Oil group seeks investment opportunities in Japan

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) has called on Japanese businesses to invest in 28 projects capitalised at nearly US$25 billion.

At a conference in Tokyo on June 22, Director of the PVN Management Board Dinh La Thang said his group wants Japanese businesses to invest in such areas as petrochemistry, electricity generation, seaports, real estate, finance and oil and gas equipment.

“We are interested in Japan’s advanced, environmentally-friendly and low-cost technology,” Mr Thang told more than 500 representatives of Japanese businesses attending the conference.

Pham Manh Dung, head of the Legal Affairs Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, assured the businesses that the Vietnamese government will offer incentives to these projects in the areas of foreign capital ownership, taxes and land rental.

Five Japanese businesses and organisations signed cooperation agreements with PVN to promote these projects.

Hiroshi Minouta, a member of the Management Board of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – said his bank is interested in PVN’s projects.

“Vietnam has succeeded in weathering the global financial crunch and is recovering quickly,” said Minouta. “We have examined these projects and decided to sign an memorandum of understanding with PVN to help mobilise capital for them.”

Hiroyuki Moribe, chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Hanoi, said Japanese businesses are keen to explore power generation projects in Vietnam. He said the Tokyo Power Company has decided to pour capital into a PVN-invested project to build a large-scale thermal power plant.

He added that several Japanese investors would also like to seek opportunities in Vietnam’s bustling real estate market.

Tags: PVN