US investment in Vietnam expected to make breakthroughs

Economists forecast that US investment in Vietnam will increase in the near future. 

At the end of August 2017, Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam Ltd., which has operated in Vietnam for more than 20 years, announced the completion of an expanded investment package worth US$300 million in the Southeast Asian nation from 2013-2016, raising the company’s total capital to more than US$500 million. 

Calin Dragan, Regional Director of Coca-Cola in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, said the package will serve as a foundation for Coca-Cola to invest deeper in Vietnam. 

Procter&Gamble (P&G), a US consumer goods corporation which has been in Vietnam since 1995 with initial total registered capital of US$360 million, has three factories in the country. 

Omar Channawi, P&G Vice President of the Asia-Pacific Region, said at a recent workshop held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment that Vietnam is one of P&G’s major markets and the corporation plans to invest more in the country. 

During Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to the US in late May 2017, about 20 contracts and agreements were signed by the two countries.

While in the US, the Vietnamese leader met with leading US businesses Exxonmobil, Nike, Boeing and MacKinsey, and affirmed that Vietnam welcomes US businesses to invest in Vietnam. 

Many US enterprises said they appreciate Vietnam’s investment environment, stressing that they plan to invest in the country. 

John Hill, US Vice Acting Ambassador to Vietnam, said Vietnam’s investment environment has improved significantly, with the most noteworthy development being the issuance of the Law on Support for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), which demonstrates the Government’s commitment to helping SMEs and the economic private sector to develop. 

This is a foundation for Vietnam to attract investment from foreign countries, including the US, he said. 

Jonathan Moreno, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce, said one of US investors’ biggest concerns is infrastructure in Vietnam, especially transport infrastructure, which affects not only traffic but also the transportation of goods.

He suggested the country improve its infrastructure to lure more investment.