The Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment has asked Coca-Cola to increase the transparency of its operation in Vietnam, during a meeting with the beverage maker’s executives in the US last week.

Minister Bui Quang Vinh led a Vietnamese delegation on a business trip to San Francisco, Atlanta, and Washington DC from July 9 to 18, according to the ministry’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).

At the working session with Coca-Cola in Atlanta, the minister spoke highly of the latter’s plan to expand its Vietnamese investment by US$300 million in the next three years, but emphasized that it has to be transparent in the country.

Vinh asked the multinational soft drink manufacturer to “regularly publicize information about and increase the transparency of its operation in Vietnam,” according to a press release by FIA.

He also urged that Coca-Cola effectively implement its Vietnamese project and keep its investment expanding commitment.

Coca-Cola has been under scrutiny under accusation that its Vietnamese facility has been involving in transfer pricing activities since its arrival in Vietnam in 1994.

In related news, FIA has announced that direct foreign investment (FDI) attraction in the year to July 20 topped $11.9 billion, a 19.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The first seven months of this year saw 677 newly registered projects, with a total registered capital of $6.9 billion.

In the meantime, 266 projects have been licensed, sending the total FDI disbursement to $6.7 billion, up by 6.4 percent from the same period last year.