Turkish firms keen on Vietnam infrastructure projects: official

Many Turkish businesses are keen to cooperate with Vietnam in infrastructure projects, Cagatay Ozden, Asia-Pacific department head of Turkey’s trade ministry, said at the Vietnam-Turkey business forum in Ankara Thursday.

Speaking at the second edition of the forum held after five years, Ozden said other sectors for potential cooperation included transportation, consumer goods, science-technology, finance, aviation, logistics, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and the Halal food industry.

Turkey sees Vietnam as a market with high potential and as a gateway to ASEAN, he added.

Ozden noted that a consortium led by Turkish conglomerate IC Ictas has won the VND35 trillion ($1.49 billion) bidding package to build a terminal for the Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Many Turkish firms with strengths in various infrastructure areas including airport and seaports are eyeing cooperation opportunities in Vietnam, he said.

Speaking at the forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the core aspects of Vietnam’s economic development strategy were updating institutions; developing infrastructure, especially traffic infrastructure; improving workforce; and administrative reforms. Those were key to attracting foreign investors, he added.

Vietnam also targets cooperation in digital economy, green transformation, circular economy, knowledge-based economy, and sharing economy, Chinh said.

He also stressed that science, technology and innovation were driving forces for the Vietnamese economy.

Noting that bilateral cooperation was yet to match its high potential, Chinh urged Turkey to recognize Vietnam’s market economy status soon and that both nations act in haste to negotiate a free trade agreement to facilitate business activities.

As of November 20, Vietnam had 38,844 valid FDI projects with total registered capital of $462.4 billion, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Total disbursement reached $294.2 billion, or 63.6% of the registered capital. With 36 licensed projects and registered capital of $974.3 million, Turkey ranked 26th in terms of investment value.