Prime Minister welcomes foreign investors
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted receptions for Mike Spanos, CEO of the Asia, Middle East, and North Africa unit of the US-based PepsiCo, Inc.; and Sarath Ratanavadi, founder and CEO of Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development, in Hanoi on August 14.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) greets CEO of the Asia, Middle East, and North Africa unit of the US-based PepsiCo, Inc., Mike Spanos. (Photo: NDO/Tran Hai)
The PM congratulated PepsiCo – an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation – on its successful operations in Vietnam in recent times.
He spoke highly of the cooperation between PepsiCo Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, specifically their participation in a public-private partnership group on fruits and vegetables in 2010.
PM Phuc hailed the US firm for expanding its cultivation area of potato in Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Lam Dong from 55 hectares to over 450 hectares, while also supporting farmers with cultivation skills that can help them increase their output three times the average level.
He expressed his hopes that PepsiCo Vietnam will research intensive processing of artichoke in order to create high added-value products from this kind of plant, and bring them into the company’s distribution chains.
The leader suggested PepsiCo expand cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Vietnamese farm households across various fields of Vietnam’s strength.
For his part, Mike Spanos said Vietnam is one of PepsiCo’s top 20 priority markets across the globe, and the eighth in the Asian-Middle Eastern-North African region.
PepsiCo has invested over US$500 million in Vietnam over the past five years, attracting about 3,000 workers. It is currently implementing cooperation programmes with Vietnamese farmers and supporting over 580 farm households.
The company is keen to do long-term business in Vietnam in the field of food and beverages, among others, Spanos said.
While receiving Sarath Ratanavadi, PM Phuc reaffirmed that the Vietnamese Government always creates the best conditions for foreign businesses to invest in the country. This is one of the reasons why many Thai firms have chosen to enter the Vietnamese market, with 492 projects worth US$10 billion, he noted.
The PM underlined Vietnam’s policy of discouraging investment in coal-fired thermal power generation, but welcoming investment in renewable and clean energy.
Vietnam needs more abundant energy to meet the country’s economic development, he said, adding that this is a good opportunity for the Thai company.
Sarath Ratanavadi said his business has started to invest in Vietnam through a solar power project with a capacity of 100MW.
The company plans to continue investing in the field of energy to increase electricity for Vietnam, as well as draw more investors, he said, adding that his firm is also able to provide hot water or cooling water for the industrial sector.
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