Khanh Hoa promotes investment from Korea

On September 27, in Seoul (South Korea), the Khanh Hoa - Korea Investment Promotion Conference was co-organized by the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea, the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea (FOMEK) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). Attending the conference were Mr. Vu Ho - Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea; Mr. Nguyen Tan Tuan - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Ms. Tran Thu Mai - Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Khanh Hoa Province; Mr. Hojoon Lee - Executive Vice President of the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea; representatives of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency; representatives of more than 150 enterprises from Korea and Vietnam.

Khanh Hoa - Korea Investment Promotion Conference

Calling for multi-sector investment

At the conference, Khanh Hoa province’s leaders briefly introduced the province's strengths to Korean enterprises. Accordingly, the province has 3 large bays Van Phong, Nha Trang and Cam Ranh with many development spaces; has modern transport infrastructure including road, waterway and air. Along with many preferential policies, Khanh Hoa has become one of the dynamic economic centers of Vietnam.

Promoting the province's potential and advantages, Khanh Hoa has proactively transformed its economic model, focusing on developing sustainable tourism and green industry. With preferential policies from the Central Government, the province has made efforts to improve the investment environment, upgrade infrastructure and promote administrative reform. Thanks to that, Khanh Hoa has become an attractive destination for investors, especially large corporations from Korea.

Mr. Chau Ngo Anh Nhan - Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment said that Khanh Hoa is currently focusing on developing key industries, suitable for the strengths of Korean enterprises. Through the conference, the province hopes to attract secondary investors to the province's industrial clusters and industrial parks. With abundant human resources and modern telecommunications infrastructure, Khanh Hoa hopes to call on investors to increase investment in the information technology sector so that Khanh Hoa can truly become a new information technology center. In addition, software production, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors are also areas that Khanh Hoa is very interested in and wants to attract investment in the coming time. The following areas: food processing industry, high-tech processing and manufacturing industry, supporting industries for shipbuilding, seaports, logistics and renewable energy are also being called for investment by the province to improve competitiveness and promote the development of related industries. The province will also closely coordinate with universities and colleges to train human resources with skills suitable to market requirements.

A view of southern Van Phong

Great opportunity for Korean businesses

Korea is  one of the leading economic partners of Khanh Hoa now. The cooperative relationship between the two sides has achieved many remarkable achievements, especially in the fields of investment and tourism. With a total direct investment capital from Korea reaching nearly 360 million USD, accounting for 9.18% of the total foreign investment capital in the province, Korean enterprises have actively contributed to the socio-economic development of the province. Typically, HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. not only creates jobs for more than 5,000 workers but also enhances the competitiveness of Vietnam's shipbuilding industry.

In the tourism sector, Korea is Khanh Hoa's largest tourist market. In 2023, the number of South Korean tourists to Khanh Hoa reached 1.25 million, accounting for more than 50% of the total number of international visitors. To meet the increasing demand of South Korean tourists, Khanh Hoa has continuously improved its tourism infrastructure and developed new and unique tourism products.

At the conference, representatives of Korean enterprises shared the same opinion about the cooperation opportunities in Khanh Hoa and Vietnam. In particular, medium-sized enterprises have more investment opportunities than others. With the economic scale and preferential conditions in Khanh Hoa, Korean medium-sized enterprises will have many fields to invest in.

Korea has 5,576 medium-sized enterprises, accounting for 12.8% of employment, 14.4% of sales and 18% of export value. Vietnam is one of the top 4 countries where Korean medium-sized enterprises expand their business activities. Khanh Hoa's organization of an investment promotion conference in Korea is a new turning point for Korean medium-sized enterprises to invest in Vietnam; this event will encourage many medium-sized enterprises to seek investment opportunities in the Vietnamese market. In the coming time, the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea will provide more support for Korean enterprises to invest in Khanh Hoa" - Mr. Hojoon Lee emphasized.

Support for investors

Within the framework of the conference, representatives of enterprises and investors shared their investment experiences in Khanh Hoa. At the same time, they explored opportunities to promote investment attraction between the two sides; learned about Khanh Hoa's preferential policies for investors, about planning in industrial zones and clusters in the province; and shared investment potential for information technology and software production in Khanh Hoa.

Mr. Kim Bo Sung - Representative of HD Huyndai Vietnam Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. assessed that Khanh Hoa has a promising investment environment. In addition to the advantages of natural conditions and human resources, there are also great advantages in preferential policies to attract investment such as: Corporate income tax, import tax, land and water surface rental prices and other incentives in economic zones and industrial parks. In addition, Khanh Hoa pays great attention to investing in infrastructure and supporting investors.

Speaking at the conference, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Tan Tuan affirmed that the cooperative relationship between Khanh Hoa and Korea is developing well; Korea is a leading investor and important partner for the development of the province. The conference is an important milestone, affirming Khanh Hoa's determination to expand cooperation with Korea. "We have painted a bright picture of the potential for cooperation between Khanh Hoa and Korea. With the successes of the projects, we believe that the cooperative relationship between the two sides will grow stronger and stronger. Khanh Hoa always welcomes Korean investors with open arms, together building a prosperous future. We respectfully invite investors to Khanh Hoa to see firsthand the potential and investment opportunities in the locality. At the same time, we hope that investors will continue to maintain and increase communication and information exchange activities with the province's functional agencies to better understand the investment environment and cooperation opportunities," emphasized Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Tan Tuan.

D. Lam - Lien Mai
Translated by T.T