While some foreign investors go cold on Vietnam, Thai investors are jumping in boots and all.

Thailand’s Amata Corporation two months ago approved to list its subsidiary, major industrial estate developer Amata Vietnam, on the Thailand Stock Exchange and raise funds to invest in the expansion of its business in Vietnam in anticipation of tighter ASEAN economic relations.

Since entering Vietnam in 1994, Amata Vietnam has developed a 700 hectare industrial estate Amata City in southern Dong Nai province. Under the concept of “Perfect Smart City”, Amata Vietnam not only develops land with full range of high-class infrastructure for industrial factories but also allocates areas for commercial and residential projects in order to establish a complete community. 

The company plans to utilise the initial public offering proceeds to develop a larger industrial estate in Dong Nai, now under approval process of the local authorities. This project is located in Long Thanh city covering 1,245ha, almost doubling the size of Amata City. 

In addition to this new project, Amata in January came to northern Quang Ninh province to express the interest in developing a 3,000ha urban township named Future City, comprising a green industrial park, residential urban areas, sport facilities, a convention centre, schools and entertainment facilities.

A Quang Ninh provincial source said Amata Vietnam planned to attract Thai clients to industrial parks in the province, which is close to China.The firm’s ambitious expansion plan is said to reflect its strong belief in Vietnam’s long term potential despite the recent decline in the nation’s foreign direct investment inflows.

Tharabodee Serng-Adichaiwit, general manager of Bangkok Bank’s Vietnamese operations, was quoted by Bangkok Post as saying that this year could be an excellent time for Thai investors to explore and seize the opportunities presented in Vietnam with the economy starting to recover.
He said lower labour cost and political stability were advantages attracting Thai companies to Vietnam.

According to Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Agency statistics, Thailand is now among top 10 investing countries in Vietnam in terms of the commitment capital, with $6.1 billion and 299 projects by February 20, 2013. The amount is expected to jump in the near future as more Thai investors have announced their big investment plans in Vietnam.

Thai companies that plan to expand in Vietnam include Siam Makro Public Company Limited, a Thai retailer which last October announced plans to establish a subsidiary in Vietnam to tap on the domestic market. 

Meanwhile, SCG last December announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, SCG Building Materials Company Limited, had entered into a conditional shares purchase agreement to acquire an 80 per cent stake in Vietnam’s leading ceramic tiles producer Prime Group. Following this acquisition, the company will have the total ceramic tiles production capacity of 225 million square metres, of which 33 per cent will be produced in Vietnam.

Previously SCG, in association with other Qatari and Vietnamese partners, gained an investment certificate for building $4.5 billion petrochemical complex in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau, which is under process of site clearance.

The biggest investment plan annnounced by Thai investors in Vietnam is the $28.7 billion oil refinery project by Thailand’s national petroleum company PTT Public Company Limited in central Binh Dinh province, which has the total refining capacity of 660,000 barrels per day, or 33.6 million tonnes of crude oil per year. If the project were approved, it would be one of the largest oil refinery and petrochemical complexes in Asia, and the largest foreign direct investment project in Vietnam.

Also in the energy sector, Thailand’s Siamgas and Petrochemicals Public Company Limited (SGP) last year acquired Shell’s entire shares in two companies in Vietnam, starting penetrate into the country’s liquid petroleum gas market. SGP announced the transaction was reasonable and beneficial to it and helped increase sales and distribution of liquid petroleum gas in south and north of Vietnam.

Source: http://www.vir.com.vn