A Samsung Electronics factory in Bac Ninh province. (Photo: VNA)

Despite a decline in global investment flows, Vietnam remained an attractive destination for foreign companies, especially large-scale enterprises, experts have said.

Over the past five months of this year, foreign investment registered in the country reached nearly 10.86 billion USD, up 10.6% month-on-month, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).

Of the sum, more than 5.26 billion USD was injected into 962 new projects, representing year-on-year increases of 27.8% in the value and 66.4% in the number, the agency said.

Koh Chiap Khiong, Sembcorp Industries' CEO of Singapore and Southeast Asia, told vtv.vn that his company had focused on expanding the renewable energy portfolio in Vietnam, in line with the country's climate goals.

He added that there were many opportunities to drive business growth in line with the country's energy transition as the supply chain was expanding.

Chairman of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Hyosung Group Cho Hyun Joo said his firm considered Vietnam a strategic market. Hyosung has developed production facilities in many localities throughout the country, such as Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces.

He told baodautu.vn that his group would not only want to expand the scale but also to turn the country into a sustainable investment destination.

Another Korean firm, Doosan Group, said it was looking to expand eco-friendly energy investment in Vietnam as one of the future strategies that it is aiming at the potential clean energy market in the Southeast Asian country.

Doosan Enerbility company had signed agreements with three companies operating thermal power plants in Vietnam to promote an environmentally friendly fuel conversion project.

The RoK’s firm and Nghi Son 2 Power Limited Liability Company have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on energy collaboration to research the application of carbon reduction solutions in electricity production, coal consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.

These MoUs were among a series of cooperation deals inked among Vietnam and the RoK firms during the Vietnam-Korea Economic Forum, held in the capital city last week under the framework of the State visit to Vietnam by  RoK President Yoon Suk Yeol.

They had proved the keen interest of Korean investors in the Vietnamese market, experts said.

FIA Director Do Nhat Hoang said that Vietnam saw a breakthrough in the Korean investment flow over the past six or seven years.

The RoK is now the largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of 82 billion USD.

Most notably, several leading Korean business groups, including Samsung, LG, and Posco, had initiated projects worth billions of dollars in Vietnam.

Although Korean investment in Vietnam tended to slow down in the first five months of this year, due to the general trend of global investment flows, a bright future was ahead, baodautu.vn cited Hoang as saying.

He added that the FIA had a list of dozens of Korean-invested projects waiting for approval, some worth hundreds of millions of dollars, some valued at billions of dollars and his agency would soon publish the information about these projects.

Large Korean corporations were considering Vietnam as the number one investment destination, Hoang noted.

In his speech at the Vietnam-Korea Economic Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said Vietnam was giving priority to three strategic breakthroughs regarding institutional reforms, infrastructure and human resources.

The country was also stepping up economic restructuring, industrialisation and modernisation based on sci-tech and innovation, including sustainable growth drivers such as the digital economy, digital transformation, green growth and circular economy in line with the country’s green growth strategy.

In such a process, Vietnam welcomed foreign investors, especially those from the RoK, particularly in innovation, digital transformation, biotechnology, electronics, semiconductors, clean energy, green economy, smart city development, and hi-tech agriculture, he stressed.

He also wished for their further investment in the cultural and entertainment industries.

At the forum, RoK President Yoon Suk Yeol said Vietnam and the RoK should boost joint work in digital transformation, energy transition and renewable energy./.