Adani Group plans to invest $10 bn in Vietnam

Adani Group is mulling to invest around $10 billion in Vietnam, according to statement released by the Vietnamese government. The statement was released after Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met Gautam Adani on Wednesday during the former’s three-day visit to India.

"The Prime Minister highly appreciated Adani's operating model, scale, vision and role in contributing to economic development in India and welcomed the group's plans to cooperate, invest and expand investment in Vietnam in the coming time with a total investment capital of about 10 billion USD," read a release by the Vietnamese government.

While no official statement has been issued by billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, the energy-to-infrastructure conglomerate plans to invest $2 billion in Lien Chieu Port to create a complete logistics ecosystem in Da Nang, a coastal city in central Vietnam. The release informed that the PM has requested the People's Committee of Da Nang City, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and relevant agencies and localities immediately discuss the implementation procedures with the Adani Group.

Besides, the conglomerate plans to deploy energy investment activities in Binh Thuan, a province in Vietnam, specifically in the 2-gigawatt Vinh Tan 3 Thermal Power project, from which Mitsubishi had pulled out in February 2021, investing a total capital of $2.8 billion, notes the release.

The Group currently owns 13 domestic seaports across eight maritime states in India, accounting for 25% of the country's seaport capacity, and operates 7 airports nationwide.

Adani also plans to partner with Vietnamese enterprises in the fields of aviation and logistics, such as the construction of Long Thanh Airport Phase 2 of Đồng Nai Province, expected to cost $1.9 billion and Chu Lai Airport, located in the country’s Chu Lai Open Economic Zone.

To facilitate Vietnamese enterprises' capacity, the Vietnam chief urged the Group chairman to help in technology transfer to these firms which can then participate in Adani's supply chain and development ecosystem.

Bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and India has increased significantly, rising from $200 million in 2000 to $14.4 billion in 2023. Of this total, Vietnam's imports amounted to $5.9 billion, while exports accounted for the larger share. India has invested a total of $1.03 billion across 410 valid projects in Vietnam, ranking it 25th among the 146 countries investing in the country.

In addition to meeting with the Adani Group, the Vietnamese Prime Minister also met with leaders of pharmaceutical companies. Another press release stated that SMS Pharmaceuticals and Avantika Contractors have formed a joint venture with a Vietnamese company to propose developing the first phase of a $200 million high-tech pharmaceutical industrial park in the Nghi Son Economic Zone. The project aims to attract a total investment of about $4-5 billion over the next 10 years, producing products targeted at the US and European markets.