Thai firms expanding presence in Vietnam despite COVID-19
Vietnam has remained an attractive destination for Thai enterprises to expand their business despite the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the region.
Thailand’s Delta Electronics PCL, a global producer of power and thermal management products and solutions, earlier this month announced it will establish a new subsidiary in Vietnam in the second or third quarter of this year.
The wholly-owned subsidiary will be incorporated in Vietnam with a charter capital of 500,000 USD, the company said, and will be involved in trade and solutions using Delta’s electronics products to benefit stakeholders and support local customers.
Jackie Chang, President of Delta Electronics, said the pandemic has not forced his company to change its expansion plans in Southeast Asia. “We expect Vietnam to play a key role in driving regional development, and Delta is ready to take an active role in the country’s growth story,” he said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), he added, forecasts that Vietnam will post the highest growth in ASEAN between 2020 and 2021 despite the impacts of the pandemic and this justifies Delta Electronics’ decision to expand its presence in the country.
The country’s Super Energy Corporation Company Limited (Super Energy), meanwhile, last month announced a decision to invest approximately 457 million USD in four solar power projects in the southern province of Binh Phuoc.
The corporation said it would pay 72.9 million USD to acquire between 70 and 100 percent of the under-construction Loc Ninh 1, Loc Ninh 2, Loc Ninh 3, and Loc Ninh 4 solar power plants with a total capacity of 750 MW.
The remainder of the funds, 383.8 million USD, will be used to complete construction and develop the projects, which are expected to become operational in December.
It expects a feed-in-tariff (FIT) of 7.09 USD per kW/h over 20 years and revenue of about 66.1 million USD annually from the four projects, starting next year.
The acquisition is a crucial step in the company’s plan to expand its business and improve its financial performance in the long term, said President and CEO Jormsup Lochaya. The economy will recover and demand for electricity will continue to rise, he added, so it decided to make these deals.
The Nikkei Asian Review reported this month that the Siam Cement Group (SCG) of Thailand will acquire Vietnamese packaging manufacturer the Bien Hoa Packaging JSC through a joint venture with leading Japanese cardboard producer Rengo.
Siam Cement said it was attracted by the growth potential of online shopping, as more and more Southeast Asian consumers choose to shop online to limit trips to crowded places as part of preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19.
The deal is estimated to be worth some 635 billion THB (19.2 million USD).
Thailand is currently Vietnam’s ninth-largest investor, with 549 projects worth 10.8 billion USD. Investors from the country injected 43.64 million USD into Vietnam in the first quarter of this year.
Source: VNA
