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Vietnam expects the third wave of RoK investment

In January - June, 61 countries and territories invested in Vietnam. The Republic of Korea remained the leading investor, with 3.99 billion USD, 35% of the FDI pledged to the country

Investors from the Republic of Korea (RoK) have been leading in the largest foreign investors in Vietnam in the last two years.
The investment projects registered by RoK investors in the recent years have been considered to be a part of the third RoK foreign direct investment (FDI) wave in Vietnam, following the first in the 1990s and the second in 2000s.

 
 Investors from the Republic of Korea have been leading in the largest foreign investors in Vietnam in the last two years.
Investors from the Republic of Korea have been leading in the largest foreign investors in Vietnam in the last two years.
The third wave of Korean investors has been believed to be quite different from the previous ones. 
Instead of pouring money into manufacturing projects under which investors make garments, footwear and electronic products for export to other countries, Korean businesses have considered Vietnam as the target market for their products and services.
The Vietnamese car market now has seen the increasing popularity of RoK brands such as Kia and Hyundai. A report of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) showed that Kia has the second largest sales just after Japanese Toyota.
No longer underrated in power and durability, RoK car brands that catch Vietnamese attention as new models with integrated modern features and competitive prices have been launched recently.
According to analysts, RoK enterprises have been expanding their business in fields where Vietnamese businesses have a competitive edge.
In addition, the domestic cinema market has been dominated by two big Korean names – CGV and Lotte Cinema -, with their networks reaching out to every corner. 
CGV and Lotte Cinema networks accounted for 60% of the market by the end of 2015. The power of distributing blockbuster films is now within Korean hands, despite the great efforts by Vietnamese cinema networks such as BHD, Galaxy and Platinum.

 
Illustrative image.
Illustrative image.
At present, Korean brands have also become popular in the local food market, such as Lotteria, CJ Foodville, F&B, Caffe Bene and My Cay Han Quoc.
In 2015, Emart, one of RoK's largest retail chains, opened its first hypermarket in Vietnam in an ambitious plan to expand its network throughout Vietnam in the coming years. 
Prior to that, Lotte Mart, another RoK supermarket chain, said that it would open 60 supermarkets in Vietnam by 2020, and if so, it would become the second largest supermarket chain in Vietnam, just next to Coop Mart. 
RoK ranked the leading foreign investor in Vietnam in the first six months with 3.99 billion USD.
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