The southeast region continued taking the lead in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attraction last year with US$7.21 billion, accounting for 36 percent of total FDI capital in Vietnam, reported the Foreign Investment Agency.
644 projects were newly licensed and 283 investors registered to increase investment capital.
The country's champion was Ho Chi Minh City with a total registered capital of US$3.1 billion. Of them was a US$1.4 billion project of Samsung CE Complex Company in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, the second largest value project in the park.
Chairman of the city People's Committee Le Hoang Quan said that authorized agencies would continue administrative reform and infrastructure improvement at industrial and export processing zones to lure investors from the US, the EU and Japan to hi-tech field this year.
The neighboring province of Binh Duong attracted US$1.65 billion with 151 new projects being licensed at US$812 million and 126 companies registering to increase an additional capital of US$843 million.
Mr. Nakata Yasuyuki, director general of the Vietnam Japan Becamex Tokyu joint venture who has invested in a US$1.2 billion new urban project in Binh Duong, said that local investment environment is very advantageous with good traffic and industrial zone infrastructures.
Meanwhile Dong Nai Province lured US$1.66 billion FDI capital with 75 new projects being licensed at US$593 million and 84 companies supplementing an extra fund of US$1,071 million.
The success in FDI attraction was owned to the province's efforts in administrative reform to facilitate businesses' investment, said deputy head of Industrial Zone Management Board in Dong Nai Province Mai Van Nhon. Besides many trade and investment promotion events have been hosted for foreign investors to learn about local investment environment.
So far, the southeast region including seven cities and provinces namely HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Thuan, Tay Ninh and Binh Phuoc has had 9,764 FDI projects that are still valid with a total registered capital of US$114.95 billion, according to the Foreign Investment Agency.
The region takes the lead nationwide in FDI attraction occupying 56 percent projects and 46 percent registered capital.
Most projects concentrate in manufacturing and processing with US$57.6 billion, accounting for 50 percent of total FDI capital. Real estate is ranked second with US$27.18 billion, accounting for 23.6 percent of the capital.
Singapore is the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with 962 projects being licensed at US$15.31 billion capital, followed by South Korea with 2,016 projects at US$14.96 billion and Taiwan (China) with 1,659 projects at US$13.1 billion.
By Duc Trung – Translated by Hai Mien (SGGP)
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