Hanoi (VNA) - The members of the Group of Twenty (G20), including 19 economies and the European Union (EU), are all major investment partners of Vietnam. As the G20 increasingly values the role of the Vietnamese economy, the opportunities to attract investment from the group are significant.
Numerous opportunities to draw investments from G20
A delegation from Haeco, a member of UK-headquartered conglomerate Swire Group, recently visited Vietnam to explore investment opportunities. In a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh, Richard Sell, CEO of Haeco, shared that the group plans to collaborate with Sun Group and other partners to invest in an aircraft maintenance complex at Van Don International Airport in the northern coastal province Quang Ninh, with an investment of 360 million USD.
According to Sell, Haeco has just signed a contract with a US partner to provide aircraft maintenance and repair services for this partner over a 15-year period at Van Don. As a result, the prospects for implementing the 360 million USD project are becoming increasingly clearer.
Meanwhile, AEON, a giant Japanese retailer, has received its investment registration certificate for the AEON Mall Bien Hoa project, with a total investment of 6 trillion VND (227 million USD). With this, AEON has taken another step in expanding its investment in Vietnam, aiming to triple its scale by 2030.
In a recent interview with the media, Tezuka Daisuke, Executive Officer, Chief Vietnam Business Officer of AEON (Japan) and General Director of AEON Vietnam, stated that since opening its first shopping centre in 2014, AEON has invested 1.5 billion USD in Vietnam. A similar amount will be invested in Vietnam in the near future, as the country is its key market alongside Japan.
Not only these two groups, but also Luxshare-ICT, a Chinese group specialising in manufacturing electronic components for major brands such as Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Sony, Asus, and Huawei, is planning to expand its investments in Vietnam after already investing 1.8 billion USD in factories in Bac Ninh and Nghe An over the past 10 years.
In a recent meeting with Vietnam’s Party General Secretary To Lam, Vice Chairman of Luxshare-ICT Wang Laisheng stated that the scale of their new project will not be less than 10 billion USD, further enhancing Vietnam's position in the high-tech industry chain both regionally and globally.
Luxshare-ICT has always considered Vietnam as the most important manufacturing hub among the 29 countries and territories where the group has invested overseas, said Wang.
All three of these large investors come from G20 member economies, which include the world’s largest economies, including the G7 group, and recently, the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU). Notably, most of the G20 members, such as the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), China, Germany, France, the UK, and Indonesia, are also top investment partners of Vietnam. Leading the pack is the RoK, with a total registered investment of 94.3 billion USD as of the end of October, followed by Japan with 78.87 billion USD, China with 34.2 billion USD, and the US with 12.28 billion USD.
Promoting green capital flows
The opportunity for Vietnam to attract investment from the G20 is immense, especially as G20 members highly value its economy, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has headed to South Africa to attend the G20 Summit. This is Vietnam's sixth time, and the second consecutive year, being invited to this important event of a group of economies that represent 67% of the world’s population, 85% of global GDP, and 75% of international trade.
With the theme "Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability," the summit focuses on four key areas: enhancing resilience and disaster response; promoting sustainable debt management for low-income countries; mobilising finance for a just energy transition; and leveraging essential minerals to support inclusive and sustainable growth.
These are areas of great interest to Vietnam, especially in mobilising resources for climate change response, green growth, and a just energy transition. At the recent Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) 2025, PM Chinh expressed his desire for foreign investors to take the lead in achieving green transition goals, while also connecting and supporting domestic enterprises in this process.
Attracting green investment is one of Vietnam's key efforts to achieve green growth and sustainable development. A significant milestone in attracting green investment was marked by the more than 1.3 billion USD project by LEGO Group (Denmark) in Binh Duong (now part of Ho Chi Minh City). This is LEGO's first carbon-neutral factory in Asia.
Meanwhile, the Syre Group (Sweden) has also invested 1 billion USD to build a polyester fabric production and recycling complex project in Binh Dinh (now part of Gia Lai province), with the aim of turning Vietnam into a global circular textile hub.
Green investments from EU member economies have, in a way, "awakened" Vietnam's potential to attract this type of investment. The commitments from foreign investors also indicate their intention to accompany Vietnam on this green transition journey.
However, in order to attract more investments, there are still many issues that need to be changed, particularly in the mechanisms for offering investment incentives for green projects, administrative procedure reforms, and improvements in land, infrastructure, energy, and high-quality human resources.
A specific example is that, to transition to a Net Zero target by 2050, Vietnam needs to mobilise over 136 billion USD for electricity infrastructure and transmission from 2026 to 2030. Many investors seem ready, but according to Denzel Eades, Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam and Co-founder and Managing Director of Pioneer International Consulting, there are still many challenges for Vietnam, such as the lack of a comprehensive green finance classification system, limited ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting requirements, and the absence of preferential policies for green credit.
It is necessary to expand incentives for circular economy projects and green credit, suggested Denzel Eades.
Businesses from the G20 are among the most potential and experienced investors in promoting green investments in Vietnam. With favourable mechanisms in place, this green capital flow is expected to continue to accelerate./.
VNA
