Vietnamese, Japanese, Middle Eastern firms to invest $6bn in Ho Chi Minh City projects

A $5-billion project to build Southeast Asia’s largest oil refinery and storage facility, with a planned annual capacity of 50 million metric tons, is set to enhance energy security for both Vietnam and the region.

Speaking at the signing ceremony event, CEO of Mazda Oil Tetsunobu Ishihama said that the facility would directly import crude oil from the Middle East and refine it in Vietnam into key products such as gasoline, light oil, and heavy oil.

The project will serve as a critical foundation for the Vietnamese economy, he said.

The other project is to build a component manufacturing plant for internal combustion engines with hydrogen-based emission technology, with a total capital of $1 billion for the first phase.

“I am so surprised to learn that the technology invented by Kogi has already been patented in Japan,” said Ishihama.

“The hydrogen-based emission technology is a revolutionary invention for green development."

He added that the invention demonstrates Vietnam’s contribution to global development.

Besides, the firms inked a deal to develop an oil pipeline connecting Vung Ang Port in Ha Tinh Province, north-central Vietnam with Vientiane, Laos, at an estimated cost of $500-700 million.

Once in place, the pipeline will carry up to 30 million metric tons of gasoline and diesel oil each year.

Nguyen Hong Hue, or Peter Hong, chairman of Kogi Technology Group, underlined that after receiving full approval from relevant authorities, the parties would start work on the three projects.

“Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to Middle Eastern countries in October 2024 opened up new opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam and the region,” Hong said.

“In the months following the visit, Kogi worked actively to finalize the agreements signed on May 19. 

"These efforts were a meaningful contribution to commemorating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of southern Vietnam and national reunification, the 135th birth anniversary of late President Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 - 2025), and the 80th anniversary of National Day.”

At the event, attended by nearly 100 representatives from local and international companies, several Japanese firms expressed their hope that Vietnam would continue to advance administrative reforms and improve the investment climate, creating increasingly favorable conditions for foreign investors to enter the country.

Yoshiaki Harada, former Minister of Environment of Japan, said in a video message to the event that Vietnam is among Japan’s key partners across various fields.

He expected the Southeast Asian nation to create more favorable conditions for Japanese enterprises to do business in Vietnam, thereby contributing to stronger bilateral ties.