During a meeting held at Vietnam Maritime Corporation’s (VIMC) headquarters, Nguyen Canh Tinh, VIMC’s general director, and Karan Adani, CEO of port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation in port and logistics development, according to a government statement on May 25. 

A government statement the day prior said that APSEZ had signalled to Vietnam’s minister for transport that it planned to invest $2bn in a seaport project in the country. 

“Indian businesses like Adani Group have always been identified by VIMC as an important strategic partner in the journey to develop the shipping and container fleet in Inner Asia, [and] to develop a connection chain with key economic regions of Vietnam”, Mr Nguyen said in the May 25 statement.

Green investments to hit $1.7tn in 2023

Global investment in clean energy is expected to rise to $1.7tn this year, with solar predicted to outstrip investments into oil production for the first time, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s World Energy Investment 2023 report.

Roughly $2.8tn is set to be invested globally in energy in 2023, of which more than $1.7tn is expected to go to clean technologies such as renewables, electric vehicles, nuclear power, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency improvements and heat pumps, the report said. The rest will go into coal, oil and gas. 

“Clean energy is moving fast — faster than many people realise. This is clear in the investment trends, where clean technologies are pulling away from fossil fuels,” said the IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol. “One shining example is investment in solar, which is set to overtake the amount of investment going into oil production for the first time,” he continued.

UK to lose out on solar PV cell manufacturing

The Oxford University photovoltaic (PV) spinout company Oxford PV has labelled the UK the “least attractive” location to set up a new factory, due to its lack of incentives.

In an interview with the Financial Times published on May 24, Chris Case, chief technology officer at Oxford PV, claimed that the UK is not making as strong a case as other countries. “It seems to me the rest of the world is staking their future on solar and the UK is not,” he said, adding that “Germany and the US are strong candidates” for the production site.

Separately, Oxford PV set a world record on May 24 in efficiency for commercially available solar cells.

And finally: French energy company Engie has invested a total of $12bn in energy, water desalination and green hydrogen projects in the UAE, according to the Emirates News Agency.