Many Thai investors are eyeing investment in Vietnam, especially Danang - the economic hub of the country’s central region, said Idsara Amornkitbamrung, director of the Economic and Investment Centre 2 under the Thailand Board of Investment.
“We are looking forward to hearing introductions and recommendations from the city government on suitable industries and projects for our investment in Danang,” he told a recent working session with Vice Chairman of the city Le Quang Nam.
“We want to know incentives for investors, especially foreign ones, and conditions to enjoy them, as well as one-stop-shop services supporting the implementation of procedures, thus proposing future investment promotion and business matching orientations,” he added.
Amornkitbamrung led a delegation of Thai businesses and investors to Danang to explore the investment environment and opportunities in the central Vietnam city. Among those are Panasonic Manufacturing Co., Ltd, Thai Soon Foods, SGI Warehouse & Service, TC Farm; V-ONE Poultry, Huaybong Biotech, and Mengseng Starch.
At the working session, Nam said that by the end of 2022, Danang was home to 13 valid Thai FDI projects, with total investment capital of about $60 million. The projects are mainly in the fields of commerce, retail, manufacturing, garment, design, and construction.
Thailand is an important import-export partner of Danang. Last year, the Vietnamese city earned $6 million from exports to Thailand while its import value hit $47 million.
Many Thai businesses participated in the International East-West Economic Corridor Trade and Tourism Fair 2022 in Danang, he said, adding that the city also sent a delegation to the first Thailand-Vietnam-Laos Business Forum 2022 in Udon Thani.
Currently, Danang has 57 projects calling for investment in the 2020-2025 period in such fields as infrastructure, industry, logistics, high technology and information technology, education, tourism, and high-tech agriculture.
In the first two months of this year, Danang licenced 16 new FDI projects with total registered capital of $2.55 million, a decrease of 53.6% in value year-on-year.
To date, the beach city has lured 965 FDI projects with a total registered capital of nearly $4.07 billion, mostly in industry and real estate. Japan is the city’s biggest investor with more than $900 million, followed by Singapore, the U.S. and South Korea.