Cuba top five luring Vietnam investment
CUBA was among the top five count r ies at t ract i ng Viet na mese i nvestment in t he f irst 10 months of t his year, according to t he Foreign Investment Agency.
The agency, under the Ministr y of Pla nning a nd Investment, reported t hat V iet na mese f i r ms reg i stered investments of $20 million in Cuba in t he f irst 10 months of t his year.
Although the figure was modest, it demonstrates that Vietnamese companies have begun to pay attention to Cuba, which is in t he f irst stages of opening its market, promising more oppor t unit ies for i nvest ment a nd business cooperation in the future.
Forecasts once stated that after Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, Cuba would emerge as a top investment destination because of its significant potential. The Cuban government has called on Vietnamese businesses to invest in the country, according to the agency.
Vietnam’s existing projects in Cuba include PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corporation’s petroleum ex ploration project a nd Thai Binh Investment and Trade JSC’s diaper and detergent production project in the Mariel Special Development Zone.
Meanwhile, Hanel a nd its Cuban partner plan to build a f ive-star hotel and off ice for rent and Vico is scheduled to develop a detergent production project. Viglacera is eyeing a joint potter y venture and Hung Thang Co plans to produce bottled water.
Vietnam and Cuba are negotiating a new bi latera l t rade ag reement to open more opportunit ies in investment and business, marking Cuba’s f irst deal wit h an Asian partner. This agreement is expected to boost trade bet ween t he t wo count r ies to $ 500 million a year by 2022, doubling the average for t he past f ive years.
According to the agency, in the first 10 months of this year, Vietnam’s com- panies invested a total of $344 million abroad. Meanwhile, t hey registered an increase of $47.1 million in total for 26 ex isting projects in foreign countries. So far this year, Vietnam’s tota l invest ment capita l abroad reached over $22 billion.