Vietnamese central, local officials and industrial park reps visit Seoul

One-on-one consultations on location, tax incentives; support for comparing investment candidate sites

KOTRA President Kang Gyeong-seong delivers opening remarks at the Vietnam Investment Environment Briefing held at KOTRA headquarters on Wednesday. [KOTRA]
KOTRA President Kang Gyeong-seong delivers opening remarks at the Vietnam Investment Environment Briefing held at KOTRA headquarters on Wednesday. [KOTRA]

KOTRA brought together Vietnamese central and local government officials and industrial park representatives at a single investment briefing to help Korean companies expand their investment in Vietnam.

KOTRA held the Vietnam Investment Environment Briefing on Wednesday at its headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul. A Vietnamese delegation of about 30 people — including officials from the central and local governments and 10 industrial parks — traveled to Korea for the event, which drew more than 100 Korean companies considering entry into the Vietnamese market.

Vietnam ranks alongside the United States and China as one of Korea's three largest investment destinations and trading partners. According to the Export-Import Bank of Korea, cumulative overseas direct investment since 1980 stands at $282.5 billion for the US and $99.8 billion for China, with Vietnam third at $43 billion.

The briefing covered bilateral trade and investment trends, investment attraction policies, overseas expansion support programs and local merger and acquisition information. Representatives from 10 industrial parks in the north (Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen and Ninh Binh), center (Nghe An and Gia Lai) and south (Ho Chi Minh City and Tay Ninh) outlined promising industries and investment conditions in their respective regions, covering electronics and component materials, renewable energy and consumer goods.

Leadership from Hung Yen Province — which has been growing into a broader economic zone following last year's administrative consolidation — also attended and actively courted Korean investors. Officials said the province is developing a free economic zone modeled on Korea's own free economic zones.

At the one-on-one consultation sessions after the briefing, participating companies met with industrial park officials from their regions of interest to compare location conditions, infrastructure, tax incentives and move-in procedures as they evaluated potential investment sites suited to their businesses.

"Being able to compare investment conditions in the northern, central and southern regions all in one place, and getting advice from on-the-ground experts, really helped us map out a concrete direction for market entry," said a representative from one of the participating companies.

KOTRA said Vietnam's manufacturing competitiveness is rising amid the global supply chain realignment. An open trade environment, an abundant labor force, and tax and land incentives for advanced industries such as semiconductors and AI continue to draw investment from global companies, it added.

Vietnam's foreign direct investment disbursements reached $27.6 billion last year, a five-year high, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. Korean investment in Vietnam also rose 5 percent year-on-year to $2.9 billion.

"Amid turbulence in global supply chains and the trade order, Vietnam is drawing attention as a leading candidate destination for companies considering overseas expansion," KOTRA President Kang Gyeong-seong said. "We will provide close support throughout the entire investment process to help companies minimize trial and error and establish themselves in the local market."


eyre@heraldcorp.com