Vietnamese firm looks for mineral investment opportunities in Australia

Vietnam’s Hung Thinh Group, which specializes in minerals, will scout for investment opportunities in Australia’s mining sector, says its general director Pham Van Dinh.

Speaking at the Australia-Vietnam Investment Forum 2023 held in HCMC Friday, Dinh said the group would send a delegation to Australia in October for the purpose.

"We will go to Victoria, Western Australia and Northern Territory, which are rich in minerals, to look for opportunities. This forum is an opportunity for us to get initial information and learn about investment opportunities," Dinh said.

The forum, held as part of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, followed up on the inaugural Australia-Vietnam Investment Forum 2023 held in Hanoi on April 17.

The second forum was organized by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), in partnership with the Vietnam Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The event, aimed at raising awareness of investment opportunities in Australia, attracted over 200 participants from businesses in Vietnam looking to learn about relevant investment environment and procedures.

The Hung Thinh Investment Mineral Company Limited (Hung Thinh Group) is a multi-industry company that has worked in the field of minerals for many years, and is especially well-informed and specialized in titanium-zircon coastal placer in Binh Thuan province.

An enterprise capable of synchronous vertical integration from exploitation, raw materials selection, refinement, and deep processing to high-value-added products, not to mention research and development into advanced science and technological applications, Hung Thinh’s products include llmenite, rutile, monazite, zircon, and leucoxe.

Dinh told The Investor that Vietnam was a market with great mineral potential. However, the geography was spread out, and minerals were distributed in industrial and agricultural zones. Meanwhile, Australia has large mining areas that are not in residential areas. Shipping minerals back to Vietnam will be costly, though.

Dinh said his group intends to invest abroad as part of its business strategy in the near future. Its plan for Australia was devised more than one year ago, with titanium as the main focus. The group will survey some potential places in Australia before making decisions, he added

Michael Png, director of trade development in Australia’s Northern Territory, said the region was emerging as a leading supplier of important minerals, holding reserves for at least 15 of them.

The Northern Territory is strong in manganese production and is focusing on new projects in the production of vanadium, tungsten, magnesium, copper and cobalt, he added.

Australia’s relationship with Vietnam is one of the most important, diverse and dynamic in the region. Vietnam-Australia relations have grown strongly across all sectors. Both countries aim to double the scale of bilateral investment and become each other’s top 10 trading partner in the future.

The official visit in August to Vietnam by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, to co-chair the 5th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the two countries, showed that Australia attaches great importance to its strategic partnership with Vietnam.

Australian consul-general in Ho Chi Minh City – Sarah Hooper, said: "With an open economy, multiple FTAs and strong cultural links with Asia; we see enormous potential to expand our trade and investment relationship and there are real opportunities in Australia for Vietnamese investors who take the time to get to know the market and to invest in businesses that link to their supply chains in Vietnam and in international markets."

Two-way trade reached $16 billion in 2022, making Vietnam the 10th largest trade partner of Australia, and Australia Vietnam’s 7th largest trade partner.

Australian investors had had 593 projects worth about $2 billion licensed in Vietnam as of March 2023, ranking 20th out of 143 countries and territories. Australian investment is focused in processing, manufacturing, accommodation and catering services, agriculture, forestry, and fishery.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese businesses have invested around US$500 million in Australia. Recent investments from leading Vietnamese firms TH Group, Hoa Phat Group, TTC AgriS, and Vitadairy have demonstrated the many opportunities that Australia offers to Vietnamese investors, as well as the complementarity and diversification potential between the two countries’ supply chains.