Swedish firms' investment targets innovation in Vietnam

Despite macroeconomic challenges, Vietnam has emerged as an innovation hub, attracting many foreign investors, especially those from Sweden, said Eliseo Barcas, CEO of Tetra Pak Vietnam.
Swedish firms' investment targets innovation in Vietnam ảnh 1AstraZeneca announces its commitment to help enhance Vietnam's pharmaceutical production capacity, increasing its total investment in Vietnam to 308 million UDS for the period of 2020-2024.(Photo: https://baodautu.vn/)
Hanoi (VNA) - Despite macroeconomic challenges, Vietnam has emerged as aninnovation hub, attracting many foreign investors, especially those from Sweden, said Eliseo Barcas, CEO of Tetra Pak Vietnam.

Bloom, Vietnam’s first-everglobal innovation centre for the food and beverage (F&B) industry, waslaunched in Binh Duong province in early July. The state-of-the-art innovationcentre, designed by Tetra Pak in partnership with DenEast of Sweden, aims torevolutionise the country’s F&B industry through its innovative andcost-efficient product creation model.

According to Eliseo Barcas, the Bloom innovation centre signifies Tetra Pak’s commitment to strengthening long-term and sustainable investment inVietnam, contributing to the nation's innovation andtransformation targets as well as unlocking the immense potential of the local F&B industry.

According toSwedish Ambassador to Vietnam Ann Mawe, numerousrenowned Swedish companies such as ABB, AstraZeneca, Atlas Copco, Electrolux,Ericsson, IKEA, Oriflame, SKF, Volvo, and Tetra Pak have established their presencein Vietnam.

With the signing of the European Union – Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement (EVFTA), Swedish companies are increasingly showing a keeninterest in Vietnam, considering it an important destination for theirinvestment expansion plans, she stressed.

Statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry ofPlanning and Investment show that Swedish investors poured nearly 168 million USD intoVietnam in the first half of 2023, including five newly-registered projectsworth 154.6 million USD.

As of June this year, the accumulated capital invested by Swedish companies inVietnam had been nearly 680.5 million USD.

David Liden, Trade Commissioner of Sweden to Vietnam and Country Manager for Business Sweden, emphasised that the top priority of Swedish firmswhen investing in Vietnam is ensuring sustainability.

This is clearly demonstrated through efforts of corporations like Ericsson, AssaAbloy, Polarium, and Hes, he noted.

Notably, in 2021, AstraZeneca announced its commitment to help enhance Vietnam'spharmaceutical production capacity, increasing its total investment in the SouthernAsian nation to 308 million UDS for the period of 2020-2024.

Pham Hong Quat, Director of Science and TechnologyEnterprise and MarketDevelopment Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, highlighted the“Triple Helix' cooperation model of Sweden which tightens the interaction betweenuniversities, industries, and government agencies to foster comprehensivesocio-economic development.

Vietnam should learn the model,he said./. 
VNA

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