FDI Flows into Vietnam’s Geotechnical Engineering

The need for strong development of infrastructure in Vietnam is attracting more and more foreign businesses in the geotechnical engineering industry to come and set up business in Vietnam.

Geonia, a leading corporation in Korea specializing in the production of high quality geotextile product (the fabric with permeability, when using to line in the soil, it is capable of separating, filtering, protecting, processing strengthening and water drainage), which are expected to achieve strong revenue in Vietnam market.

According to Geonia’s Chief Representative in Vietnam, the Government of Vietnam is promoting the construction of road and port infrastructures; therefore the demand for geotextile products is very huge. Vietnam has built a number of highways and Geonia has provided this product, with revenues of more than 5 million USD in 2014 and approximately 5 million USD in 2015. In the coming years, revenue can increase; even twice when many projects in Vietnam are performed.

At the 3rd International Conference on Geotechnical took place recently in Hanoi, not just Geonia, there were nearly 50 other foreign companies participated and wanted to find out the business investment opportunities in Vietnam, through the establishment of partnerships, joint ventures and promoting the sale of geotechnical products in Vietnam market.

According to Sales Manager of ACE Geosynthetics Company (Taiwan), until the end of 2016, this Company will set up partnership with 5 enterprises in Vietnam, bringing the total number of partners to 18, although ACE Geosynthetics has not have official investment and trade activities in Vietnam. Currently, ACE Geosynthetics is the leading exporter of geothermal synthetic products in Asia.

ACE Geosynthetics could set up factory in Vietnam in the future. Last year, ACE Geosynthetics has achieved sales growth at 2 figures. In 2016 and 2017, ACE Geosynthetics also expect to achieve such results.

Meanwhile, according to Director of Sanshin Construction Corporation (Japan), Sanshin is considering setting up partnership with local business to implement a number of large infrastructure projects in Vietnam, beginning from 2017.

Since early of this year, Sanshin has partnered with Technical Link Construction Company (Vietnam) to implement a number of industrial infrastructure projects in the southern region. In the next year, these two enterprises will jointly implement a number of other similar projects.

Many construction enterprises from Japan are coming to Vietnam for the construction of infrastructure projects. Therefore, Sanshin also wants to expand its presence here to cooperate with Japanese companies.

According to construction experts, Vietnam is a country located in geographic areas with complex geological conditions; therefore the selection of foundation solutions for infrastructure is extremely important.

In the strategy to 2020, Vietnam will basically become an industrially developed towards modernization country, so the demand for infrastructure development, industrial development, urban development during this period is very large. In particular, the Government has been setting up special policies giving priority to infrastructure development in all industries and sectors. This is the opportunity for businesses and investors at home and abroad.

According to Vice President of International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, in Vietnam, in addition to forms of public transport in major urban centers, the economic development requires faster means of transportation over long distances. Therefore, high-speed rail and highways will soon become urgent needs. This shows that the demand for geotechnical engineering will increase in the very near future. This is the investment opportunity for many businesses.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Advisory
• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

We could be reached at email: ant@antconsult.vn or tel: +848 3520 2779 .  To learn more about us, please visit www.antconsult.vn

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Potential of Vietnam’s Renewable Energy

Potential of Vietnam’s Renewable Energy

Vietnam territory is located in the tropical climate zone with over 3,200 km long coastline. Therefore, there is great potential for renewable energy development. The available renewable energy sources in Vietnamare: solar energy, wind energy, biological energy, hydropower and energy from the sea.

Vietnam has great potential for hydroelectric power, with total theoretical capacity of about 35 GW, the technical potential is about 26 GW, annually it can produce more than 100 GWh; in which the small hydropower (the installed machine capacity <30 MW) has the potential to produce about 15-20 GWh of electricity.

Until 2013, the total number of projects have been put into operation is 268 projects, with a total installed machine capacity of 14,240.5 MW. As planned, until 2017, there will be 473 projects will be put into operation with a total installed machine capacity of 21,229.3 MW. In addition, according to the Electricity Corporation of Vietnam, the potential of small hydropower has installed machine capacity of about 4,000 MW.

In a report of the World Bank in 2001, the wind energy potential of Vietnam is estimated at 512 GW, much higher compared to other countries such as Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

Vietnam has great potential for solar energy, particularly in the Central and South of the country, with the average intensity of solar radiation of about 5 kWh/m2. The total theoretical potential of solar energy in Vietnam is estimated at 43.9 billion TOE (TOE – tons of oil equivalent).

With the advantage of being an agricultural country, Vietnam has a large and diverse biomass sources, including wood, firewood, rice husk, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse and other kind of agricultural residues. Annually, Vietnam is estimated to have over 60 million tons of biomass from agricultural waste. The biomass energy sources mentioned above can be used to produce bio-fuel (ethanol), fuel pellet, biogas and various other products.

Vietnam livestock industry is now quite developed, released to the environment annually a large amount of livestock waste in the form of solid and liquid.

According to the statistic data from national environmental status by 2014, the amount of solid waste from livestock in 2013 in Vietnam includes: 18.5 million tons from raising cows, 13.8 million tons from raising buffalo, 18.9 million tons from raising pig, 22.6 million tons from raising poultry. Part of livestock waste in rural area of Vietnam provides raw material for more than half a million active biogas in three regions of the country.

With a population of nearly 90 million people, the annually amount of domestic waste generated due to activities of the population is very huge. Domestic waste after being collected and classified can be recycled, reused and recovered energy from waste incineration or landfills.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Advisory
• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

We could be reached at email: ant@antconsult.vn or tel: +848 3520 2779 .  To learn more about us, please visit www.antconsult.vn

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Changes needed for Development on Wind Energy in Vietnam

Changes needed for Development on Wind Energy in Vietnam

For economic sustainable development combined with environmental protection, the Government of Vietnam has made significant steps in the formulation of policies on renewable energy development, which take advantages of favorable conditions for the production of wind energy.

Many policies have been initiated to support wind power project, including power price assistance from central budget; assistance to grid and off-grid connected wind power projects… focusing on wind power electricity development target to achieve the total wind power capacity from the current negligible level to around 800 MW by 2020 and around 6,000 MW by 2030, raising the rate of electricity from wind power accounted for 0.8% in 2020 to 2.1% in 2030.

Some financial policies for investment projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (price supporting mechanism) are issued. Moreover, the Government published independent mechanisms to support wind power projects on electricity price for grid-connected wind power projects, power purchase agreements for wind power projects.

Nonetheless, there are difficulties in the development of wind power projects in Vietnam that should not be ignored. The first thing is difficulty of legal framework. The system of legislation, mechanisms and policies for wind power development are not synchronized.  New project must be granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to establish the supplementary planning procedures prior to implementation.  Power purchase agreement with EVN will be required as the initial condition to obtain investment permission.

Moving toward the future of clean energy in Vietnam, the Government should focus on implementation of preferential treatment to wind energy projects to increase the competitiveness of this renewable energy. In addition, the Government should also collaborate with investors, and industry experts to continue to research the wind power potential in Vietnam, further attract investment and assistance from domestic and international organizations for the wind power projects.  Further, it is in the meantime required to have synchronized policies, legislations with the establishment of government authority to execute wind power planning and management to remove unreasonable barriers.

The increase in purchasing price from EVN will be attracting more investment.  It has been discussed on the increase of buying price from 7,8 US cent/kWh however the timeline for the increase has not yet been finalized.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Advisory
• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

We could be reached at email: ant@antconsult.vn or tel: +848 3520 2779 .  To learn more about us, please visit www.antconsult.vn

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Solar Energy Power Future in Vietnam

Although the initial investment cost for solar energy in Vietnam is high but it brings in opportunities for cheaper option than thermal power technology being used in Vietnam.

In other country, solar power plants are competing fiercely with the thermal power plants running on coal.

In Vietnam, Thien Tan solar energy plant has been started to construct on 24 ha land in Quang Ngai with capacity of 19.2 MW at investment of VND 800 bil.  The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also approved the investment project of Tuy Phong solar energy plant on 50 ha land in Binh Thuan with capacity of 30 MW at investment of VND 1,454 bil.  This will open opportunities for renewable energy to contribute to the effort of protecting the environment and curbing climate change.

The solar energy is new in Vietnam therefore the investment in this area is at very early stage.  However, the foreign investors have been increasingly interested in seeking opportunities in investment in solar energy projects.

Similar to investment in wind power energy in Vietnam, one of the concerns for investors is the expected increase in purchasing price from Electricity Vietnam Corporation, the party whom purchase the electricity on Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).   Further, legal frameworks for promoting solar energy investment are not yet finalized.  Accordingly, the contribution ratio of renewable energy in Vietnam is minimal.  The Vietnam government has been trying to put some effort to increase the renewable energy contribution to 5,6% (in 2020) and 9,4% (2030).

 To achieve this, Vietnam government shall need to be consulted on plan to support the solar energy investment project in Vietnam in tax, land, capital, power purchase agreement.  Investors would need to be consulted by local consulting firm on process, procedures on investment policy, appraisal process, power purchase agreement, and other steps to develop and execute an energy project in Vietnam to improve the effectiveness of the investment in renewable energy.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Advisory
• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

We could be reached at email: ant@antconsult.vn or tel: +848 3520 2779 .  To learn more about us, please visit www.antconsult.vn

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US President Donald Trump is Visiting Vietnam in November 2017

According to the White House, US President Donald Trump will visit Hanoi after attending the APEC Summit in Da Nang in November.

On October 16th, The White House announced details of President Trump’s upcoming visit to Asia, with destinations in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines in early November.

The President’s visit will underscore his commitment to longstanding US’s partnerships and alliances, and reaffirmed US’s leadership in an open and free India-Pacific region.

Trump will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Da Nang on November 10th.

In Da Nang, the US leader is expected to deliver a speech at the APEC CEO Summit, in which the White House said that it would “highlights the US vision for an open and free India-Pacific region, underscores this region’s significant role in promoting US economic prosperity.”

On November 11th, President Trump will visit Hanoi to meet Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang and other senior Vietnamese leaders.

President Trump’s Asian visit is expected to last 11 days, from November 3rd – 14th.

After a stopover in Hawaii on November 3rd, the US president will visit Japan for two days from November 5th– 6th, visiting South Korea on November 7th and China on November 8th.

After spending two days in Vietnam on November 10th– 11th, the US President will have a two-day visit to Manila, Philippines. On November 12th, Trump will attend a dinner party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of ASEAN and the 40th anniversary of US – ASEAN relationship on November 13th. Trump’s last day schedule in the Philippines will include a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte.

The White House in September confirmed President Trump’s first Asian tour in November, marking the first visit to this region since his inauguration in January.

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German Investors Funded 15 Million USD for Kinh Bac to Implement Workshop Project

Japan-Vietnam economic cooperation will form a new value chain

The total investment value of the project is 33.4 million USD, equivalent to about 755 billion VND, which is invested in construction and development in industrial zones.

According to information from Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corporation (KBC), the subsidiary of this unit is Kinh Bac Office and Workshop Trading One-Member Limited Company has just reached an agreement: signed contract to finance a project to build a workshop with the German Investment Corporation (DEG) under the German Development Bank (KfW). KfW is now managing more than 600 billion euros.

Accordingly, Kinh Bac Office and Workshop Trading One-Member Limited Company will receive a long-term loan from the DEG worth 15 million USD (total value of the project is 33.4 million USD) with a loan term of up to 8 years to supplement the capital for construction and development of workshops in industrial zones.

According to DEG’s representative, Mr Hubertus Pleister – Director of DEG Asia, Vietnam’s economy has grown steadily, continuously and sustainably over the long term, this is an important market, with many investment inflows. In addition, KBC is known as a prestigious business in the field of real estate and calls for foreign investment in industrial parks.

According to KBC, in addition to sponsored the above funds, DEG also committed to support KBC to access to other long-term development funds from financial institutions under the European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) where DEG is a key member. KBC has undergone a rigorous 2-year appraisal process that ensures DEG’s criteria for financial capacity, management and environmental factors.

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Vietnam – Russian Federation: Cooperation in The Spirit of Friendship

There are many opening opportunities, so that the Russian Federation enterprises can come to explore and set up business in Vietnam and vice versa.

Previously, there is almost a constant law, that is only Vietnam come to promote investment abroad, now the story seems to be different. Japan has organized an investment promotion conference in Vietnam. And just recently, on March 2017, during a visit to Vietnam of Mr Yuri Trutnhev – Deputy Prime Minister, Russian Presidential Representative in the Far Eastern Federation, also held the same investment promotion workshop. There have been calls for Vietnamese businesses to invest in Russia, with many investment incentives.

In fact, in the last few years, Vietnam’s investment in Russia has increased rapidly, from 100 million USD in 2008 to about 2.4 billion USD in the recent times, concentrating mainly on oil and gas, trade, agriculture… Vietnam’s large investment projects in Russia include Rusvietpetro, Gazpromviet Petroleum Joint Venture, TH TRUE Milk, Ha Hoi Trade Center in Moscow.

Contrary to the trend of capital inflows from Vietnam to Russia have increased dramatically in recent years, investment flow from Russia to Vietnam is slowing. In the first 5 months of 2017, Russian businesses only invested 7.2 million USD in Vietnam. To sum up, the accumulated investment capital from Russia to Vietnam is currently about 1 billion USD.

The figure is modest and substantial, focusing on traditional projects which is oil and gas cooperation. Besides the Vietsovpetro Joint Venture, the two countries have established such joint ventures as Rusvietpetro, Vietgazprom and Gazpromviet to expand oil and gas cooperation in Vietnam, Russia and third countries.

In April 2017, a meeting between two leaders of Russia and Vietnam’s leading oil and gas corporation that are Gazprom and PVN, took place in Moscow. In which, both sides have continued to discuss on the cooperation to exploit oil and gas in Vietnam, as well as oil and gas projects in Russia.

In fact, Gazprom has participated in the Hai Thach – Moc Tinh gas field project in Vietnam since 2003 and up to now, the total output of this mine has reached about 6.6 billion m3 of gas. In particular, in 2016, the output reached 2 billion m3.

In addition, the two sides also discussed the process of geological exploration in plots 112 and 129 – 132 on the continental shelf of Vietnam, also deployed the project of developing oil – gas – condensate – Nagumanovskoye field and gas field – condensate Severo – Purovskoye in Russia, at the same time discussed the prospect of joint venture cooperation in the field of electrification and transport vehicles using natural gas (NGV). Once these agreements become reality, Vietnam – Russia oil and gas cooperation will be more closely and effectively, opening great investment cooperation opportunities between the two sides.

Opportunities will be even greater when the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Amenia and Kyrgyzstan) is effectively implemented. Implemented effectively. Although it is just a free trade agreement, the agreement will create a great opportunity for two sides to cooperate and take advantage of each other’s markets. This common market block has total GDP of 2,200 billion USD and 183 million people. Moreover, Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union have also set target of increasing two-way trade to 10 billion USD by 2020. This is an important basis for investment cooperation between Vietnam and the Russian Federation, as well as other intra-regional economy will be further boosted.

The visit to Belarus and the Russian Federation from June 26th to July 1st 2017 by Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang is expected to create opportunities for further economic and investment cooperation between Vietnam – Russian Federation and Vietnam – Belarus.

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ACWA Power and FECON Develop Renewable Energy Projects in Vietnam

On July 3rd, ACWA Power Energy Corporation from Saudi Arabia and FECON JSC have signed Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation to develop renewable energy projects in Vietnam.

According to the national electricity development plan and the renewable energy development strategy of Vietnam, the Vietnam Government prioritizes the mobilization of all resources to develop renewable energy, increasing the rate of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (excluding medium and large hydropower), account for 7% by 2020 and above 10% by 2030. In which, wind and solar power are areas of great concern. Along with the above strategy, many incentives and support mechanisms are being built and perfected to attract investors in this field.

Recognizing this potential, ACWA Power (Saudi Arabia) decided to choose Vietnam as the first and strategic country in Southeast Asia to invest in renewable energy projects. ACWA Power is a developer, investor, operator and co-owner of a portfolio of power plants in 12 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa and Southeast Asia. Particularly in the Middle East, ACWA Power is a developer of electricity and water in the top 2 of region.

ACWA Power’s portfolio is valued at over 30.5 billion USD, with a total generating capacity of 21.5 GW.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding, FECON and ACWA Power will jointly study and evaluate the opportunities and potential of renewable energy investment in Vietnam. Particularly wind and solar power projects in some provinces in the Southern of Vietnam such as Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan… Then, the two sides will set up joint venture company to invest in specific projects.

Furthermore, according to CEO of ACWA Power, Vietnam is the perfect place for investors to invest and develop renewable energy projects in the coming time. The investment potential in Vietnam is huge due to the increasingly cheaper technology cost, with the advantage of resources, the local partner ‘s understanding and the advantages of modern technology and capital. The cooperation between the two sides will certainly go to success. ACWA Power’s CEO also expects the Government of Vietnam will to continue to support and license the projects of this Corporation when they expanding investment in Vietnam in the future.

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Situation on M&A Transactions in Vietnam

In 2017, if nothing breaks through, M&A value will not easily surpass the value in 2015 and 2016. This will require a boost from businesses and the Government to take advantage of opportunity from foreign capital flows.

In 2016, the value of worldwide M&A transaction reached 3.5 trillion USD, decreased by 27% compared with the previous year but still at a high level. This could be a sign of ending a period of global M&A growth. With such event as Brexit or the policies of US President Donald Trump, global M&A activities becomes unpredictable and there may be a shift in capital flows.

According to IMAA statistics, in Vietnam, after reaching its peak in 2015, which was a record level in the past 10 years, with an estimated M&A value of 5.2 billion USD by 2015, ending the year 2016 with a value of 5.1 billion USD. However, there are also many obstacles and there was a slowdown in the second half of 2016 when large and quality deals are announced.

The most exciting sector in 2016 is retail, consumer goods and real estate. Banking and finance seems to be quiet in the past year. Other sectors that also attracted attention are education and technology.

Foreign investors still play a significant role in M&A activities in Vietnam with huge deals. Japan is persistent in its strategic partnership with state-owned companies such as Vietnam Airlines, Petrolimex… Korea has entered the market with some industrial sectors, while Singapore is focusing on real estate projects.

In addition, the market continues to witness M&A moves and strategic investments by some private corporation when the State divests. The most typical in the past year was a divestment deal involving Vinamilk. Along with Vinamilk, a number of Vietnamese companies are still in the sights of investors such as Sabeco, Habeco and Mobifone.

The challenges for M&A growth in Vietnam are: The change in US policy, in particular the United States decided to withdraw from the TPP, obstacles from equitization in Vietnam, business quality and size of the economy. In order to achieve high M&A value like 2016, it requires the assertiveness of the State in the divestment of large corporations. At the same time, the market needs a new push & breakthrough factors.

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New Billion Dollars Thermal Power Project in Vietnam

Recently, Vietnam is really blooming with a lot of renewable energy projects as many foreign investors choose to set up business in Vietnam in this field.

The Nam Dinh 1 thermal power project, with a total investment capital of 2.2 billion USD, is the largest thermal power project in Nam Dinh so far. The project owner is Nam Dinh 1 Power Co., Ltd but headquartered in Singapore and is a joint venture of two foreign corporations which are Taekwang Power (Korea) and Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia).

Taekwang Power is expanding its portfolio in areas as real estate, petrochemicals; at the same time continuing to increase investment capital in Southeast Asia. In 2008, Taekwang Power established its subsidiary Taekwang Power Holdings to participate in the development of power plants in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Acwa Power was established in 2004 as a joint venture between Abunayyan Trading Company and Abdulkadir Al Muhaidib & Sons Company together with MADA Group. Acwa Power is trading in power supply and desalination, and is the first private company to operate in this area after Saudi Arabia decided to strengthen its role in the private sector in 2002.

The total investment capital of the Nam Dinh Power Project includes: owner’s equity is 0.56 billion USD, accounting for 25% and loan is 1.68 billion USD, accounting for 75%. The commercial operation date is scheduled for December 2020 with a BOT contract term of 25 years.

The two companies in the joint venture of Acwa Power and Taekwang Power are large and experienced organizations in the field of power generation and supply. Taekwang Power with its subsidiary Taekwang Power Holdings specializes in the field of power supply. Meanwhile, Acwa Power owns a lot of domestic and international power generation and supply projects, especially 10 projects using renewable energy.

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Vietnam Is One of Fastest Tourism Growing Countries in The World

Dubbed as a smoke-free industry, Vietnam tourism industry is a potential sector and presently, Vietnam has become the top choice destination for foreign visitors.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has just announced the list of the top fastest tourism growing countries in the world. Notably, Vietnam ranks 7th in the list, with an increase of 24.6% in foreign visitors in 2016, just behind other 2 countries in the same continent which are Nepal (increases by 39.7%, ranks 2nd) and South Korea (increases by 30.3%, ranks 4th). Other Asian countries on the list include Japan at 8th and Indonesia at 20th. The Sierra Leone nation, which is located in West Africa, topped the list with an increase of 310% in 2016.

According to the General Statistics Office, international visitors coming to Vietnam in the first 6 months of 2017 were estimated at 6,206.3 thousand people, increases by 30.2% over the same period last year. In which arrivals by air reached 5,212 thousand people, increases by 33%; by road reached 823.5 thousand people, increases by 15.8%; by sea reached 170.8 thousand people, increases by 26%.

Of the international visitors to Vietnam in the first half of 2017, led by visitors from Asia with 4,572.7 thousand people, accounting for 73.7%. Followed by visitors from Europe with 979.3 thousand people, accounting for 15.8%.

To promote Vietnam tourism on the Internet, on July 9th, the Tourism Information Center, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will officially launch new website “vietnamtourism.com” and special pages “Travel Destination” in English. This new interface is expected to contribute to improve the efficiency of Vietnam’s online travel advertising on the internet, creating novelty, modern features and interfaces, getting tourists centered to change the way to access and provide information to visitors.

Also for the purpose of serving tourists, on June 30th, Hanoi Transport Corporation (Hanoi Transerco) has tested a two-stage bus named City Tour.

With a value of about 7-9 billion VND, the bus is painted in bright red color for visitors to easily identify, the car equipped with 4G wifi system, many modern equipments, accessories to support up, down and lock the wheelchair in the cab for disabled clients. The 2nd floor has mobile roof to cover sun and rain.

The bus is designed for Vietnam tourism market to develop city tour product. It is expected that the first 10 buses will be put into use in July 2017. If the test run successful, Hanoi Transerco will order to produce this product domestically, scheduled to officially start operation in the next 2 months.

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State of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Germany) Opens Representative Office in Vietnam

The representative office of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Federal Republic of Germany) in Vietnam has officially come into operation from July 2017 with the purpose of promoting trade and investment, paving the way for German businesses to set up business in Vietnam and vice versa.

This representative office is located at the Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam. The office will provide information about the market, business and investment environment in Baden-Wuerttemberg to businesses in Vietnam. For businesses in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the office will assist in finding partners and exploring the investment environment in Vietnam.

The State of Baden-Wuerttemberg is Germany’s third-largest state, one of Europe’s most important economic centers and also a major investment destination of this continent.

With its favorable geographic location, adjacent to France, Austria and Switzerland, the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg is the ideal gateway to the European market with nearly 500 million customers. In fact, The State of Baden-Wuerttemberg has always been a leader in exports and a major contributor to the significant growth of the German economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the state in 2015 is 460 billion euros, higher than the GDP of Belgium, Sweden or Austria. The global companies such as Daimler, Bosch, SAP, GFT Technologies and Posche all have their headquarters in this state.

Meanwhile, established in Vietnam since 1993, the Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam, as a representative for Germany’s Ministry of Economy and Energy, always supports and promotes business cooperation and Investment between Germany and Vietnam.

In addition to information about the market, partners and investment locations, this office also co-operated with German businesses in Vietnam to implement projects on parallel vocational training, bringing supporting projects of the German Ministry of Economy to Vietnam in renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors, as well as supporting Vietnamese enterprises in accessing the German market via the trade fair channels.

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Tetra Pak Construct 110 Million USD Packaging Factory in Binh Duong

Japan-Vietnam economic cooperation will form a new value chain

Tetra Pak (Sweden) has started construction of a 110 million USD packaging factory on an area of 10,000 m2 and a total capacity of 20 billion packages per year at Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Park II – A (Binh Duong). This information has been announced since the end of 2016. The factory is expected to come into operation by the beginning of 2019.

According to the Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, this is the factory with largest scale among 54 projects that Sweden investors have invested in Vietnam.

Moreover, he affirmed that the factory could become the leading bird, leading many Swedish businesses to come and set up business in Vietnam.

Sweden was the first country in the Western region that establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. There will be many Swedish multinational corporations want to invest in Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam in general and Binh Duong in particular need to prepare better investment environment to catch the wave of FDI, especially from Sweden.

According to representative of Tetra Pak, this is the company’s most green packaging factory in their system, as well as the 4th largest packaging factory in East Asia and Oceania in terms of scale.

The two popular types of packaging will be produced at the factory including Tetra Brik Aseptic and Tetra Fino Aseptic.

According to Tetra Pak, dairy and beverage products in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand markets are expected to grow at a rate of 5.6 percent annually from now until 2019.

In Vietnam, milk production is still the largest sector in the country, which is expected to double consumption per capita to 28 liters per year by 2020. While the market for fresh fruit juice is expected to grow 17.5% in the next year. This is the basis for packaging factories – including Tetra Pak’s factory to expect fast growth in the near future.

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IHI Corporation (Japan) Wants to Participate in Transportation Projects in Hai Phong

Japan-Vietnam economic cooperation will form a new value chain

Japan is a familiar investor in the Vietnamese market, many Japanese companies have set up business in Vietnam and IHI Corporation is not an exception.

Recently, Hai Phong People’s Committee has been working with the delegation of IHI Corporation (Japan) to explore opportunities to participate in transportation projects in Hai Phong. At the meeting, Mr Atsushi Kutawa – Managing Director of Operations, President in charge of business of IHI Corporation has talked about the company’s business situation with city leaders.

In particular, IHI has successfully built Binh bridge (Hai Phong) and Nhat Tan bridge (Hanoi). In 2015, the Group has built the IHI Infrastructure Asia (IIA) plant at Dinh Vu Industrial Park, which specializes in the manufacture of steel structures, supplying for bridge construction projects, thermal power plants and engineering facilities, serving for key construction works in the city.

Through investigation, it is known that there are plans to deploy Hai Phong transportation expansion projects, in which Nguyen Trai bridge and many key bridges connecting trade between the city and the northern provinces will be built. Hence, IHI Corporation wishes to have the opportunity to contribute their accumulated experiences to the cooperation and construction of these bridges.

Acordingly, Chairman of Hai Phong People’s Committee has highly appreciated the effective cooperation between Vietnam – IHI in the past time and also provide information about the bridge construction projects of Hai Phong in the coming time, like Nguyen Trai bridge, Vu Yen bridge…

In addition, he also expressed his wish that in the near future, IHI will explore and promote the cooperation in building bridges of Hai Phong. At the same time, in coordination with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), speed up the implementation of transportation projects, focusing on the Nguyen Trai bridge project.

Hai Phong always take care and create conditions for qualified contractors with high quality products. With the potential, efficiency and experiences of the IHI Corporation that has been confirmed, Hai Phong city will create the best conditions for the IHI Corporation to participate in the transportation development projects of Hai Phong in the coming time.

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