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coVER SToRY

iaggio Vietnam plans to invest mil- and quickly stabilized its production and additional capital in existing projects. South-
lions of US dollars of additional cap- business. Production and exports totaled ern Dong Nai province, an industrial pow-
P ital in Vietnam over the course of over 147,000 units for the year, breaking erhouse, attracted eleven FDI projects with
the next few months, according to Mr. Gian- the previous record of 120,000 units set in more than $226 million in capital in only
luca Fiume, President and General Director 2019. Revenue and profit also increased, by the first 13 days of this year, including three
of Piaggio Vietnam. With a factory in north- more than 10 per cent against the previous newly-licensed projects and eight adding
ern Vinh Phuc province, the new investment year. Export markets expanded not only in capital. In central Quang Binh province, the
will be used to expand the warehousing of the Asia-Pacific region but also in some provincial people’s committee gave the go-
vehicles and engines and introduce an auto- European countries. ahead to 14 FDI projects with total capital
mated exhaust inspection system with of around $1 billion and signed MoUs on 23
advanced technology. “We have ambitions FDI flows into provinces projects from 18 investors. The Bac Giang
to make Vietnam the largest manufacturing Singapore’s Vina CPK, meanwhile, Provincial People’s Committee in Vietnam’s
hub for Piaggio’s motorcycle engines globally,” revealed recently it is focusing on site clear- north, meanwhile, issued investment licenses
Mr. Fiume said. ance to move forward with the implemen- to four projects from three investors with
The plan comes after Piaggio posted pos- tation of the second phase of its Ba Thien II total capital of nearly $570 million.
itive results in the country. Last year, when Industrial Park project in Vinh Phuc. “This With investment continuing to flow from
Vinh Phuc was one of the first localities to investment will trigger higher FDI inflows foreign investors, the provincial FDI rankings
suffer a Covid-19 outbreak, Piaggio Vietnam into Vietnam,” said Mr. Trinh Van Quang, of cities and provinces changed a great deal
faced a host of difficulties, especially in Project Development Director at Vina CPK. in the opening two months of the year. Out-
terms of human resources, raw materials, “Many foreign investors in supporting indus- pacing major centers like Hanoi and Ho Chi
and rising production costs due to pandemic tries for major electronics companies have Minh City was the Mekong Delta city of
prevention measures and the need for more contacted us recently to learn about our Can Tho, which led the country thanks to
maintenance. From the second quarter investment conditions. This proves that the O Mon II Thermal Power Plant project,
onwards, however, it took advantage of the large numbers of foreign investors are still with capital of about $1.3 billion coming
solutions offered by the national and local keen to invest in Vietnam.” from a joint venture between Vietnam’s
governments to realize the “dual goals” of Other localities have also been welcoming Vietracimex and Japan’s Marubeni Corpo-
pandemic prevention and economic growth, rising FDI inflows in new projects as well as ration. Following were northern Hai Phong

A cut above

the competition

Impressive levels of FDI have been pouring into Vietnam’s cities
and provinces despite the global turmoil, indicating a bright future.
T Ngoc LaN REPORTS

18 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | APRIL 2021