Hai Phong city granted investment licenses to three foreign-backed projects on Tuesday, with a combined registered capital of $90 million.
Singapore’s Starcharge Energy Pte. Ltd. obtained an investment license for a $14-million project fabricating electric vehicle charging stations. The 1.4-hectare project in the Marine Industrial and Service Park is poised to employ 1,000 workers.
Singapore-based HW International Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd. received an investment license for a $49 million project producing alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries. The 5.5-hectare project in the same IP will employ 500 workers.
Taiwan-headquartered Thinking Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd secured an investment license for a $27-million project manufacturing electronic components. The four-hectare project in Nam Cau Kien Industrial Park will create 2,000 jobs.
The northern city also conferred an investment license to Saigon Newport Corporation, a leading port operator in Vietnam, to invest VND12.79 trillion ($545 million) in constructing two berths at the Lach Huyen seaport.
The two berths, No. 7 and No. 8, with a length of 450 meters each, are designed to welcome container ships of up to 12,000-18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), and one 200-meter barge berth designed to accommodate ships of up to 160 TEUs. The facility is set to span 79.86 hectares, including 22.33 hectares of water surface.
The new facilities, with a total capacity of handling 1.9 million TEUs annually, will enable Hai Phong to expedite import-export activities between northern Vietnam and Europe, and the Americas. It is slated to commence construction in the first quarter of 2025 and enter operation in the last quarter of 2027.
The investments in electronics and energy underscored the northern city’s allure for FDI and readiness to assist investors, said Le Trung Kien, head of Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority.
Registered FDI capital in Hai Phong plummeted 25.4% year-on-year in the first four months this year to $479.14 million, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. It comprised $198.13 million of newly registered capital, $174.83 million of additional capital for ongoing projects, and $106.18 million of capital contributions for stake acquisitions.
As of April 2023, the city had lured 1,010 valid FDI projects with a total registered capital of $25.69 billion, the sixth-highest figure in Vietnam, behind Ho Chi Minh City with $56.68 billion, southern province Binh Duong with $39.99 billion, Hanoi with $39.1 billion, the southern province of Dong Nai with $35.64 billion, and the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau with $33.31 billion.
Hai Phong’s index of industrial production surged 13.37% year-on-year in the first four months, despite a decline of 2.38% in April 2023, according to the municipal statistics office. Growth was propelled by expansion of 104.86% in the computer and computer component sector, 97.08% in paper and packaging, 80.49% in shipbuilding, and others.