Singapore vows to ramp up investment activities
Singapore vows to ramp up investment activities
Singapore will boost its investment in new environmentally friendly fields in Vietnam, further increasing its investment portfolio in the country.
During Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to Singapore on April 25-27, his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong vowed that Singapore would continue increasing its investment in Vietnam in new sectors, with the application of high technologies, such as clean energy, waste treatment, water management, and the construction of high-tech parks and smart cities. Singapore will also support Vietnam in constructing seaports and developing logistics services and high-tech agriculture. Additionally, it will invest in Vietnamese technological startups.
Sunseap International–the global arm of Singaporean clean energy provider Sunseap Group–and Singapore-headquartered InfraCo Asia Development recently signed a deal to develop a 168 megawatt-peak utility-scale solar power project in Vietnam’s south-central province of Ninh Thuan. InfraCo will fund the project. The project is expected to generate electricity for 200,000 households across the country.
InfraCo Asia Development is now also co-operating with Singapore’s Darco Water Technologies on a design-build-own-operate (DBOO) project covering four municipal water treatment plants in Vietnam.
InfraCo Asia provides funding, leadership, and experience in DBOO deal structuring, and supports Darco in feasibility studies. The plants will take feedwater from rivers and treat it to potable standards.
Douglas Foo, president of Singapore Manufacturing Federation, said that Vietnam is emerging as an ideal manufacturing base in Asia.
“There are opportunities for Singapore businesses, first to capitalise on Vietnam’s competitive advantage as a manufacturing location, particularly in the consumer electronics, apparel, and food manufacturing sectors, and second, to offer supporting services like automation and logistics services to multinational corporations which are establishing manufacturing operations in Vietnam,” Foo said. “Our companies have invested in Vietnam in many sectors, such as port operations and logistics. Real estate players also continue to explore township, housing, and industrial developments.”
In an interview with VIR, Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Catherine Wong Siow Ping said that Singaporean companies tend to take a long-term approach when investing in Vietnam and have continued to explore business opportunities across a variety of sectors.
“Manufacturing continues to be a very viable sector in Vietnam, especially after the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community. Vietnam has successfully established itself as an attractive manufacturing location and has become Asia’s new manufacturing hub,” she said.
Currently, Singapore is also looking to boost its co-operation with Vietnam in water treatment.
“Singapore has a vibrant eco-system of water companies that ps the entire value chain, including water treatment, equipment OEMs, and project development,” she said. “Singaporean firms are keen to co-operate with Vietnam in this sector, such as water treatment facilities in sanitation projects to provide drinkable water to people, and to secure a water supply for industrial applications.”
During PM Phuc’s visit to Singapore, 16 co-operation deals were inked by the two nations’ firms. He welcomed more investment from Singapore, particularly in the
equitisation of Vietnamese state-owned enterprises and in the fields of energy, infrastructure, urban solutions, science and technology, high-tech parks, smart cities, and the digital economy.
As of March 20, Singapore was Vietnam’s third-largest foreign investor, with registered capital of over $43 billion in 2,015 projects.
