Brian Spence explains how his old and new homelands are increasingly converging in the
investment sphere, particularly renewable energy.
HSP Consulting takes a genuinely global view as an M&A consultant, and we naturally have
strong links to the UK due to my having spent decades in the financial services sector before
making Việt Nam my home back in 2017. What surprises me now is how often those worlds
converge, although perhaps not the driver behind this.
Việt Nam has been a global rising star on the back of years of solid GDP growth and a boom
in foreign and domestic investment encouraged by a series of moves to enhance the
business environment. Alongside a young and well-educated workforce, the country boasts
a highly favourable geographical position that makes it an ideal manufacturing and trading
hub. It has become an alternative to China.
The Government has shown remarkable commitment to fully leveraging these advantages
globally by upping legal standards and entering trade treaties. At the same time,
domestically, entrepreneurialism is being encouraged to flourish.
The designer shopping centres springing up in cities across Việt Nam signal its growing
affluence, and the influx of international companies anxious to get a toehold selling into this
booming market has been just as marked. In short, Việt Nam is drawing all manner of
investors, but as an M&A and wealth management adviser, it is on the corporate side that
my two worlds increasingly collide – and more and more within the green tech space.
UK investors piling in
My friends in finance back in the UK are often surprised to learn that British investment has
been tracking up strongly and that at the end of 2020, the Ministry of Planning and
Investment counted 351 UK-funded projects in play worth some US$3.6 billion. As such, UK
companies represent a growing source of M&A deals in Việt Nam, this invariably being seen
as the most prudent way for them to enter a market that is as esoteric as it is attractive.
Particularly eye-catching are Việt Nam’s moves to distinguish itself on the frontiers of the
clean energy movement, and there has been a very striking charge from the British on this
front. For instance, over 30 renewable energy companies from the UK have met public and
private energy sector representatives at the recent Low Carbon Energy Conference in Hà
Nội.
Particularly eye-catching are Việt Nam’s moves to distinguish itself on the frontiers of the
clean energy movement, and there has been a very striking charge from the British on this
front. For instance, over 30 renewable energy companies from the UK have met public and
private energy sector representatives at the recent Low Carbon Energy Conference in Hà
Nội.
Rapid evolution ahead
Private-public financing is increasingly seen as a big part of the solution to Việt Nam’s
energy challenge. It is easy to anticipate that increased access for the private sector will also
help drive pricing and regulatory reform. We can also expect the rise of more sophisticated
financial products as investors, both domestic and foreign being to see these efforts bear
fruit. After all, a remarkably high proportion of investors worldwide are building
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) or responsible investment principles into their
investment strategies. Rapid, symbiotic maturation of both the energy and financial services
markets in Việt Nam is afoot.
And, of course, solar energy is just one part of the renewables story. Necessity is the mother
of invention, and as a rising economy, Việt Nam is arguably best placed to push the green
tech agenda to its furthest conclusion
As specialist international consultants, we have presented UK companies with a wide range
of compelling investment opportunities in Việt Nam. We look forward to a growing
proportion aligned with green energy. Generally, we have found that foreign investors are
willing to pay premium prices for any business that will give them an efficient entrance into
the dynamic Vietnamese market and provide help navigating a business landscape which –
though friendly – is evolving at a dizzying pace. HSP Consulting anticipates an acceleration in
the renewable energy sector Post Covid.
It is excellent to see Việt Nam throwing its weight behind renewable energy and trying new
approaches to tackle its energy issues. It is better still to see UK companies recognising the
investment and M&A potential that represents. Here, the potential to do very well
financially and do a lot of good environmentally is proving very alluring indeed.
