German investors discover Vietnamese startups and tourism scene

German investors to put more than $300 million into Viet digital start-ups and tourism

A business delegation led by former German Vice-Chancellor Philipp Rösler arrived in Hanoi on November 22 to look into digital startups and the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in Vietnam.

The delegation includes a dozen distinguished entrepreneurs and investors from Germany, Switzerland, and Israel will be received by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and representatives of the ministries of Health, Industry and Trade, Planning and Investment, Information and Communication, and Natural Resources and Environment during their one-week stay in the capital.

Rösler, who left German politics and settled down in Switzerland in 2014, has recently launched his own consulting firm Consessor AG to “advise and support” companies in the German-speaking area in their expansion strategy into Southeast Asia, chiefly Vietnam – his birthplace.

“The investors are fascinated by the startup environment and dynamics in Vietnam,” said the former Federal Minister of Economics and Technology of Germany while revealing an investor has decided to establish a $100 million venture fund dedicated exclusively to Vietnam’s digital startups.

They are expected to see some candidates of the approximately 260 participating companies at the national festival for innovative startups (TechFest Vietnam 2020) scheduled over this weekend in Hanoi.

“Seeing Vietnam’s huge tourism potential, a prominent investor has decided to put another $210 million to build a 542-room hotel and condominium complex along a southern sandy beach of the country,” Rösler added.

Rösler also said that investors are particularly interested in healthcare equipment production in Vietnam.

“The excellent management of the COVID-19 crisis by the Vietnamese government has improved the country’s investment environment significantly in the last months. At the same time, Vietnam has manufactured high-quality surgical instruments and distributed them across the world. That helps position Vietnam as an ideal location for the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the worldwide health crisis,” said Rösler.

It is known that at least two German companies joining the delegation want to set up PPE manufacturing in Vietnam.

Huge efforts

The arrival of the high-profile investors during a second wave of the coronavirus raging across the world signifies a strong desire and tremendous efforts from both sides.

Dr. Le Linh Lan, Vietnam’s Ambassador to Switzerland, said that her Bern-based mission, the Office of the Government and a number of ministries in Hanoi were working closely for nearly three months to arrange this trip, which was rescheduled several times due to complicated developments of the COVID-19 situation.

As Vietnam imposes strict measures on overseas arrivals to prevent the spread of coronavirus into local communities, the delegation is very cooperative and will follow all guidelines and requirements, said the ambassador.

In Doha, State of Qatar, Rösler and the Swiss delegates were joined by other members of the delegation for the flight QR8954 to Hanoi early on Sunday.

After Hanoi, the delegation will fly to Ho Chi Minh City where the German House (Deutsches Haus) is still celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-Germany diplomatic relations, before leaving on November 29.