German investors favor green projects in Vietnam

German companies looking to invest in Vietnam prefer projects for green growth including renewable energy, Simon Kreye, deputy chief of the German Embassy in Hanoi, said Monday.

“We advocate efforts that the Vietnamese government and local administrations embrace a green economy and cleaner energy sources. Therefore, we are glad that German company PNE is preparing to build an offshore wind power project in Binh Dinh,” Kreye said at an investment promotion conference in the south-central province.

Binh Dinh’s administration and the German chamber of commerce in Vietnam, or AHK, jointly organized the event in a fresh bid to attract more German investment.

It was attended in person or online by representatives of about 100 German companies, 50 provincial enterprises and major Vietnamese corporations.

Binh Dinh currently hosts four German-invested business projects with a combined investment of more than $55 million, the province’s Party chief Ho Quoc Dung said.

He appreciated that PNE AG’s offshore wind project would have an investment of $4.6 billion. "The province hopes to attract German investment in electronics manufacturing, support industries, the auto industry, seaport infrastructure, industrial park development, energy, tourism, hi-tech agriculture, fisheries, trade, services, and environmental protection," Dung said.

Kreye responded positively, saying: “Binh Dinh and some other provinces offer very good investment opportunities for German and European firms.”

Vietnam and Singapore are the only two countries in Southeast Asia that have a free trade agreement with the European Union. As a result, they are the EU’s biggest trading partners in the region, said Marko Walde, AHK head in Vietnam.

Walde said he has visited Binh Dinh many times with German business missions and they have been happy with the business incentives and other perks offered by the province.

Daniel Marek, German Asia-Pacific Business Association representative, said Vietnam has done a great job in building a legal framework to support investment and has signed many regional and international trade agreements to boost trade.

German companies are currently interested in three main areas: transparent and reliable information; economic and business environment; and economic and political stability, Marek said. “From my perspective, Vietnam is doing well in the third area, but needs to improve data transparency and provide better access to English data.”

The Kurz Group, a major German business in hot-stamping and thin film technology, started construction of a $40 million inaugural facility in Binh Dinh province this May. It expects investment in the project to rise up to $100 million.