Two local firms licensed for investment in Laos and Cambodia

The Ministry of Planning and Investment on Thursday awarded two investment certificates for two local companies to invest in the neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia.The licenses were handed during the international conference “Towards A Dynamic Mekong Investment Region” in the city.

Ba Ria – Kampongthom Joint Stock Co. on Thursday received the license from Nguyen Van Trung, deputy minister of planning and investment, to plant and process rubber in Cambodia.

The project is capitalized at some US$37 million covering 5,500 hectare of rubber trees. The company also has plans to develop a rubber processing factory in the country.

Meanwhile, PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP), a member of the state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, on Thursday also got an investment adjustment license to increase its investment capital for a project in Laos.

With the new license, the company will increase its investment in Laos from the previously pledged US$3.7 million to US$38.1 million to explore and exploit oil and gas in Laos’ Champasak and Saravan Provinces.

With the outbound investment certificates, local companies still have to complete procedures in the countries of their projects.

According to the ministry, an increasing number of Vietnamese businesses are interested in expanding their production and business abroad.

Deputy minister Trung said that beside the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to improve national economy, Vietnam also fosters its investment into other countries. Up to October 2009, Vietnamese enterprises have invested into 50 countries and territories with total investment of over US$6.9 billion, among which, the countries in Mekong region such as Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and China are always priority destinations.

Up to now, Vietnam has invested US$3.6 billion into the Mekong region, accounting for over 50% of Vietnam’s outbound investment, he said. Vietnamese investors mainly focus on mining, agriculture, power generation, manufacturing, electronic and services.

The ministry said that as domestic enterprises’ financial potential keeps increasing together with the economic growth, they will naturally expand markets and strengthen economic and technical cooperation. As a result, outward investment is their first option.

It is expected that in the next few years, offshore investments by domestic enterprises will make annual increases of US$500 million on average. These activities prove the diversification of investment outflows which have become a new trend for domestic enterprises.

Regarding the conference on Thursday, participants including diplomats, experts and entrepreneurs said opportunities in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) are plentiful for investors, given preferential incentives and favorable business conditions.

The GMS member states are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, and Yunnan and Guangxi Province of China.

The conference, organized in HCMC by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Association for Economic Cooperation Development, highlighted circumstances of investment cooperation in the Mekong region as well as advantages and challenges for enterprises investing in the region.

Tadashi Kikuchi of the Consulate General of Japan in HCMC said that some 2,300 Japanese companies that are doing business in the Mekong region also treat the whole region as one market.

“The Mekong region countries… have considerable potentials for future development with plentiful natural resources and cheap and diligent workforce. This point is one of the reasons why Japan attaches importance to the Mekong region,” he added.

The region is of high potential for investors in infrastructure, tourism, mining, power generation and farming projects. However, participants the conference noted that transport facilities and infrastructure needed to be improved in order to make trade more efficient in the region.

At the conference, representatives of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand have pledged good treatment for investors committed to the countries.

The Saigon Times Daily

Tags: Vietnam Cambodia cooperation, Vietnam Laos cooperation