Finnish company seeks to expand energy investment in Vietnam

Recently, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien met and worked with the Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam and Finnish enterprises to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in trade, industry, and energy between the two countries.

During the working session,

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien

highly appreciates the good bilateral cooperation between the two countries and the immense potentialities in economic and trade relations. He also welcomes Finnish enterprises’ active participation in this process to contribute to the growth of bilateral trade and the development of the two countries’ economies.

On this occasion, the Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam expresses a desire to support Finnish enterprises in expanding investment cooperation in the Vietnamese market in various fields, especially in the energy sector.

The Ambassador introduces Wärtsilä, a leading Finnish enterprise in the energy transition field, with its flexible ICE power plant solution deployed in many places worldwide.

Chairman and CEO of Wärtsilä, Mr. Håkan Agnevall, provides a detailed introduction to the company’s flexible ICE power technology owned by the Group. He also reports to the Minister about the cooperation with Power Generation Corporation No. 3 (EVN GENCO3) and expresses the desire to research, invest, and implement the ICE power project in Ninh Binh province with Vietnamese partners.

Also during the meeting and working session, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien highly appreciates the recent cooperation activities between Wärtsilä and EVN GENCO3 in implementing projects in Vietnam.

The Minister emphasizes that Vietnam is an ideal destination for foreign investors as it is one of the 15 countries with the best FDI attraction environment and one of the top 20 countries with the largest commercial scale in the world. Moreover, the country maintains a high annual economic growth rate.

In addition, the Minister shares the orientation for developing energy sources in the Power Development Master Plan VIII to achieve Vietnam’s carbon neutrality goal by 2050, as well as the goals of industrialization and modernization by 2030 and the vision to 2045. The Minister also provides an overview of the procedures and regulations for foreign investors to participate in domestic energy projects.

Therefore, the Minister suggests that Wärtsilä and EVN GENCO3 conduct thorough research and surveys to develop a feasible plan that ensures economic and social efficiency and the electricity price suitable for users’ payment capacity after the project’s operation, in order to submit it for examination by competent authorities according to current regulations.

The Chairman of Wärtsilä acknowledges the Minister’s opinions and commits to conducting detailed research and reporting on the project to submit to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant authorities for consideration. He also affirms the long-term investment orientation in the Vietnamese market and support for Vietnam’s energy transition roadmap.

Regarding broader cooperation between Finland and Vietnam, the Minister proposes that the Finnish Ambassador have specific activities to encourage more Finnish enterprises to cooperate with Vietnamese enterprises based on business ideas, technology, and capital, in order to implement important projects in the future and contribute to the cooperation and development of the two countries.

Sharing the same standpoint with the Minister, the Ambassador commits to continue bringing large Finnish enterprises to Vietnam to explore investment cooperation opportunities in the future, to deepen the diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and Finland, which has developed for more than 50 years (1973 – 2024).