While Vietnam needs foreign capital to develop the economy, it also requires advanced technologies to become involved more deeply in the global supply chain.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc appreciated the presence of investors in an investment promotion conference of Ha Giang on November 27, noting that they will greatly help to develop the northernmost province of Vietnam into a well-off locality.

A non-governmental organization (NGO) report said workers at two factories of Samsung Electronics Vietnam do not have employment contracts and noise there is higher than permitted levels.

An Italian mission of 80 leading firms and 150 delegates will come to Vietnam next week to sound out cooperation prospects and strengthen ties between the two countries.

Indian companies are looking to cement ties with Vietnamese counterparts in the textile and garment sector.

Vietnamese commercial banks are planning to sell a stake in their company to foreign investors to attract capital and hasten their restructuring before listing shares on the bourse. 

Wealthy Asian investors have been bringing billions of dollars to Vietnam and hunting for big investment opportunities. 

An investment promotion event was held in Kuala Lumpur on November 22 to call for investment in Tay Bac urban area in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Sao Mai Group put its aquatic feed processing plant, worth VND800 billion (US$35 million), into operation in southern Dong Thap province’s Sao Mai Industrial Complex on November 21.

Several Taiwanese firms (China) plan to explore investment opportunities in the southern province of Binh Duong, according to a Taiwanese official.

Vietnam attracted 24,397 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth US$312.9 billion from 128 countries and territories in the first 10 months of this year. However, experts said that the projects’ influence on the economy is still modest, necessitating a change in mindset to lure investment.

Foreign investors were once the buyers in M&A deals five years ago, but in many deals made recently, the buyers have been Vietnamese.

VOV.VN - A delegation of German businesses held a working session with leaders of the southern province of Dong Nai on November 21 to seek investment opportunities in the field of environmental treatment. 

Preferential treatments including tax and land use incentives are a key factor in the Vietnamese government’s bid to attract foreign investment; however, domestic enterprises are beginning to voice their complaints.

As local salaries rise and global trends shift, Vietnam is drafting a new foreign direct investment attraction strategy for the upcoming years, with a focus on some prioritised sectors to bring added value to the economy.

Few venture funds have been set up in Vietnam, and few startups have successfully called for capital from the funds.

The Koyu & Unitek Company, based in the southern province of Dong Nai, plans to develop a second chicken processing factory to meet the demand for chicken products of the Japanese market.

Japan-based fashion apparel retailer Stripe International Inc. remains hungry after acquiring NEM Fashion and is now planning to seize other apparel brands in Vietnam to expand faster.

VOV.VN - Six businesses from the Republic of Korea have been granted licences to invest in Dung Quat Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Ngai.

Kimmo Tuppurainen, sales director for Southeast Asia for Watrec, said his company has launched a clean energy project worth EUR30 million (more than US$33 million) in Hanoi.

Fair-trade certification is expected to help Vietnamese cocoa enter the EU market, especially after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement takes effect, slated for 2019, experts have said.

Though experts all agree that SEZs must be run with ‘special political institutions and outstanding policies’, they dare not ‘make a breakthrough’ and design regulations which go beyond the current legal framework.

Macau’s biggest junket operator Suncity Group is negotiating the purchase of 34% stake in South Hoi An integrated casino resort complex, now called Hoiana, while simultaneously confirming to pour US$26.2 million in the project, according to newswire Dealstreetasia.

VOV.VN - Industrial and economic zones (IEZs) in central Thua Thien-Hue Province have yielded 147 projects with a combined registered capital of more than US$2.94 billion (VND65,750 billion), including 34 FDI projects worth around US$1.39 billion so far.

Lam Dong province would like to attract investment in green energy and technology, a conference on investment promotion held by the Central Highlands province in Ho Chi Minh City on October 26 heard.

VOV.VN - As of October 20, Vietnam has attracted US$28.24 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) capital, a year-on-year increase of 37.4%, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

VOV.VN - The news was announced by Nguyen Thanh Truc, director of the Binh Duong provincial Department of Planning and Investment at a meeting between the provincial leaders and Japanese businesses on the morning of October 25.

VOV.VN - Ho Chi Minh City is seeking financial backing for nine major projects, mainly metro projects, and four key industries to lay the foundations for socio-economic development in the future, said Le Thanh Liem, vice chairman of the municipal People’s Committee.

VOV.VN - The Korean Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) Director Gun Young Jung has revealed that his agency desires to study cooperation opportunities to build waste treatment plants in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

VOV.VN - The Central Highlands Gia Lai province People’s Committee has approved the project to build the Krong Pa Solar Power Plant in Chu Gu village, Krong Pa district with Gia Lai Electricity JSC as the investor.