At the reception, PM Phuc congratulated PepsiCo on its successful business investment in Viet Nam over the past years.

He spoke highly of the cooperation between PepsiCo Viet Nam and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development by founding a public-private partnership group on fruits and vegetables in 2010.

This helped create a sustainable supply chain based on a cooperative platform for trade promotion, thus opening up plentiful opportunities for improving the living standards of hundreds of farm households and developing local communities as contributions to Vietnam’s sustainable agricultural development.

He applauded PepsiCo for expanding the potato cultivation area in the central highlands province of Lam Dong from 55 hectares to over 450 hectares and updating farmers on farming techniques,  while also supporting farmers with cultivation skills that can help them increase their output three times the average level.

Mr. Phuc expressed his hope that PepsiCo Vietnam will continue to study processing in order to create high added-value products made from artichoke, a specialty in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat, and bring its products to the company’s distribution chains.

For his part, Spanos said Viet Nam is one of the company’s top 20 priority markets across the globe, and eighth in the Asian-Middle Eastern-North African region.

PepsiCo has invested upwards of US$500 million in Viet Nam for the past five years, providing jobs for 3,000 workers, including 99.8% Vietnamese.

It is currently implementing cooperation programmes with Vietnamese farmers and supporting over 580 farm households.

PepsiCo has invested over US$500 million in Viet Nam over the past five years, attracting about 3,000 workers. It is currently implementing cooperation programmes with Vietnamese farmers and supporting over 580 farm households.

The company is keen to do long-term business in Viet Nam in the field of food and beverages, among others, the official said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives Sarath Ratanavadi, founder and CEO of Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development, Ha Noi, August 14, 2018

While receiving Sarath Ratanavadi, the cabinet leader reaffirmed the Vietnamese Government has always

created the best conditions for foreign businesses to invest in the country. This is one of the reasons why numerous Thai businesses have chosen to land investment in the Vietnamese market with 492 projects worth US$10 billion.

Mr. Phuc underlined Viet Nam’s policy of discouraging investment in coal-fired thermal power generation, but welcoming investment in renewable and clean energy.

Viet Nam needs more abundant energy to meet the country’s economic development, he said, adding that this is a good opportunity for the Thai company.

For his part, Sarath Ratanavadi said his company has started to invest in Viet Nam through a solar power project with a capacity of 100MW.

The company plans to continue investing in the field of energy to increase electricity for Viet Nam, as well as draw more investors, he said, adding that it is also able to provide water for the industrial sector.