In the first months of 2021, as many countries around the world are facing serious effects from the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam's total of investment capital abroad, both newly added and additional, increased by more than three times compared to the same period last year.

The farm in the Lao-Jagro dairy complex in Xieng Khouang of Vinamilk.

Increase more than US$500 million

According to a report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first five months of 2021, Vietnam's total newly and additionally investment abroad reached US$546.7 million, rising more than three times compared to the same period of 2020.

In which, 21 projects were granted new investment registration certificates, with a total registered capital of US$143.5 million (equivalent to 88.7% over the same period last year) and nine projects that are adjusted investment capital with total additional capital equal US$403.2 million (up 21.4 times over the same period last year).

Vietnamese investors have invested abroad in 12 sectors. In which, the fields of professional activities, science and technology took the lead with three times capital adjustment projects, the total newly and additional investment capital was US$270.8 million, accounting for 49.5% of the total investment capital. Next is the wholesale and retail sectors; agriculture, forestry, fisheries; administrative activities and support services.

The US led with three new investment projects and two capital adjustment projects, with total registered investment capital of US$302.8 million, accounting for 55.4% of total investment capital. Cambodia ranked second, followed by Canada, France.

Thanks to that, by the end of May 2021, Vietnam had 1,420 valid overseas investment projects with a total investment capital of US$21.81 billion in Vietnam.

The amount of new investment capital increased sharply from projects of domestic corporations and private enterprises. For example, three projects of Vingroup invested in France, the Netherlands and Canada with an investment capital of US$32 million and a project of US$20.5 million in Singapore with the goal of trade and import and export of telecommunications equipment, electronics, home appliances, automobiles.

Vingroup also adjusted to increase investment capital in the project in the US by US$300 million; Indochina Rubber Development and Investment Co., Ltd., project in Cambodia increased by US$76 million and Vinfast's project in Germany increased by US$32 million.

Since the beginning of the year, Vingroup's total registered investment capital abroad has been about US$448.5 million, in which nearly 70% in the US market to realize the goal of selling VinFast electric cars in America.

In addition to Vingroup, some Vietnamese enterprises with foreign investment projects since the beginning of 2021 are Military Telecommunications Group (Viettel), Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), FPT Software Co., Ltd.; Green An Phat Plastic Joint Stock Company, Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Mobifone Global Technology Joint Stock Company.

Looking for new business opportunities

Recently, Truong Thanh Wood Industry Group Joint Stock Company has announced its plan to contribute capital to Natuzzi Singapore Pte Ltd, headquartered in Singapore with a maximum of 20% of Natuzzi Singapore's charter capital. It is worth mentioning that by the end of the first quarter of 2021, Truong Thanh Wood recorded a cumulative loss of more than US$3,080 billion, negative equity of more than US$620 billion.

Therefore, Truong Thanh Wood is planning to offer 100 million new shares to make capital contribution to the company in Singapore as above. Talking to the press, the leader of this company said that the investment in an international brand aims to increase the value of manufactured goods in Vietnam, as well as help Truong Thanh Wood become the leading wood enterprise in ASEAN in terms of technology value, revenue and efficiency. Meanwhile, for Natuzzi, the deal with Truong Thanh Wood helps them achieve the goal of expanding business outside of China, targeting the Asia-Pacific region.

As for the largest corporation in Vietnam, Vingroup with their ambition in 2021 is VinFast plans to launch five electric motorcycle models and three smart car models VFe34, VF35 and VF36, in which two models are VF35 and VF36 will be open for sale in foreign markets including the US, Canada and Europe from the end of 2021, and are expected to be handed over from 2022. Therefore, strong investment abroad is part of this plan of Vingroup.

In fact, many Vietnamese enterprises have recorded favorable revenue from the international market. The most typical is Viettel Global, consolidated business results in the first quarter of 2021 with net revenue of VND4,628 billion, an increase of 8% compared to VND4,304 billion in the same period last year.

With Vinamilk, favorable business results have made the management of this business decide to focus on investing in large projects to expand its scale, including the Lao-Jagro dairy farm complex in Laos. It is expected that the first farm of the complex with a scale of 8,000 dairy cows will produce commercial milk in the first quarter of 2022.

These results are the driving force and also show the potential for Vietnamese enterprises to continue implementing their overseas investment strategy.