Belgian-invested food venture gets go-ahead

Belgium’s Puratos Group and Grand-Place Holding last week signed an agreement to set up a joint venture in Vietnam with an investment of $10 million for the next five years. The joint venture, called Puratos Grand-Place Vietnam, will specialise in bakery, patisserie and chocolate. The investment amount will enable the two companies to expand production and establish a research and development centre in the province.

La Vie increases investment in Vietnam

Mineral water producer La Vie, a member of France-based Nestle Waters, on Wednesday inaugurated a new bottled water production line, increasing the plant’s production capacity by three times. Deputy general director Nguyen Thi Tuyet Van said that the firm has set aside VND240 billion to expand the mineral water production line of the plant in Long An Province from 18,000 bottles to 66,000 bottles per hour.

The expansion is an indication of the Nestle Waters’s pledge of increasing investment in Vietnam and helps meet the increasing demand for mineral water. Van said that the firm supplied around 190 million bottles of mineral water for the market in the January-September period. In addition to the plant expansion, La Vie is also investing in new products following consumption trends and making new bottle designs which are made of environmentally-friendly materials. This is part of the long-term strategy of Nestle Waters in the Vietnamese market.

PSB: Gets Investment Certificate for 6.1tr dong Project

Sao Mai – Ben Dinh Petroleum Investment (PSB) announces that it received investment certificate from local authorities of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province to carry out Sao Mai-Ben Dinh Petroleum Marine Service Project worth VND6.1 trillion. The project, located at Ward 6, Ward 9 and Thong Nhat ward in Vung Tau city, will be conducted from 2013 to 2017.

Work begins on $39m gearbox parts plant

Construction of a US$39.6 million plant producing components for auto gearboxes began in southern Ben Tre Province’s Giao Long Industrial Zone on Tuesday. Financed by the Japan-based Nidec Corporation, the 4ha plant is scheduled to begin operation next September. All products will be exported. This is the first investment Nidec has made outside HCM City.

Kawasaki donates bicycles to the poor

The Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association of Japan’s Kawasaki City has donated 985 bicycles to poor students in the central city of Danang and Quang Nam Province. The Danang city’s people’s committee said the donation, which costs VND2 billion (US$95,000), will be handed-over to the municipal Friendship Union next month.

Kawasaki City has provided nearly 5,000 bicycles for Danang following a 10,000 bicycle donation programme from 2003-15.

Local telecom groups join sub-marine optical project

The Prime Minister has approved some local telecommunications groups investing in an Asia-Pacific Gateway project. The military-run Viettel has been assigned to coordinate with the FPT and CMC Corporations and work closely with relevant agencies to resolve all the issues related to their investment.

The 8,000km long, 4Tbps-bandwidth sub-marine optical project between the Republic of Korea and Malaysia will help directly link China, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore and increase their connection speeds.