AES (USA) Wants to Invest in Son My 2 Thermal Power Plant

AES Energy Company (USA) wants to invest and deploy the project of Son My 2 Gas Hydropower Plant and LNG Port Warehouse in Son My commune, Ham Tan district, Binh Thuan province together with PV Gas Corporation Vietnam (PV Gas).

At the working session with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), Mr David Stone – General Director in charge of Vietnam market of AES Energy Company (USA) expressed the wish to be supported by PVN to invest and deploy the project of Son My 2 Gas Hydropower Plant and LNG Port Warehouse in Son My commune, Ham Tan district, Binh Thuan province together with PV Gas Corporation Vietnam (PV Gas).

PVN’s Deputy General Director affirmed that PVN is supportive and willing to cooperate with such American investors as AES in the field of oil and gas, especially gas thermal power and port warehouses projects that PVN is calling for investment. PVN also requested AES to work closely with PV Gas and report the results to PVN as soon as possible.

The Son My 2 Gas Hydropower Plant project is one of the 9 gas thermal power projects assigned by the Government to PVN as the investor and the power project under the revised Power Development Master Plan VII.

This project is expected to include 3 Son My plants, which are Son My 2.1, Son My 2.2 and Son My 2.3 with an expected capacity of 750 MW per plant, using imported LNG for power generation and will be located at the Son My Oil, Gas, Industry and Service Complex.

According to the plan, 3 plants under the Son My 2 gas power plant project will be operated in 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively.

AES operates in the US electricity sector and is on the list of 200 global energy companies, ranked by Fortune Magazine.

AES operates mainly in the field of thermal power and renewable energy production in 17 countries around the world. The power plants of AES are diversified in power sources including coal-fired thermal power, gas-fired thermal power, thermal gas power, hydro-electric power, wind power and biomass power.

AES now owns an LNG plant in the Dominican Republic with the port that can unload 10,000 m3/h and a 160,000 m3 LNG storage tanks. Moreover, AES is the owner of the LNG project with a 170,000 m3 depot in Panama and has participated in the BOT Mong Duong 2 power plant project.

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Hau Giang Receives 2 Energy Investment Projects

Energy is always a promising sector to attract foreign investors to set up business in Vietnam.

Recently, while many provinces in the Mekong Delta are thirsty for foreign direct investment (FDI), Hau Giang – a province with difficult socio-economic conditions, is receiving investment registration of 2 FDI projects with investment capital of over 4 billion USD in energy sector.

According to the Department of Planning and Investment of Hau Giang province, the 1st project is the Jinko Solar Vietnam, which is the solar polar plant, invested by Jinko Solar International Development Co., Ltd (Hong Kong) in Hoa An commune, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province with the goal of producing commercial electricity from solar energy. The plant has a designed capacity of 35 MW, using 40ha of land and the land lease period is 50 years.

The total investment capital of the project is 1,168 billion VND (equivalent to 52.5 million USD). According to the legal representative of Jinko Solar International Development Co., Ltd, the company has sufficient financial resources to carry out the project. In terms of technology, the plant uses the technology to convert optical energy into electricity using energy panels (photovoltaic technology) for high conversion efficiency, reasonable investment cost and suitable with Vietnam climate.

The 2nd project is the Song Hau 3 thermal power plant, invested by Viet Lao Energy Development and Investment Joint Stock Company, representing the consortium of investors including: Deo Ca Investment JSC, Viet Lao Energy Development and Investment JSC, Phongsubthavy Irrigation – Bridge and Road Construction Co., Ltd (headquartered in Vientiane, Laos). The investors propose location of the project at Song Hau Electricity Center, Phu Huu A commune, Chau Thanh district, Hau Giang province.

The objective of the project is to invest in the construction of a thermal power plant to supply commercial electricity to the national electricity network to meet the increasing demand for electricity. The design capacity of the plant is about 2,000 MW (3 x 660 MW), the operating hour is about 6,500 hours per year; annual consumption output is 13 billion kWh per year. The land area for the project is 117.08 hectares, including the main factory area, slag yards, construction yard…The project implementation period is 50 years from the date receiving investment policy decision. Total investment of the project is estimated at 81 trillion VND (equivalent to 3.636 billion USD), 100% investors capital.

At the present, there are 29 FDI projects in Hau Giang province with total capital of 808,563,599 USD. If the 2 above projects are granted investment certificates, then Hau Giang will rise to the 2nd place in terms of attracting FDI investment in the Mekong Delta (only after Long An province, which currently attracts above 6.7 billion USD of FDI capital).

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Will Form New Value Chain in Vietnam – Japan Economic Cooperation

Will Form New Value Chain in Vietnam – Japan Economic Cooperation
June 21, 2017 by ANT Consulting Co.
Japan-Vietnam economic cooperation will form a new value chain

Japan has truly become a strategic partner of Vietnam. Currently, trade activities between the two countries are being promoted and more and more Japanese businesses choose to set up company in Vietnam.

According to Mr. Hironobu Kitagawa, Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Vietnam, it is not just a single sector investment, the integration of industry groups to create new value chains is essential for Vietnam -Japan economic cooperation.

During the recent visit to Japan by Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, many collaboration memorandum have been signed, as well as 1,600 attendees pointed out that Japanese enterprises pay high attention to the investment in Vietnam. In the eyes of Japanese businesses, Vietnamese market is a continuous growing market. In addition to the second group of industries (manufacturing and processing industries), enterprises will expand into other sectors such as the first industry group (agriculture sector) and the third industry group (service industries).

Japanese side affirmed that they would continue to support Vietnam in implementing the plans of the 6 selected industries in order to accelerate Vietnam’s industrialization and modernization process. Basically, direct investment from abroad will boost domestic industry and boost economic growth. Of course, if foreign economic relations accelerate, the ability to create new business opportunities will be greater, while stimulating the domestic consumption market. Therefore, through the receipt of investment from abroad, the building of mutually beneficial relationship is necessary.

Increasing investment from Japan in 6 areas (especially electronics, food processing and car accessories) is the focus for accumulation of supporting industries. This is expected to contribute to the nurturing of Vietnamese enterprises. Moreover, JETRO will continue to contribute to the development of supporting industries in Vietnam by organizing annual supporting industry exhibitions.

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Please click here to learn more about ANT Consulting or contact our lawyers and consultants in Vietnam for advice via email  ant@antconsult.vn or call our office at +84 28 3520 2779
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State of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Germany) Opens Representative Office in Vietnam

The representative office of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Federal Republic of Germany) in Vietnam has officially come into operation from July 2017 with the purpose of promoting trade and investment, paving the way for German businesses to set up business in Vietnam and vice versa.

This representative office is located at the Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam. The office will provide information about the market, business and investment environment in Baden-Wuerttemberg to businesses in Vietnam. For businesses in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the office will assist in finding partners and exploring the investment environment in Vietnam.

The State of Baden-Wuerttemberg is Germany’s third-largest state, one of Europe’s most important economic centers and also a major investment destination of this continent.

With its favorable geographic location, adjacent to France, Austria and Switzerland, the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg is the ideal gateway to the European market with nearly 500 million customers. In fact, The State of Baden-Wuerttemberg has always been a leader in exports and a major contributor to the significant growth of the German economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the state in 2015 is 460 billion euros, higher than the GDP of Belgium, Sweden or Austria. The global companies such as Daimler, Bosch, SAP, GFT Technologies and Posche all have their headquarters in this state.

Meanwhile, established in Vietnam since 1993, the Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam, as a representative for Germany’s Ministry of Economy and Energy, always supports and promotes business cooperation and Investment between Germany and Vietnam.

In addition to information about the market, partners and investment locations, this office also co-operated with German businesses in Vietnam to implement projects on parallel vocational training, bringing supporting projects of the German Ministry of Economy to Vietnam in renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors, as well as supporting Vietnamese enterprises in accessing the German market via the trade fair channels.

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Banking Sector in Vietnam

1. Overview

Vietnam’s banking sector has shown significant improvement which results from stable inflation and interested rate, favorable environment for foreign direct investment and a shift from deficit to surplus of the country’s current account. This sector plays a crucial role in Vietnam’s economic development in recent years.

2.Banking system

There are two tiers in banking sector in Vietnam. The first one is State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) which is responsible for monetary policy and supervision/regulation of the banking system in Vietnam. The second one consists of commercial banks, financial companies, credit co-operatives, people’s credit funds, and insurance companies. The main activity driving banking system is commercial bank which includes 5 state-owned commercial banks, 33 joint stock commercial banks, 5 joint venture commercial banks and 5 wholly-owned foreign owned bank.

State owned commercial banks (SOCB) account for more than 40% of market share. The largest bank in terms of total assets, network and still 100% state owned share is Agribank. And four other SOCB areVietcom bank, Viettin Bank, BIDV and MHB.

Joint stock commercial banks (JSCB) have small capital/deposit base and more diversified shareholding structured compared to state owned commercial banks. There are currently 33 JSCB, which the leading ones are SaiGon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), Military Joint Stock Commercial Bank (MBB), Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (EIB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and SaiGonThuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (STB)

Also SBV had granted 5 licences to permit HSBC, Standard Charter Bank, ANZ Bank, Shinhan Bank and Hong Leong Bank to establish as wholly-owned foreign banks

3.Potential opportunities for foreign investment

There are solid evidences to prove that Vietnam’s banking sector has such a huge potential for foreign investment

• Government effort of reforming banking system

SBV suggested that merge and acquisition of loss making and incompetent bank would be necessary to improve efficiency within the industry. For example, in 2015, SBV forced merge of loss making Vietnam Construction Bank to Vietcom bank with purchasing share price for 0 VND. By forcing merge and acquisition of incompetent banks, SBV has increased exploitation of economies of scale and the reduced burden on regulators

• Trade agreements facilitate foreign ownership and investment

Have taken part in variety of trade agreement such as Trans Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TTP),  Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Free Trade Agreement with different countries, Vietnam has made restructuring move to standardize banking system which will be compatible and accessible to other countries. Vietnam is required to have bilateral arrangement which eliminate the challenges of foreign establishment of banking services.

The government also encourages foreign investors to hold shares for five year period and partnering with the local bank to enhance management, capacity or new development. With the 30% limit of oversea ownership to domestic banks, the strategic foreign investors are allowed to acquire up to 15% of share in a bank, and up to 20% with Prime Ministerial approval. HSBC has also invested in a leading local bank, possessing a 20% stake in the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank—Techcombank. It is also the sole foreign strategic partner of the BaoViet Finance-Insurance Group, Vietnam’s largest insurance company. In a vote of confidence in the insurer, HSBC increased its stake to 18% in October 2009.

• Vietnam- a destination of foreign investment in South East Asian market

There is a huge untapped market in Vietnam. According to SBV, only 20% of more than 90 million citizens in Vietnam hold bank accounts and 3% of the population have credit cards. With 87% of the population under the age of 54, there is a great opportunity for retail banking activity development in Vietnam.

Also it is agreed that SME and rural areas have had challenges to access bank investment and loan. The data of Asian Development Bank shows that “lack the capacity to assess the risk of investment into SMEs and find bankable projects” and lack of knowledge about loan and lending systems for rural citizens are the main reasons leading to currentunder-banked circumstances.

The stable economic with GDP growth of around 6% to 7%; low wage costs; a large population with a high savings rate and lack of innovative approach to the market are advantages for foreign investors to accelerate financial and industrial development in Vietnam market.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice
• Outsourcing Services

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

We could be reached at email: ant@antconsult.vn or tel: +848 3520 2779 .  To learn more about us, please visit www.antconsult.vn

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New Taste of Singaporean Investors

Recent projects of Singaporean investors have shown new features in the investment taste of Singapore enterprises when they decide to set up business in Vietnam.

In July 2017, United Overseas Bank (UOB – Singapore) was approved by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in principle to set up a 100% foreign owned bank in Vietnam. The list of personnel proposed to be appointed as members of the Board of Members, the Board of Supervisors, the General Director of UOB has also been approved. After much waiting, UOB finally has a “passport” to operate in Vietnam as a bank with 100% foreign capital in Vietnam. What is left is just completing the dossiers and procedures for the SBV to make the final decision.

UOB is the first bank in Singapore setting up a subsidiary in Vietnam. This event seems to mark the “new taste” of Singaporean investors. Previously, Singapore’s investment capital is mainly focused on such projects as processing, manufacturing and real estate. Now, it seems that the cash flow is changing direction.

Not just banking project, latest information indicates that Singaporean investors have also begun to pay attention to the energy sector in Vietnam. Last year, UOB under UOB Venture Management Pte Ltd (UOB VM), along with ORIX Corporation (Japan) have invested 25 million USD in Bitexco Power JSC under Bitexco Group. The involvement of well-known global organizations like UOB and ORIX will make a significant contribution to Vietnam’s energy sector.

In addition, Sembcorp is also a Singaporean investor willing to invest billions of dollars for a power plant in Vietnam.

According to the information, at the end of July 2017, Sembcorp’s representative went to Quang Ngai to officially report to the leaders of this province that Sembcorp will have a Feasibility Study Report at the end of this year about the gas thermal power plant in Dung Quat Economic Zone.

Last year, The Blue Circle – Singapore’s wind power developer has received an investment certificate for a 40 MW project in Ninh Thuan province, with investment capital in the 1st phase of 60 million USD.

In fact, Singapore has always been a leading investor in Vietnam. According to data from the Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Planning and Investment), the accumulated capital so far invested by Singaporean enterprises is 41.6 billion USD, ranking 3rd in countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Many of Singapore’s projects have contributed significantly to Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

One of the noteworthy examples is Sembcorp joint venture with Becamex to develop a series of VSIP industrial parks and urban areas spanning across Vietnam, from Binh Duong, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong to Quang Ngai, Nghe An, Hai Phong… At the beginning of this year, VSIP decided to invest in a third industrial zone in Binh Duong, with a total registered capital of 284.75 million USD.

Not only VSIP, many other Singaporean investors have also succeeded in Vietnam and are continuing to boost investment. Last year, Mapletree Investment Pte Ltd decided to acquire Kumho Asiana Plaza Saigon in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City from Kumho Industrial Company Limited and Asiana Airlines Incorporated. After this deal, Mapletree’s assets in Vietnam amounted to more than 1 billion SGD.

Prior to Mapletree, Keppel Land has also acquired 40% of the Empire City project in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City, equivalent to 93.9 million USD. Not to mention, many other Singaporean enterprises have also invested much in Vietnam, such as Banyan Tree with Laguna Lang Co project, total capital of 875 million USD; or KinderWorld with a series of international schools in many provinces, cities and is continuing new investment plans…

Not stopping with the current results, Singaporean enterprises are still quietly looking for new investment opportunities in Vietnam. The fact that UOB opened a subsidiary in Vietnam is to serve the purpose of investing more and more in Vietnam of Singaporean enterprises.

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