Vietnam attracted US$318 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first month of the
year, an increase of 71.9% year- on-year, reports the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency
The country
this month licensed 40 new projects worth more than US$285 million, up by 78.2%
year-on-year, and drew nearly US$33
million as additional funds for operational projects, up by 31.6% year-on-year.
Thailand-based
Promenada Canary Co. Ltd. was licensed to build a commercial center building
worth US$95 million to become the biggest foreign investor in the year to date.
FDI
disbursement in January totaled US$400 million, up by 33.3% from the same
period last year.
According to
the agency, this is a good signal for attracting foreign direct investment and
Vietnam is expected to receive US$22-25 billion in newly registered and
expanded FDI capital this year, an increase of 5%-10% over 2009 on the back of
international analysts’ predictions for an inflow rebound in 2011.
The
country’s newly registered and expanded FDI capital was hit hard by the global
crisis during 2009 with a sharp 70% drop from 2008 to US$21.48 billion.
Foreign-invested
projects focusing on hotels and restaurants topped the FDI list in 2009 with
total newly registered and expanded capital of US$8.79 billion, followed by
property (US$7.6 billion) and manufacturing projects (US$2.96 billion).
Based on
this, experts say Vietnam should focus on disbursement and not new investors.
At a recent
conference on plans for 2010, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc
emphasized measures related to policies, planning, infrastructure development,
human resources, management and investment promotion to attract FDI.
Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc
At another
forum held in early December, foreign investors expressed great concern about
Vietnam’s infrastructure.
One investor
said it would be futile to shell out a large amount of money to build a modern
port if there was no road leading to it or power for its operation. Others,
especially property investors, were concerned with problems related to site
clearance.
Source:
The Saigon Times Daily