Belgian multinationals heading to Vietnam

Most notably, the vigorous development of global value chains (GVCs) that extend over several countries and even continents has induced a changed perspective towards outward FDI by Belgian companies.

Whereas their executives once simply thought of investing abroad as a substitute (or replacement) for manufacturing facilities at home, today Belgian business leaders are beginning to view FDI in countries like Vietnam as an extension of those activities.

Belgium is one of the European countries with the highest percentage of export coming from trade movements within GVCs and it is fair to describe the economy as that of a ‘middleman’ in international trade, said Ambassador Roccas. 

As such, it is imperative for the nation’s businesses to develop complimentary GVCs in Vietnam if they are to remain competitive and relevant to international trade in general, and to the ASEAN region in particular.

A large share of Belgian export of goods consists of products with high skill and technology intensity, mainly thanks to the particularly strong position of chemicals and pharmaceuticals in Belgian export.

Citing statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ambassador said through the end of 2015, Belgium companies registered a strong FDI of US$421.66 million in 59 companies throughout the nation.

Last year, Belgium companies received investment certificates for four new business ventures and increased their investment in two projects that began operations in 2014 and prior.

With ASEAN and Vietnam’s rising promise as the manufacturing hub of the globe, the Ambassador said she expects to see exponential increases in Belgian companies’ FDI in the future.

Meanwhile, Brussels, Belgium-headquartered chemicals giant Solvay SA has announced plans to open an office in Ho Chi Minh City and said it is actively pursuing a number of deals in the chemicals, automotive, agriculture and electronic industries.

Speaking at a recent trade event in HCM City, Vincent Decuyper, a company representative, said the company is bullish on the Vietnam market, particularly in light of the birth of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Currently, Solvay employs an estimated 30,000 workers in 53 countries around the globe. It specializes in numerous fields including chemicals, energy, the environment, automotive, aeronautics, electrical and electronics.

On January 19-20, the company organized ‘Solvay Vietnam Day’ in HCM City at which 40 Solvay managers sat down with representatives from local companies to seriously discuss trade and investment deals.

They gave indications they were closely scrutinizing investments in the oil, gas, fertilizer, chemical and dairy industries.