Hanoi (VNA) – Nearly 1,000 foreign enterprisesfrom 28 countries and territories, including giants such as Boeing, Walmart,and Central Retail, have entered Vietnam to explore investment opportunities andseek partners since early September.

Unlimited demand for goods

According to Avaneesh Gupta, Senior Vice President of General Merchandise & Apparel Sourcing at Walmart – the world's number one retailer, Vietnam is among thetop five countries for exports of wood and agricultural products, and ranks 10th globally for textiles and footwear exports.

Notably, Vietnamese products are increasingly gaining popularity amongconsumers worldwide, Gupta said.

As part of the 2024 supplemental sourcing strategy for the Walmart network, thefirm has deployed procurement teams to Vietnam to explore sourcingopportunities in the country, with theproduct categories including seafood, cashew nuts, soy milk, coffee, fresh fruits,and fruit-based snacks, he said.

Lionel Adenot, Director of Decathlon Vietnam Group, has mentioned that his companyis expanding its textile product supply with unlimited volume.

However, to become suppliers of the firm, Vietnamese businesses need to meet specificconditions, including ensuring that factories do not use coal and have a roadmapto eliminate the use of fossil fuels by 2025, achieving self-sufficiency in rawmaterial supply, favouring environmentally friendly, on-site material usage, andimplementing digital transformation in their production processes, he said.

Decathlon Vietnam Group will prioritise businessesthat meet criteria related to responsibilities towards workers and thecommunity, he added.

Agriculture also represents an enticing industry forforeign investors.

Central Retail Group has offered technical assistance andmethodologies for cultivating organic honeydew melons to Danny Green Corporation,which has successfully established and currently operates a 120-ha organichoneydew melon farm in the south-central province of Binh Thuan.

Insiders said that foreign companies are willingto collaborate with Vietnamese businesses to standardise farming and productionprocesses in order to improve the supply capacity of these businesses, thus stabilisingthe supply of goods for their supply chains.

Abundantopportunities of direct investment

Besides seeking reliable supply sources, numerousbusinesses from the RoK, the US, and Europe are keen on directly investing inVietnam.

Jean Jacques Bouflet, Vice-Chairman ofthe European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), said with its strategicgeographical location, stable economy, young workforce, and favourablepolicies, Vietnam is emerging as an increasingly important destination in theglobal supply chain.

Since the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free TradeAgreement (EVFTA) in 2019, European enterprises have invested in 2,250 projectsworth 26 billion USD in Vietnam.

In addition, the race for investment in Vietnam has attracted numerous leading UScorporations such as Apple, Qualcomm, Nike, Morgan Stanley, Intel, GE, ACORNInternational, General Dynamics, and Google. Recently, Boeing alsoexplored opportunities to expand its investment in Ho Chi Minh City, especiallyin material supply facilities and establishing technical centres, Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper reported.

According to Maxime Dourdan, Director of Supply Chain Development for Boeing in Southeast Asia, Japan, and the RoK, compared to Japan and the RoK, Vietnam holdsa significant advantage when it comes to production costs.

Additionally, the capacity of the Vietnamese supporting industry has significantlyimproved in recent years, with many Vietnamese businesses becoming part of theglobal supply chains of large corporations like Samsung, Sanyo, Intel, andothers. Thisserves as a foundation for Boeing to explore cooperation and expandits supply chain investments in Vietnam, Dourdan said.

Statisticsfrom the Ministry of Planning and Investment show that foreign firms invested 18.15billion USD in Vietnam in the first eight months of 2023, representing an increaseof 8.2% compared to the same period last year.

To attract more sustainable investment inflows, there should be consistency ininvestment incentive policies to reassure investors about long-term business operationsin the Southeast Asian nation, said Hong Sun, Chairmanof the Korea Chamber of Business in Vietnam./.