Vietnam - Investors eye Vietnam as rest of Asia loses sheen

With labour costs soaring in China and Japan and Thailand suffering from natural disasters, Vietnam is likely to see investments flow in from these countries, newswire Dan Tri reported.

Greg Ohan, national head of Industrial & Logistics Services and Global Corporate Services of investment research company CBRE Richard Ellis, speaking at conference held by the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said: "Pressures from the increased wages and other costs have reduced the competitiveness of the Chinese industrial sector and many international manufacturers establishing plants in China plan to transfer such production facilities to other countries.

"They want to move to a country with more convenient conditions such as labour costs, land prices, and traffic infrastructure, all of which can be found in Vietnam."

For instance, Canadian textile manufacturer Vintex was eying Vietnam for its $150 million project while Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group also had similar plans, he said.

"Camera manufacturer Olympus also plans to combine its two plants in China into one and build it in Vietnam in a project worth $88 million."

Other markets had also become volatile, offering opportunities to Vietnam, he said.

One of them was Japan, which was ranked the fourth largest investor in Vietnam and had invested around $21.6 billion in 1,560 projects in the first half of this year, he said.

"The earthquake disaster has forced many manufacturers to consider moving to Vietnam as a safer destination."

The devastating floods in Thailand were also worrying investors, he said.

With the waters yet to recede, Thailand has shut down seven industrial zones, where the plants of many major manufacturers like Canon, Toshiba, Lenovo, Apple, and Toyota were located.

Consequently, they were eying other Southeast Asian countries, Ohan said. "Vietnam has attracted the attention of many auto and motorbike makers including Yamaha, Piaggio, and Honda."

Other speakers at the conference also said the Vietnamese industrial sector was expecting a breakthrough with its many new policies to attract investors, improved infrastructure, and 177 industrial zones available countrywide.

The large workforce, reasonable wages, and stable polity also helped make Vietnam a more appealing destination, they said.

Tuoi Tre

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