircraft components manufacturer Universal Alloy Corporation (UAC)

The plant is expected to export aircraft components to North America and Europe worth an estimated US$25 million in 2021 and US$82 million in 2022, before aiming for more than US$180 million of exports on an annual basis by 2026, Bizhub quoted the city’s Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) as saying. 

According to IPA, Universal Alloy Corporation (UAC) is a leading global manufacturer of aircraft components for aerospace companies such as Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier and their associated supply chains.

(6) British Virgin Islands-based Golden Hill Investment JSC registered to pour US$147.5 million into a tower complex in the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City.

(7) In February, Korea-invested Changshin Vietnam Co. Ltd began construction of a footwear factory worth US$100 million in Tan Phu Industrial Park, the southern province of Dong Nai. 

Covering an area of 14.3ha, this plant will manufacture more than 27 million pairs of shoes each year when it comes operational in 2020. The plant is expected to offer more than 12,000 jobs. 

Nguyen Hoa Hiep, deputy chairman of the Dong Nai People’s Committee, said that the company has greatly contributed to the province’s development over the past 23 years with an annual export of more than US$500 million, creating jobs to more than 32,000 people, the local province said on its website. 

(8) In February, the US-based TTI, Inc. planned setting up a solar panel manufacturing plant and an R&D center worth a combined US$150 million in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City. 

At a working session with representatives of SHTP in late February, H. J. Pudwill, chairman of TTI Group, revealed that the plant and the center will cover an area of 10ha, the Dau Tu newspaper reported.

TTI is a world leading manufacturer of power tools, accessories, hand tools, professional and industrial users in home improvement, repair, maintenance, construction, and infrastructure development. TTI is accelerating the transformation of these industries through environmentally friendly cordless technology.

(9) In January, Hanwha Aero Engines, a member of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, began shipping products from its aircraft engine parts factory costing an investment of US$200 million, according to a report by Savills Vietnam. 

The plant, which is the first of its kind in Vietnam, targets revenues of US$400 million by 2023. Located in Hanoi’s Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park, the factory is the first of three planned aviation engine parts plants scheduled to be built in the park. 

In recent years, Hanwha Group has expanded investment Vietnam with projects in Hanoi, the northern province of Bac Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, and the southern province of Long An with a total investment of roughly US$1 billion.

In Q1/2019, FDI to Vietnam was recorded at US$10.8 billion, up 86.2% on year, and was the largest amount for Q1 in the past three years.

Hanoitimes