Under Vietnamese occupation, Prey Veng is renamed "Preyvan"

VN firms relish chances from overseas markets

Mon, January 14, 2013
Tuoitre news

A handful of local businesses have managed to overcome ongoing economic turbulence to bring Vietnamese products and services to other countries through a series of seven-figure investments.

On December 25, the Nam Sao Cambodia international fertilizer plant, the largest of its kind in Cambodia, was inaugurated in Preyvan Province, 40 kilometers from the capital city of Phnom Penh.

The US$65 million plant was invested in by the Nam Sao Cambodia Group, a joint venture between Vietnam’s Nam Sao International Corp, which holds a 90 percent stake, and Cambodia’s Investment and Development Corp.

More than 300 workers at the plant are now busily preparing for the very first batch of products.

“This is a huge leap for our company,” Nam Sao Corp chairman Tran Van Muoi said about the Cambodia investment.

Muoi said outbound investment is the company’s long-term strategy, adding that he is seeking permission to invest in the mining industry in Laos, and open another fertilizer plant in Myanmar.

A similarly busy atmosphere exists at the construction site of a power-saving bulb manufacturing complex in Venezuela, which received investment from Dien Quang Lamp Corporation, Vietnam’s leading lighting equipment manufacturer.

The $300 million project, run by a joint venture between Dien Quang and Venezuela's Industrial Petroleum and Gas Group, entered its first phase of operation in August 2011 with a capacity of 12 million bulbs a year.

Once the second phase is completed, this capacity will rise to 74 million bulbs per year.

“Venezuela was chosen as our investment destination since it has long been a traditional market of Dien Quang,” company chairman Ho Quynh Hung said, adding that the decision was also made because there was no power-saving light manufacturing plant in the South American country prior to Dien Quang’s arrival.

Vietnamese businesses have also created a footprint in the newly-opened market of Myanmar.

CT Group, a private company, has sunk $150 million into two realty projects, and is working to set up two manufacturing plants in the country, according to its chairman, Tran Kim Chung.

“They include a $20 million flour plant, and a $3 million instant noodle factory,” he elaborated.

Pros and cons

Military-run mobile operator Viettel, which has spread its services into a number of overseas markets, enjoyed a $76 million profit from abroad last year, nearly double the $40 million it earned a year earlier.

Viettel is now present in seven countries on three continents, including Laos, Cambodia, and East Timor in South Asia; Haiti and Peru in America; and Mozambique and Cameroon in Africa.

“Viettel’s revenue from international markets has topped $600 million, and we are eying expansion to Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, and Cuba,” said deputy CEO Le Dang Dung.

However, the investors say they still have little support from the Vietnamese government.

Chung, of CT Group, said Vietnamese administrative procedures and credit policies currently fail to support businesses in overseas investment.

“It takes time to apply for the license to invest in other countries,” he said.

Chung added that there are few local banks that have overseas branches, which creates challenges for Vietnamese investors in accessing bank loans.