Businesses join hands to achieve growth targets

PART 3: BUILDING SUPPLY CHAIN LINKAGES FOR LONG-TERM GROWTH

Dong Nai City is home to more than 2,200 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a total registered capital of nearly US$45 billion from 51 countries and territories. In addition, the city has nearly 100,000 domestic enterprises operating across various sectors. Strengthening connections between domestic and FDI enterprises to supply one another with raw materials and services is expected to create robust production supply chains and expand export opportunities.

Nguyen Thi Hoang, Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People’s Committee, now Vice Chairwoman of the Dong Nai City People’s Committee, visits booths of Dong Nai enterprises at the 2025 Vietnam-Japan Trade Conference held in Dong Nai.

In recent years, both domestic and FDI enterprises in Dong Nai have continuously sought opportunities for cooperation to secure stable input supplies and increase localization rates. This undertaking has created dual benefits for businesses by helping them proactively source materials while reducing warehousing and transportation costs. In addition, products exported to countries that have signed free trade agreements with Vietnam can more easily enjoy tariff incentives, thereby improving competitiveness.

Promoting trade promotion activities

Over the years, Dong Nai has consistently focused on strengthening friendship ties and economic cooperation with countries and territories such as Japan, South Korea, China, the United States, and Russia, while also expanding cooperation with new partners, including Portugal, India, and Middle Eastern countries.

Through domestic and overseas investment and trade promotion activities, international cooperation between Dong Nai and foreign partners has achieved many practical and effective results.

At the Vietnam-Japan Trade Conference held in Dong Nai in late 2025, Kawasaki Minako, Deputy Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Office in Ho Chi Minh City, noted that Japanese enterprises are showing strong interest in the Vietnamese market.

According to her, Vietnam has become an important manufacturing destination with stable growth prospects, supported by key advantages such as a high-quality workforce, improved industrial infrastructure, and an increasingly favorable investment environment. These factors continue to enhance the country’s attractiveness to Japanese investors.

In that context, strengthening cooperation with Vietnamese enterprises has become increasingly important for Japanese companies, particularly in strategies to expand domestic supply chains and enhance supply chain sustainability and stability.

As a Vietnamese enterprise specializing in automation solutions and robotic technologies for factories, Hung Khang Technology Equipment Co., Ltd. in An Phuoc commune has, over the past 15 years, provided factory automation solutions to more than 10 FDI enterprises.

Do Thien Bao, Director of Hung Khang, said the company is expanding connections with FDI enterprises to transfer technologies and automation solutions for food production, assembly, packaging, and product arrangement.

Trade and investment promotion programs have also helped many enterprises in Dong Nai connect with both domestic and FDI partners to supply products and services to each other. As a result, businesses in the city have secured more orders and expanded their market share both at home and abroad. Dong Nai’s export turnover rose by nearly 17% in 2025 and continued to increase by nearly 8% in the first quarter of 2026.

Farmers from coffee-growing regions nationwide visit the Nestlé Tri An factory's production lines.

Creating sustainable supply chain linkages

In recent years, stepped-up investment and trade promotion activities have not only boosted trade exchanges and investment attraction, but also aimed to strengthen linkage chains for sustainable development. In particular, many FDI enterprises in Dong Nai and across Vietnam have recently sought to increase the localization rate of domestic raw material and auxiliary material supplies. As a result, many FDI enterprises are seeking capable Vietnamese suppliers to reduce logistics costs, secure raw materials, and speed up production schedules. Through participation in trade connection conferences, numerous meetings, discussions, and the eventual signing of investment cooperation contracts, the groundwork has been laid for sustainable cooperation programs. Through trade connection conferences and business networking events, many meetings, discussions, and investment cooperation agreements have laid the groundwork for long-term partnerships.

According to major FDI corporations investing in Dong Nai, including Schaeffler, Tripod, C.P., Nestlé, Bosch, LIXIL, Hyosung, and Cargill, they are ready to establish supply chain linkages with local enterprises if products and services meet quality, quantity, and competitive pricing requirements.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Vu Quynh, Vice Rector of Lac Hong University (LHU), said the university has transferred technologies to more than 10 enterprises in the city, including FDI companies such as LIXIL Global Manufacturing Vietnam Co., Ltd., Nestlé Vietnam Co., Ltd., and Gold Label Co., Ltd.

In addition, LHU has implemented training models closely aligned with enterprises, allowing students to participate in practical projects, and training programs are regularly updated to meet market demand. This endeavor helps improve students’ adaptability and working capabilities after graduation.

Having operated in Dong Nai for more than 30 years, Vietnam Precision Industrial JSC (VPIC) in Ho Nai Industrial Park, Ho Nai ward, specializes in manufacturing components and assemblies for large-displacement motorcycles, motorbikes, bicycles, off-road vehicles, automobiles, and other metal-engine vehicles.

The company is currently a key partner of numerous domestic and foreign enterprises.

Lee Wei Chun, Chairwoman of VPIC, said the company currently supplies products to both domestic and international markets. Throughout its operations, VPIC has continuously invested in modern machinery and technologies not only to support production but also to create opportunities for engineers and employees to access new technologies and improve professional skills to meet increasingly demanding customer requirements.

To date, Dong Nai City has signed 95 memoranda of understanding and international cooperation agreements with partners from 17 countries and territories, including 34 agreements that remain in effect.

The city has also stepped up support for technology transfer and cooperation between domestic and foreign enterprises, thereby helping build global supply chain ecosystems. These efforts are expected to increase economic value and support Dong Nai’s goal of achieving double-digit growth in the coming years.

According to Nguyen Kim Long, Standing Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai City People’s Committee, city leaders hope the FDI business community will continue to maintain long-term confidence in Dong Nai, expand investment, strengthen technology application, and deepen cooperation with domestic enterprises.

He added that businesses should also ensure harmonious development between economic efficiency, social responsibility, and environmental protection.

The city, he stressed, remains committed to accelerating administrative reform, strengthening dialogue with enterprises, and promptly addressing difficulties to maintain a transparent and favorable investment environment.

By staff writers – Translated by M.Nguyet, Minho