Vietnam is attracting a record number of Singaporean businesses which continue to look for opportunities to expand their operations abroad despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Enterprise Singapore (ESG) said it has supported more than double the number of internationalisation projects for enterprises looking to expand their operations into Vietnam since 2018.

From January to October 2020 alone, ESG supported 56.9% more projects year on year across sectors such as ICT and media, professional services, and education.

ESG assistant CEO Tan Soon Kim said since the launch of the Singapore Business Federation's GlobalConnect@SBF November last year, the initiative received the highest volume of enquiries for regional overseas business ventures on Vietnam.

Traditionally, Singapore firms that are keen to invest in or expand to Vietnam in the fields of infrastructure and urban solutions, but in recent years there has been growing interest in the areas of manufacturing, food and beverage and retail, Tan noted.

Functional juice company Doki Doki for instance, set up a factory in Vietnam in 2017. It decided to expand its sales channels to Vietnam this year.

Another company that is actively scaling up its retail presence in Vietnam is Norbreeze Group which distributes and markets jewellery and timepiece brands. This firm is opening three new owned-and-operated stores in Vietnam in November and five partner stores in December, and January next year.

One another business that has shifted quite permanently is NovaLand Group's Nova F&B, the franchisee for Jumbo Seafood in Vietnam.

Prior to the pandemic, delivery was never a big part of the overall revenue for the brand. However, due to impacts caused by the health crisis, delivery has become the new norm and the team in Vietnam had to quickly go about onboarding the company's brands on delivery platforms and implementing promotions to encourage consumer spending.

Overall, Vietnam’s success in fighting COVID-19 has helped Singaporean firms remain upbeat about their plans in the country, ESG said.