According to a Singapore Business Federation (SBF) survey, the Singaporean business community listed Vietnam as its top market of interest. Last month, the SBF and the Enterprise Singapore led a delegation of 36 Singaporean companies to Vietnam to explore cooperation opportunities.
According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, Singapore was Vietnam’s third largest foreign investor and largest ASEAN investor in 2018, with more than 2,200 investment projects in the services, manufacturing and processing sector, as well as real estate, for total capital of about US$49 billion. As of July 30, 2019, Singapore remained Vietnam’s third largest foreign investor, after the Republic of Korea and Japan, with total capital of US$50.65 billion for 2,295 projects.
Singaporean investors, among them big corporations such as Armstrong S.E. Clean Energy Fund, SHS Holdings Singapore’s Sinenergy Holdings, and The Blue Circle, have focused mostly on the Vietnamese manufacturing and processing sector, with investments totaling US$21.12 billion.
In terms of real estate, Keppel Land, CapitaLand, and Mapletree are Singapore’s real estate investors in Vietnam, with many apartment and office buildings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Sembcorp has been one of pioneer investors with its Vietnam-Singapore industrial parks, which are now a symbol of economic, trade and investment cooperation.
In addition to their interests in the manufacturing and processing sector and real estate, Singaporean investors are now venturing into other emerging sectors such as startups, smart cities, Industry 4.0, and consumer goods.
Specifically, Singapore launched the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) in Ho Chi Minh City last month to facilitate closer interaction between the startup and innovation systems in both Singapore and Vietnam. Singapore is also eagerly seeking opportunities to contribute to the development of smart cities in Vietnam.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the Vietnamese government commits to creating favorable conditions for Singaporean companies to operate successfully in Vietnam and stands ready to listen to their comments. He also hoped foreign investors, including Singaporean ones, would engage in long-term business commitments in Vietnam.
