José Manuel García-Margallo, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, who led the mission, told a meeting at the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) that Spanish companies were keen to seek opportunities in Vietnam considering its potential growth.

José Manuel Revuelta Lapique, president of shipbuilder Navantia said: “We’re a major shipbuilding company with lots of experience. We know that shipbuilding is an important industry in Vietnam and we want to share our experience with Vietnamese partners.”

The Spanish companies were particularly interested in transport infrastructure including railways, motorways and airports.

“We’ve participated in motorway, railway and metro projects in many countries. We want to know more about Vietnam’s road infrastructure plans and what models they’re interested in adopting, whether its Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or other alternatives that the Vietnamese government is prioritising,” said Juan José García Gabián, general director of CAF.

MPI Minister Bui Quang Vinh said the Spanish companies shared similar investment interests with the Vietnamese government. Vinh said Vietnam needed $400 billion for developing the country’s infrastructure until 2020.

The minister also introduced the visitors to major transport infrastructure projects that Vietnam was seeking investment for, including the Long Thanh International Airport project in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Vietnam is also co-operating with the Japan International Co-operation Agency to study an upgrade to the existing north-south railway route or construction of a new route capable of reaching 160 kilometres per hour.

The country is considering hi-speed railway projects for the Hanoi to Vinh and Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang routes and projects to upgrade rail links between Hanoi and Haiphong, Hanoi and Lao Cai and Hanoi and Thai Nguyen.

“Spain has a good railway network. We’d be happy to see Spanish involvement in the sector,” Vinh said.

He added that the $883 million metro project in Ho Chi Minh City had already received a $200 million pledge from the Spanish government but the domestic component of the funding was currently nearly $700 million short.