$10 bln investments to spur southeastern development

Vietnam’s southeastern region, which includes Ho Chi Minh City, received over $10.2 billion in pledged capital from foreign and domestic investors Saturday.

Twenty projects were awarded investment certificates or received cooperation agreements at a conference on developing the southeastern region chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG) signed an MoU for investing up to $5.5 billion in the second phase of its Long Son Petrochemicals Complex in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

SCG started construction on the project in the fourth quarter of 2018 and expects to start first phase operations in the first half of 2023. The petrochemicals complex is a key development in Vietnam’s oil and chemicals sector.

Polyester producer Billion Industrial Vietnam Co. received an investment certificate for its $1 billion manufacturing facility in Tay Ninh province and Danish jewelry brand Pandora got one for a $163 million facility in Binh Duong province.

South Korea’s Hyosung Vietnam obtained an investment certificate to build its $125 million factory in Dong Nai province to produce nylon, a silk-like thermoplastic generally made from petroleum.

An investment certificate was granted to a $250 million complex for polypropylene (PP) production and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage depot in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Vietnamese firm SMC Chau Duc got a certificate for building a factory to make steel pipes and mechanical products in the same province with an investment of VND2,300 billion ($92.85 million).

Green World, another Vietnamese enterprise, received an investment certificate to develop Odyssey, a five-star hotel and apartment project, with a total investment of VND2,489.6 billion ($100.5 million) in the province.

Authorities in Binh Phuoc province handed over investment certificates to two foreign-invested projects with more than $30 million.

The conference also witnessed the signing of several MoUs by project investors.

The Earth Vision Company signed an MoU for a $1.3 billion project to produce wood used in construction. Japan’s Marubeni signed an MoU to expand its Kraft of Asia Paperboard & Packaging plant in Ba Ria-Vung Tau with an investment of $380 million.

IDIS Vietnam Co., authorized by its Chinese partner, signed an MoU for a $350 million project to produce high-resolution displays.

Per other MoUs, Waizu Giken Company will co-invest in a $230 million complex comprising a gas terminal, storage and other facilities; while Heineken will spend $142 million to expand a beer brewery.

The Phu My 3 Specialized Industrial Park in Ba Ria-Vung Tau will build a $72 million housing area for workers and Vietnamese conglomerate Thaco will build a VND26 trillion ($1.05 billion) industrial park for support industries in the province.

Other projects for which MoUs were signed include Richemont Luxury Vietnam’s $23.2 million jewelry and cosmetics plant and a $23 million property consulting project by Frasers Property Investments.

The southeastern region comprises HCMC, Vietnam’s largest economic hub, and the five provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh.

The region also welcomed in-principle commitments worth $4.2 billion from major development partners at the conference.

The commitments were made via a series of MoU, memoranda of cooperation (MoC) and letters of interest in financing signed by international organizations like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) with the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

The conference aimed to give fresh impetus to the government’s action program on implementing the Politburo’s Resolution 24 on the southeastern region’s socio-economic development.