Hanoi ranking third yet striving for more

Ivan Tan - group director, Southeast Asia Group, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore

Singaporean companies recognise Vietnam’s strong economic potential. Our companies have registered over $30 billion in cumulative investments in 2014, making us Vietnam’s third largest foreign investor. The Vietnamese government has revised various pieces of legislation over the last few years to improve the business environment. The implementation and enforcement of these laws are critical to facilitate a closer partnership between our companies.

Given the rapid growth of key cities, including Hanoi, IE Singapore sees opportunities for our companies, primarily in the manufacturing and consumer services sectors. On the consumer front, the opening of mega luxury malls, such as the Royal City in Hanoi, has transformed the retail landscape. This presents opportunities for Singaporean food service and lifestyle brands to offer innovative products and services for increasingly sophisticated consumers.

IE Singapore will continue to work with Singaporean companies to explore investment opportunities in Vietnam. Our Overseas Centres in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City engage local governments and enterprises to identify and facilitate potential business partnerships.

Victoria Kwakwa, country director of World Bank in Vietnam

The World Bank’s partnership with the city of Hanoi focuses on supporting its rapid urbanisation process. We are working with Hanoi on complex urban infrastructure investment projects such as the creation of the first-ever Bus Rapid Transit system in the city. Our collaboration also involves helping the city authorities build their capacity to manage the urbanisation process by learning from the experiences of other cities, through participation in global conferences, study tours and south-south exchange visits. We have also provided support in other sectors such as energy, education, health care, transport, land administration, food safety, water supply and sanitation through national level projects. Our work in Hanoi, particularly on urban development, is being coordinated very closely with the support of other donors.

Given the strategic importance of Hanoi for Vietnam’s development, the World Bank is proud to have a strong partnership built on trust and mutual respect with the city.

Susumu Sato, deputy director of Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO)

As of June 2015, there were 606 member companies in the Japan Business Association in Vietnam (JBAV) of northern Vietnam, which is about twice as much as the membership count in 2007.

About half of the member companies are from the manufacturing industry, mostly positioned in two areas. The first area is the export processing of consumer electronics, office automation equipments and auto parts, with major assemblers such as Canon, Brothers, Kyocera Mita, Fuji Xerox, Panasonic and Denso as well as their suppliers.

Except for the above companies, most JBAV members directly export their products. The second type deals with the domestic demand of motorbikes and automobiles, such as Honda, Yamaha, Toyota and their suppliers.

Manufacturers in northern Vietnam are mainly located in the industrial zones of Hanoi, Haiphong, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc. On the other hand, recently, there have been many investment projects in non-manufacturing industries such as trading, consultancy and IT.

In northern Vietnam surrounding Hanoi, major infrastructure projects such as roads and ports are being developed from Japanese ODA. For example, the expressways of Phap Van-Cau Gie, Cau Gie-Ninh Binh, Hanoi-Thai Nguyen and Noi Bai International Airport’s Terminal 2, as well as Nhat Tan Bridge have been completed from the same sources. The Hanoi-Haiphong expressway and Lach Huyen port (Japanese PPP projects) are under construction. If these projects are developed, it is expected that they will help attract further investment to Hanoi and the northern provinces.