VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese enterprises are increasingly investing overseas, especially in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, it has been announced.

Tran Bac Ha, president of the Association for Vietnamese investors in Myanmar, said that the country was becoming an attractive investment destination due to a supportive new foreign investment law issued last November.

The two countries have targeted achieving bilateral trade totalling US$500 million by 2015 and recently 25 Vietnamese corporations sent delegations to Myanmar in search of business opportunities.

One of the first investors entering the Myanmar market is C.T Group, which is putting the finishing touches on a deal for the construction of two real estate projects scheduled for completion in the next two years.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group is also planning a major building project for a complex in Yangon which will include a five-star hotel, shopping mall, office buildings and residential apartments.

Meanwhile, Tran Kim Chung, chairman of C.T Group, told Dau Tu newspaper that Vietnamese investors entering the Myanmar market should be wary of competition from investors from other countries.

He added that Vietnamese enterprises should invest in retail, machinery, building materials and agriculture, areas in which the Vietnamese are particularly strong.

Elsewhere in the region, the Viet Nam Rubber Group has invested in growing rubber plantations in Laos and Cambodia since 2007 and aims to own 100,000 hectares by 2014, following a total investment of $1 billion. To date, the group has planted 70,000 hectares of rubber.

The military-run Viettel Group is also among the pioneers investing overseas, with a portfolio of projects spanning Cambodia, Laos, Haiti, Peru, Mozambique, East Timor and Cameroon.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Viet Nam expects to invest abroad around $1-1.5 billion this year in registered capital with disbursed capital of about $billion.

Statistics released by the Foreign Investment Agency shows that to date Viet Nam earned $430 million in return from investments abroad, especially in the fields of oil and gas, telecommunications and rubbers.

Investments from Viet Nam are now present in 60 countries and territories, with 712 projects worth a total value of $12.4 billion.

Source: VNS