Improving the quality of FDI flows into Vietnam thanks to capital from Europe and the US

More and more large corporations, especially European and American corporations, are coming to invest in Vietnam. Photo: Duc Thanh

Investment activities are bustling.

Positive news in recent days is that ExxonMobil Corporation - the "giant" of the US oil and gas industry - has just come to the Nam Van Phong area to survey the location and seek investment opportunities. In a meeting with the leaders of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Economic Zone and Industrial Zone Management Board, the leaders of ExxonMobil Corporation said that they are looking for opportunities to invest in a modern oil refinery in Nam Van Phong. The story is not only about the investment capital of up to 10 billion USD, but also that, as expected, this will be ExxonMobil's first nearly zero-emission factory.

Previously, ExxonMobil also came to Vietnam with a plan to invest in exploiting the Blue Whale mine and investing in a gas-fired power plant in the Central region, but this plan has not yet been implemented.

Therefore, whether ExxonMobil will decide to invest in Nam Van Phong or not remains to be seen. According to the plan, ExxonMobil will complete the survey in 2027, start construction and investment procedures in 2031, and start operations in 2035. In addition to Vietnam, ExxonMobil is also surveying two other locations in the Asia- Pacific region.

However, the above information has also "heated up" the FDI flow into Vietnam, in the context that global investment flows are still "hesitant" due to concerns about tariff policies and global geopolitical fluctuations.

Recently, foreign investment activities in Vietnam have been quite active. In mid-August 2025, Bac Ninh granted investment certificates to a series of FDI projects, including 9 new projects with a total registered capital of 322.5 million USD and 9 projects with increased capital of 762 million USD. In addition, 2 investors committed to expanding investment, with an expected total increased capital of about 300 million USD. Thus, just counting the officially finalized projects, within 1 month, Bac Ninh attracted more than 1 billion USD in FDI capital, a very remarkable figure.

After merging with Bac Giang, Bac Ninh has further affirmed its position as a “magnet” attracting investment in the North, with many projects in the high-tech and semiconductor sectors. This locality currently ranks second in the country in attracting FDI, after Ho Chi Minh City, in the first 7 months of 2025 and cumulatively.

Mr. Vuong Quoc Tuan, Chairman of Bac Ninh Provincial People's Committee, said that in the coming time, the province will continue to complete technical infrastructure projects, ensure power supply and continue to improve the quality of human resources to attract more investment projects.

On August 19, among the 250 projects and works that were simultaneously inaugurated and started construction, there were 5 FDI projects, with a total investment of 54,000 billion VND. Notably, among these is the North Hanoi Smart City Project, with an investment capital of 4.2 billion USD, of the BRG - Sumitomo Joint Venture. In addition, there is the Project of the Factory for Producing Speakers, Headphones and Smart Electronic Devices of Tonly Vietnam Electronic Engineering Co., Ltd. in Quang Ninh; Pepsico's Food Production Factory Project in Ninh Binh; Project of Investing in Construction and Business of Infrastructure of WHA Industrial Park in Thanh Hoa...

Improving quality thanks to capital from Europe and America

The above information, it can be said, has contributed to consolidating recent reports and assessments by the Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Finance) on the positive trend in attracting FDI in Vietnam. In the first 7 months of 2025, there was 24.1 billion USD of registered FDI capital in Vietnam, an increase of 27.3% over the same period last year.

Emphasizing this figure, in the recently published report, Savills Vietnam highly appreciated the stable trend of FDI flows into Vietnam. According to Savills experts, Vietnam's recent administrative boundary merger and application of a two-tier local government model are expected to help streamline the apparatus and improve governance efficiency. This will facilitate investment flows.

In the face of global uncertainties and trade tensions, Vietnam has remained steadfast in pushing forward with structural reforms and efforts to attract investment. Despite many challenges, steady FDI inflows and infrastructure development momentum show cautious optimism for long-term growth.

- Mr. Matthew Powell, Director of Savills Hanoi

Similarly, the issuance of Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW to promote the development of the private economic sector will also be an “important foundation” to help Vietnam attract more high-quality capital flows, in the context of global investors increasingly interested in a stable and transparent legal environment.

There are many investment projects, especially mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals mentioned by Savills Vietnam. For example, CapitaLand acquired a project in Binh Duong from Becamex IDC for a value of up to 553 million USD; the joint venture of Sumitomo Forestry, Kumagai Gumi and NTT Urban Development cooperated with Kim Oanh Group to develop The One World Project; or Nishi Nippon Railroad bought 25% of the shares of the Paragon Dai Phuoc Project from Nam Long...

“These deals reflect the growing interest of Japanese, Korean and Singaporean investors, and also show the emergence of capital flows from the US and Europe - markets that require high standards and often invest for the long term,” commented Mr. Matthew Powell, Director of Savills Hanoi.

Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang has repeatedly emphasized the trend of more and more large corporations, especially European and American corporations, coming to invest in Vietnam. The investors that Minister Nguyen Van Thang mentioned are Qualcomm, LEGO, SYRE…, with billion-dollar projects and investments in research and development (R&D) activities in Vietnam.

At the recently held Global Business Forum 2025, Mr. Alexander Ziehe, Chairman of the German Business Association (GBA), Vice President of Hettich Southeast Asia, said that 80% of German businesses in Vietnam rated their business situation as good or satisfied and 38% planned to expand operations in the next 24 months.

“Vietnam is not only a manufacturing hub, but also a strategic gateway to regional and global markets, opening up many opportunities for German investors in areas such as high-tech manufacturing, automation, renewable energy, green technology, high-end consumer goods and vocational training…”, said Mr. Alexander Ziehe.

In fact, the investment flow from Europe and America into Vietnam is not large. But clearly, there are many signals showing that we can soon expect an acceleration of this high-quality capital flow.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/nang-chat-dong-fdi-vao-viet-nam-nho-von-tu-chau-au-va-my-d368087.html