Vietnam’s Top Leader Meets Chey Tae-won and Chung Ki-sun: "Vietnam Is a Strategic Investment Hub"

HANOI, Vietnam — To Lam, Vietnam’s top-ranking leader and General Secretary of the CPV, met on the 26th with Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, Chung Ki-sun, chairman of HD Hyundai, and other leading Asian business figures, stressing Vietnam’s competitiveness as an investment destination.
Lam welcomed the Asia Business Council’s decision to hold its 2026 Spring Forum in Hanoi under the theme "The Future of Asia and Global Supply Chains." He stated, "Vietnam regards the private sector as the most important engine of growth, and the foreign-invested sector is also treated equally as a core pillar of the economy, with long-term and sustainable development actively encouraged."
Speaking on behalf of the business delegation, Arif Patrick Rachmat, chairman of Indonesian palm oil company Triputra Agro Persada (TAG), expressed gratitude for the audience and said he was deeply impressed by Vietnam’s socio-economic development achievements. He also congratulated Vietnam on the successful 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and voiced confidence in the country’s future growth potential and strategic direction.
The participating business leaders highly rated Vietnam’s ability to attract foreign investment and pledged to contribute to faster and smarter growth. They added that they plan to expand both the scale and scope of their investments, and to strengthen cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI), green energy, smart agriculture, software, and financial services.
Both Chey and Chung, who attended the meeting, have been expanding their investments in Vietnam, which they regard as a key overseas base.
SK Group was an early investor in major local companies such as Vingroup Joint Stock Company (Vingroup JSC) and Masan Group Corporation, and it has recently accelerated its energy business centered on liquefied natural gas (LNG). In particular, SK Innovation was selected last month as the operator of the 1.5-gigawatt Quynh Lap LNG Power Plant Project in Nghe An Province in north-central Vietnam, while its subsidiary SK earthon is making focused investments in developing four blocks in the Cuu Long Basin in the southeast.
HD Hyundai likewise designated Vietnam early on as a core overseas production base. Its subsidiary HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding, located in Khanh Hoa Province in central Vietnam, plans to increase its annual output to 23 vessels by 2030 and diversify its portfolio to include eco-friendly dual-fuel ships, container vessels, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers.
In addition, HD Hyundai acquired Doosan Vina, located in an industrial complex in Da Nang, in August last year and launched HD Hyundai Eco Vina. The company aims to develop it into a production hub for eco-friendly ship equipment, maximizing synergies with its existing shipbuilding business.
rejune1112@fnnews.com Kim Jun-seok Reporter