U.S. Firms Eye Investment Opportunities in Water Infrastructure in HCM City

A U.S. business delegation, led by Arun M. Kumar, assistant secretary of Commerce for Global Markets, on July 18 met with authorities of Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City to seek investment opportunities in water infrastructure. At the meeting, Dinh La Thang, secretary of the municipal communist party’s Committee, introduced opportunities and challenges of the city, expecting to receive cooperation of foreign investors, including those from the U.S. in making the city become an economic-financial-trade-educational center. The city will create favorable conditions for American investors, Mr. Thang said, giving no specific details. Mr. Kumar, in turn, said that U.S. companies are keen on investment in Vietnam, especially in infrastructure and waste water treatment projects. Speaking a press conference held on July 18 afternoon in HCM City, Mr. Kumar said that Vietnam would benefit the most among 12 members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, pointing out a study from Peterson Institute for International Economics that Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) could rise 8.1% in 2030. The business development delegation includes one association and eight businesses supplying water infrastructure solutions. The sectors of focus in Vietnam are water control and monitoring equipment, filtration systems, waste stabilization ponds, activated sludge, large waste water pumps and water treatment chemicals. He noted efforts from the Vietnamese government to reduce the water loss rate through sustainable measures and believed this gave U.S. companies great opportunities. At the conference, Mr. Alan Morgan, general manager at Pennsylvania-based Hydro Instruments, introduced tap water treatment technology that dissolves chlorine gas in water at both the plant and water pipeline. “If one still cannot drink tap water, I think that should be one of the goals for the water sector,” he added. (Nguoi Lao Dong - Laborer; Sai Gon Giai Phong – Saigon Liberation; Thanh Nien- Young People July 19 p3, Voice of HCM City Online)