Foreign partners actively come for Vietnamese enterprises

	Problems arising from EVFTA removed
	Over 200 enterprises participate in dialogue: “HCM City Customs Department and the business community partner to implement the EVFTA”
	Forum discusses business cooperation, connectivity in northern region

Garment 10 Corporation was actively offered credit packages by a foreign partner. Photo: H. Diu

More cooperation, more benefits

Since March, Standard Chartered Bank has launched a financial package with preferential interest rates belonging to the global financial package worth US$1 billion to support businesses making products and services for Covid-19 pandemic prevention. Therefore, this bank has announced a credit limit of VND100 billion to Garment 10 Corporation - Joint Stock Company and a credit limit of VND70 billion to Dong Nai Garment Corporation (Donagamex).

Recently, in a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Belgian Ambassador Paul Jansen said Belgium International Investment Group would contribute capital to develop the Cai Mep Ha logistics centre project (Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province). This $984 million project was promoted at the proposal of the joint venture of international investors from Belgium, the Netherlands and Vietnam. It aims to develop Cai Mep Ha to become a leading centre for transport services, containers and exports of agricultural products from the Mekong Delta to the EU. Therefore, Belgian investors want the project to be approved soon, and then they will implement the project on schedule, with quality and apply “green transport” measures for sustainable development.

According to the General Statistics Office, in the first nine months of 2020, there were 5,172 capital contributions and share purchases of foreign investors with a total value of $5.7 billion, down 44.9%, of which 1,296 capital contributions and share purchases increased the charter capital of enterprises with the value of $2.1 billion; and 3,876 foreign investors bought back domestic shares without increasing charter capital with the value of $3.6 billion. Although the number has decreased, this is a positive result in attracting and working with foreign partners.

According to experts, Vietnam has had impressive results in the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and the economy is growing at a high rate, which increases investors' confidence. Hong Sun, Vice Chairman of the Korea Business Association in Vietnam, said Vietnam was an attractive investment market for Korean businesses and foreign enterprises in general. Therefore, many Korean enterprises have wanted to expand old projects and invest in new ones. Korean enterprises are exploring and expanding investment in the financial market and leading securities companies in the form of indirect investment, such as buying shares, or investing in projects of interest to the governments of the two countries.

Change to adapt

Vietnamese businesses are facing many difficulties; the number of orders at many enterprises cannot be as many as before the Covid-19 pandemic, so any cooperation from partners is very necessary and useful.

Regarding the difficulties of enterprises, Than Duc Viet, General Director of Garment 10 Corporation, said their production - business activities in the fourth quarter were very difficult.

Previously, at this time, the company would receive full orders for the fourth quarter and the first quarter of next year, but by September, they only had 50-60% of the orders. For example, high-end vest items were missing 50% and shirt items were missing 40% of production capacity. Therefore, they are actively looking for customers and the production is calculated by week.

Surprisingly about this foreign partner’s decision, the leader of Garment 10 Corporation said the company has only borrowed capital from domestic banks and has never worked with foreign units. However, through the transformation from producing garments to masks and protective goods, Standard Chartered offered a capital financing package with preferential interest rates for Garment 10 Corporation. According to Than Duc Viet, although this is a short-term credit source, it helps the firm have a stable source to produce medical protection products and masks. The low interest rates will help this company reduce its financial costs, create products with more reasonable prices and improve its competitiveness in both domestic and foreign markets.

However, it is not easy for foreign enterprises to seek the cooperation of Vietnamese enterprises, because it must come from the needs of the both sides. Moreover, foreign partners’ requirements are very strict, requiring Vietnamese enterprises to become more professional and improve their quality to meet them.