After 11 Years, Van Phong 1 Thermal Power Project Was Licensed

Van Phong 1 thermal power project, with investment capital of 2.58 billion USD was officially granted investment certificate, marking another project of Japanese investors invest in Vietnam. This coal-fired thermal power plant has a capacity of 1,320 MW.

Van Phong 1 thermal power project was proposed by the Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) in 2006, with a capacity of 2,640 MW, covering an area of over 350 hectares, divided into two phases. Of which, the first phase has investment capital of over 2 billion USD. In 2009, the project has been approved by the Government to be implemented in the form of BOT.

However, due to many obstacles, including BOT contract negotiations, so far, the project has not yet been implemented or even cannot complete procedures to be issued investment certificate.

The project is expected to be built on an area of over 514.79 hectares, including 178.4 hectares of factory, 68 hectares of fodder land, 3.4 hectares of accommodation for professionals and 265 hectares of water surface area. Since the size of land use is quite large, the ground clearance process faced with a lot of difficulties.

However, the project has now officially been licensed. According to the plan, in early 2018, the project will be started construction.

So, from the beginning of this year, three BOT thermal power projects have been granted investment certificates. The largest is the construction of Nghi Son 2 BOT thermal power plant with a total investment of 2.79 billion USD. The project is also invested by a Japanese investor in Thanh Hoa, aiming to design, construct, operate and transfer a coal-fired power plant with a capacity of 1,200 MW.

The second largest is Van Phong 1 thermal power plant. And third is BOT Nam Dinh 1 thermal power project, with a total investment of 2.07 billion USD.

BOT Nam Dinh 1 is invested by Singapore Investors with the objective of designing, constructing, operating and transferring a coal-fired thermal power plant with the net capacity of 1,109.4 MW.

This is the reason why, in the past 11 months, electricity production and distribution has risen to the second position among the sectors attracting the most investment, after processing industry. Total investment capital into this field is 8.37 billion USD, accounting for 25.3% of the total registered capital.

ANT Consulting assists clients with Market Entry, Legal Advice, Tax Advice and Outsourcing Services in Vietnam.

We are located in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Talk to our consultants at +84 28 730 86 529 or email us ant@antconsult.vn

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Strong Investment Signal from Japan

In the early days of 2018, the survey team of 22 companies in the field of processing and manufacturing from Japan has visited Vietnam to find out information and steps to invest in Vietnam.

On January 22nd, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung had a meeting with business delegations from Japan. The meeting was the first in the series of Vietnam investment environment investigation by Japanese enterprises.

At the meeting, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung highly appreciated Japan’s contributions in supporting the socio-economic development of Vietnam during the past years and acknowledged the relationship between the two countries has been raised to a new height.

According to the Minister, ODA from Japan ranks first among aid donors in Vietnam, fourth in trade, second in FDI among countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Moreover, there are cooperation in other fields such as people’s diplomacy, tourism, culture, national defense and security… This clearly reflects a deep and comprehensive cooperative relationship and has been raised to new heights.

The Minister also affirmed that the investment environment of Vietnam is in a favorable condition, highly appreciated by many countries and regarded as an attractive investment destination. The two countries’ relationship are also in enjoyable time. Therefore, it is hoped that Japanese investors will soon find out their investment opportunities here.

We can show a number of advantages when investing in Vietnam such as a strategic location in the center of Southeast Asia, the area which is considered to be the most dynamic in the region, the gateway to penetrate the market of 600 million people; political stability, abundant human resources, large workforce; the scale of the economy is relatively large, about 220 billion USD; high speed growth for many years; The middle class is emerging and growing at a rapid pace, showing a large and potential consumer market; The infrastructure has been improved significantly recently.

In addition, the institutional and legal system of Vietnam on investment has been developed and finalized. The open economy with 10 signed FTAs shows a large import-export market; Reform of administrative procedures, improvement of investment environment, favorable and attractive business environment with more incentives; The policy of reducing input costs of production has been paid much attention by the Government of Vietnam. This is recognized by the international community as Vietnam’s ranking indicators have continually improved.

In particular, Vietnam’s economy in 2017 has achieved many important achievements, the growth rate of 6.81% of Vietnam is considered the highest compared to other economies in the region. Not only that, the macro economy is operating stably, inflation is controlled, the development and growth are reflected in all aspects, reflecting a stable economy with good development.

In 2018, the Government of Vietnam will continue to focus on three core issues: macroeconomic stability; To restructure the economy along the direction of raising the productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness of the economy; and focus on three strategic breakthroughs: institutional improvement, infrastructure improvement, and human resource development.

In order to ensure sustainable development associated with environmental and social issues, the Government of Vietnam continues to encourage foreign businesses to invest in Vietnam, but in a more selective way. It is to attract investment in manufacturing, processing, low-energy industries and high-value, high-tech industries. Particularly want investors to study the industry field of preference in the three special zones to form to find their opportunities.

ANT Consulting assists clients with Market Entry, Legal Advice, Tax Advice and Outsourcing Services in Vietnam.

We are located in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Talk to our consultants at +84 28 730 86 529 or email us ant@antconsult.vn

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Vinhomes Attracts 1.3 Billion USD from Singapore Investment Fund

Vingroup (VIC) has announced that Vinhomes and a subsidiary of Vingroup have signed an agreement with GIC Private Limited – a Singapore Government’s investment fund. This event marked the continuous participation of Singapore investors, a familiar investor that has been and continues to invest in Vietnam

Accordingly, GIC will invest a total of 1.3 billion USD (equivalent to 29,500 billion VND) in two forms: purchasing in Vinhomes’ shares and providing a debt instrument for Vinhomes (such as loans) to implement the projects. Credit Suisse Limited (Singapore) is the consultant unit of this transaction.

GIC is one of the three investment branches of the Singapore Government and is now one of the largest financial investors in Vietnam capital market. At the present, GIC’s main investments in Vietnam include Masan Group (~ 5% share), Vietjet Air (~ 5% share), Vinamilk (0.7% share), FPT (3.5% share), PAN Group, Vinasun… with the total value of about 15,000 billion VND.

Vinhomes is a subsidiary of Vingroup, in charge of real estate development. The company has chartered capital of 26,377 billion VND and has submitted to list more than 2.6 billion shares on HoSE in early April.

Vingroup currently is the largest company on Vietnam stock market with market capitalization of nearly 340 trillion VND (approximately 15 billion USD). Another subsidiary of Vingroup which was listed is Vincom Retail with market capitalization of 96 trillion VND.

ANT Consulting assists clients with Market Entry, Legal Advice, Tax Advice and Outsourcing Services in Vietnam.

We are located in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Talk to our consultants at +84 28 730 86 529 or email us ant@antconsult.vn

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Financial Times: Vietnamese Consumers Are Optimistic about The Economy

A recent study by the Financial Times issued statement on the positive psychology of Vietnamese consumers to the economy, thereby boosting consumer spending and encourage foreign investors to invest in Vietnam.

According to the study, Vietnamese consumers still spend heavily on shopping thanks to the dynamic economy, which increases household incomes.

This trend is expected to continue, in the context of Vietnam consumer psychology about the economy is in the highest optimism status in the past three years.

The study also expects that Vietnam’s economy will maintain the highest growth rate among key regional economies.

In 2017, Vietnam’s economy grew by 6.8% and is expected to grow higher this year.

Through a survey with 5,000 consumers in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam, the study evaluated Vietnamese young people are the most optimistic in this group about their economic prospects.

Vietnam is also becoming a destination for foreign investment.

Since 2009, Samsung from Korea has invested in Vietnam 17 billion USD. Last year, nearly half of smartphones sold to the world came from factories in Vietnam.

Nevertheless, the Financial Times study also identified the challenges faced by the Vietnamese government to maintain economic growth, in the context of rising public debt and tight budgets.

2018 is also the year Vietnam will gradually fulfill the commitments of 16 free trade agreements, in which a series of tariff will fall to 0%, affecting the budget revenue.

ANT Consulting assists clients with Market Entry, Legal Advice, Tax Advice and Outsourcing Services in Vietnam.

We are located in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Talk to our consultants at +84 28 730 86 529 or email us ant@antconsult.vn

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