Malaysia is keen to work with Vietnamese companies in many sectors to expedite economic recovery in both countries, Minister of Malaysian International Trade and Industry (MITI) Azmin Ali said.
The sectors include information and communications technology services, creative industry, financial services, private healthcare, tourism, retail, and halal services.
Talking to the press on Tuesday in Ha Noi, the minister said he had the opportunity to meet with 23 Vietnamese conglomerates and Malaysian companies in Viet Nam from various sectors.
“We had a very productive session where we exchanged views on the business environment in Viet Nam and ways to expand trade ties and investment crossflows further and enhance regional economic integration,” he said.
He said that leading Malaysian companies that are investing and operating in Viet Nam had contributed to the country’s socio-economic development by creating many local jobs while taking advantage of the vast competitive opportunities on a global scale.
The minister took Gamuda as a prime example of the significant impact to Viet Nam, in particular Yen So Park, which has gained prestigious accolades internationally.
Since its venture into Viet Nam, Gamuda has invested about US$500 million in the last 10 years, which has contributed to Viet Nam’s nation-building, enhancing social infrastructure as well as supporting the rapid growth of the community in Ha Noi and Viet Nam at large, he said.
“These investments are equally important to Malaysia as they are to Viet Nam since they provide employment and economic opportunities to the Vietnamese people while availing Malaysian companies vast opportunities to expand their footprint on a global scale,” he added.
Dennis Ng, General Director of Gamuda Land Vietnam. — Photo courtesy of the company
Dennis Ng, General Director of Gamuda Land Vietnam, said that Viet Nam was a great potential market for Gamuda Land and other foreign real estate investors.
He outlined the three factors affecting the investment activities of enterprises in the Vietnamese market: political stability, the development of the economy and the overall planning in both infrastructure issues and factors related to urban areas and surrounding areas.
“When investing in Viet Nam, Gamuda Group sees similarities in the great potential of the Vietnamese and Malaysian markets in the new development period,” Dennis said.
“The urbanisation rate in Viet Nam, especially Ha Noi, is speedy. That will create a huge demand for housing, opening up significant investment opportunities for real estate developers in Viet Nam and real estate developers from around the world."
He also said he believed that the visit of Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob, the Malaysian Prime Minister to Viet Nam and the signing of cooperation agreements between the two sides would be good signals to create favourable conditions for Malaysian businesses to go to Viet Nam.
Malaysia is currently Viet Nam’s second-largest trade partner in ASEAN and ninth globally. Viet Nam is Malaysia’s third-biggest trade partner.
Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows that the two-way trade hit $12.5 billion last year, up 25.3 per cent compared to 2020.
Viet Nam mostly ships phones and parts, crude oil, rice, coffee and seafood to Malaysia, and mainly imports computers and electronics, machinery, oil and gas, household appliances and chemicals.
In the first two months of 2022, bilateral trade neared $2.2 billion, up 20 per cent year-on-year.
The two countries will further enhance trade to reach a target of $18 billion by 2025.
Malaysia now operates 668 projects worth $13 billion in Viet Nam, making it Viet Nam’s second-largest investor in ASEAN after Singapore and 10th of 140 countries and territories worldwide. — VNS