Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Vietnam is becoming a key gateway in Southeast Asia’s industrial production and trade network, with experts and firms casting it as a strategic partner for quality growth.
The country also has room to build resources and sharpen its domestic supplier network by linking with FDI enterprises, which are critical levers for sustainable industrial and trade growth.
Industrial manufacturers in Ho Chi Minh City said global supply chains are shifting and competition is intensifying. Investors and manufacturers are moving from volume-based to value-based growth, prioritising automation, innovation and high value-added products. Southeast Asian countries, meanwhile, are converting rising foreign investment flows into stronger industrial capacity, faster technology progress and higher economic value.
That gives both Vietnamese and FDI enterprises a chance to join Vietnam’s industrial capacity upgrade through technology, innovation and closer cooperation with the domestic business community. It also acts as a catalyst for more FDI into advanced technology, high value-added products and local capacity, supporting sustainable growth in Vietnam and across Southeast Asia.
Thammasak Sethaudom, President and CEO of Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG), said SCG is strengthening regional production network links, accelerating technology deployment and diversifying high value-added products to lift competitiveness.
The strategy centres on regional optimisation built around “ASEAN Synergy”. SCG is using Southeast Asia’s complementary strengths through stronger regional links, technology sharing, innovation and supply chain cooperation to raise collective competitiveness.
Sethaudom said after more than three decades in Vietnam, SCG is stepping up investments to improve operational adaptability and resilience, expand high value-added product production and sustainable manufacturing. In May 2026, it announced a 604 billion VND (23.6 million USD) investment to expand its quality packaging production capacity in Ho Chi Minh City, targeting rising demand for high value-added products and integrated supply chains.
Southeast Asia is also a potential market for Vietnamese companies to expand cross-border sales through regional trade, industrial and supply chain links. But brand building in the region there requires both FDI and Vietnamese enterprises to adapt to cultural differences, consumer behaviour and media environment in each country.
Terauchi Mikito, Corporate Officer of Japan’s OJI Holdings Corporation – a world-leading paper, packaging and forest resource management group, said Vietnam is an important market and increasingly a strategic production base in Southeast Asia. Local production investment will help OJI serve Vietnamese customers better and expand across Asia-Pacific.
Vietnam is also gaining appeal as a destination for quality, long-term industrial production projects by FDI firms, while domestic firms are not only entering regional supply chains but also expanding markets and building brands across Southeast Asia, he added.
Bui Minh Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, said the priority for Vietnam and the city is not just more capital or trade, but better growth quality, technological capacity, workforce and enterprise positioning in global value chains. International resources must be converted into internal capacity and sustainable competitiveness. Cooperation with countries and international partners therefore opens strategic opportunities for the city.
Thanh said foreign strengths in high technology, innovation, modern governance, green transition and sustainable development can directly complement Ho Chi Minh City’s priorities. The city wants two-way, complementary cooperation, with foreign enterprises expanding investment and R&D in Vietnam, and Vietnamese enterprises gradually accessing cooperation schemes and concrete projects that deliver practical, long-term benefits for all sides./.
