According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Korea topped the list of 82 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the period. Some Korean large-scale projects also registered to increase capital in the January – April period. For example, LG Innotek proposed adding $501 million to its camera module production project at Trang Due industrial park in the northern port city of Hai Phong, raising the total registered capital to $1.05 billion.
LG Innotek will add $500 million in its camera module project in Vietnam
|
Recently, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has revealed its plan to move its main headquarters in Southeast Asia from Singapore to Hanoi to support Korean firms doing business in the fast growing market.
KOTRA said the decision was made in consideration of the growing number of Korean companies that are based in Vietnam or that plan to invest in the Southeast Asian nation.
According to KOTRA, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Korea reached $63.9 billion in 2017. Vietnam is now the fourth largest trading partner of Korea while the country is Vietnam's second-largest.
The agency also plans to open new business centers in Ahmedabad, an industrial city in western India, and in Da Nang, a commercial hub in Vietnam’s central region.
KOTRA will expand business centers in the promising markets to keep up with the changing trade environment, said CEO Kwon Pyung-oh.
At a recent meeting between Vietnamese and Korean businesses in Hanoi, many Korean firms highly evaluated Vietnam’s investment environment and investment incentives.
Gunjae Kim, chairman of the Korea’s Hwasung veterinary medicine company, said a lot of Korean firms operating in various fields have made inroads into Vietnam. He hailed Vietnam’s investment attraction policies with improvements in the business climate.
At present, Hwasung has not planned to open a manufacturing factory in Vietnam, but it wants to seek trade opportunities and promote import-export activities with Vietnamese businesses, he said.
According to experts, there has been a new investment wave from Korea to Vietnam, especially after the two countries reached cooperation agreements during a visit of Korean President Moon Jae In to the country in March.
Besides, the investment source has also experienced a significant rise thanks to Korean "New Southern Policy”, which aims at deepening ties with Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.
According to experts, Korean investors have recently funded billion-dollar projects in Vietnam and it is a start of a period for a new wave of investment to support technological ventures and digital strategies. Therefore, President Moon’s Vietnam visit is seen as clearing a path for the new wave of investment into Vietnam when the doors of cooperation open.
Vietnam has become an attractive destination for investment and the production centers of a series of leading Korean businesses such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor, Lotte, POSCO, CJ, Hanwha, Shinhan, and Kumho. More than 4,500 Korean businesses are now operating in Vietnam, showing the fact that Korean enterprises make up a large proportion.
Korean businesses have recently also invested in fields serving the domestic market to tap into the vast numbers of young customers with burgeoning incomes. Typical examples of this trend are the penetration of famous brands like Hyundai, Kia Morning, CGV, Lotte, and Lotteria, as well as the RoK’s biggest retailer – E-mart.
