More Vietnamese brands acquired by foreign investors Some Vietnamese brands have left large cities for rural areas, while others are under pressure from foreign competitors as the country integrates more deeply with the world economy.    When asked about the typical characteristic of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last two years in Vietnam, Do Nhat Hoang, director of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), said Thai and foreign investors in Thailand have shown great interest in the Vietnamese market, especially after the start of the  ASEAN Common Community (AEC) this year. Thai investors began moving to Vietnam in 2014, mostly through merger and acquisition (M&A). A lot of Vietnamese brands have been put under Thai control. A report by StoxPlus, a finance service provider, showed that industrial production & service ranked second to real estate in terms of M&A deals in 2015. Seventeen M&A deals were made in the year with total value of $178.18 million. In the packaging industry, SCG Group, through its subsidiary – TC Flexible Packaging – has acquired 80 percent of stake of Tin Thanh Packaging Company, one of the five biggest packaging enterprises, in a $44 million deal. Before buying into Tin Thanh stakes, SCG became a big shareholder at Binh Minh Plastics Company, which is considered one of the country’s largest plastics manufacturers. Some Vietnamese brands have left large cities for rural areas, while others are under pressure from foreign competitors as the country integrates more deeply with the world economy.  A representative of Binh Minh Plastics said that the foreign partner in the company’s board of directors has expressed willingness to acquire a 100 percent of stake. The 90-year old Central Group from Thailand has been conducting many takeover deals since early 2015. At that time, Power Buy, a subsidiary of Central Group, bought 49 percent of stake of NKT which runs Nguyen Kim, one of the largest home appliance distribution chains. Hoang of FIA noted that there were two outstanding features of the Thai investment in Vietnam. First, they are investors which have production bases in Thailand, but want to set up workshops in Vietnam to minimize production costs. Second, they could be essential goods manufacturers, which now try to expand the markets by targeting Vietnam. Vinamilk, after 40 years of development, remains the largest dairy producer in Vietnam with 50 percent of market share. It plans to list itself among 50 largest dairy producers in the world and targets revenue of $3 billion by 2017. However, Vinamilk is only one of the few Vietnamese brands which can remain unhurt in  global integration and maintain development. Miliket, the Vietnamese brand which held the largest market share in the instant noodle in 1970s and 1980s, has conceded the Number 1 position to Vina Acecook from Japan. On the list of 100 most valuable companies in South East Asia released by Nikkei Asian Review, there are only five Vietnamese representatives, while Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand have 25, and the Philippines and Malaysia 22 each. DNSG