Based on FIA’s figures, in 2015, Vietnam had a total investment of 625 million USD in foreign countries from 102 new projects and 53 Vietnamese projects that were registered to increase their investment capital. Vietnam’s enterprises expanded their investment activities to new markets such as the United States, Russia, Singapore and Germany and also promoted investments in traditional markets that included Laos and Cambodia.
Some main invested industries that are strong points of Vietnam’s enterprises such as mining, farming, forestry and fishery. They have also expanded to other new industries including information, electric, property, financial, banking and insurance industries, the agency said.
Vietnamese firms have mainly invested in projects in Laos and Cambodia as strategic markets for local companies, Mr.Phan Huu Thang, Director of the Foreign Investment Research Centre under Hanoi National Economics University, and also former head of FIAsaid that now, they have entered Africa and the Americas with successful projects of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam). The group was permitted by Myanmar to exploit and explore oil and gas in the nation.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s military-run Telecommunications Group (Viettel) started to develop two new markets including Tanzania and Burundi in 2015, bringing its total foreign markets to 10 in the Asia, the America and the Africa with a total population of 260 million and a total of 75 million subscribers.
Viettel expected to develop their business in 20 foreign countries by 2020 and it has studied new markets in the Eastern Europe, the Latin America, the Africa and the Asia.
In addition, Telecom firm FPT Corporation (FPT), one of the first Vietnamese enterprises to develop its business abroad in the technology sector said that it had made several special achievements in new markets such as Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2015. In Myanmar, FPT was the first 100 per cent foreign-owned firm to secure a licence to provide fixed telecom and Internet services in the country.
Vietnamese businesses have recently had considerable success in investing in foreign countries after years of attempts. For examples, total revenue of Viettel nearly 223 trillionVND (9.99 billion USD) in 2015, of which about 1.5 billion USD came from its business in foreign markets.In 2015, FPT earned nearly 4.9 trillionVND (219.4 million USD) in revenue and 674 billionVND (30.2 million USD) in pre-tax profit from its business in foreign markets, marking a year-on-year increase of 41 per cent and 17 per cent compared with 2014, respectively.
Beside technology enterprises, Vietnamese dairy firm TH True Milk last year opened a 1 billion USD dairy farm in a Moscow suburb. The plant specialises in producing animal feed, breeding dairy cattle and producing milk. Another major milk maker, Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), has earned billions of dong from its investments abroad and from exports. In 2015, the company earned more than 40 trillionVND (1.79 billion USD) and after-tax profit of nearly 7.8 trillionVND (349.3 million USD). Of the former, revenue from foreign markets was 8 trillion VND (358.2 million USD), 39 per cent higher than the previous year.
Ms. Nguyen Mai, Chairman of the Association of Foreign-invested Enterprises in Vietnam, said Viettel has developed its investment in niche market and markets that have great potential because local firms could not compete with foreign rivals in the financial sector. The State should control capital resources in foreign currencies and encourage local firms to put investment to industries that strengthen enterprises. They could enter the American markets, including the US and Canada, via Cuban market due to lower spending, Ms. Nguyen Mai added.
Mr. Tran Huu Huynh, Chairman of the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC), said the important thing for local firms in developing investment activities in foreign countries includes creativity, ability in seeking markets, and suitable products for foreign markets.
