Foreign direct investment pledges go down

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Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges into Vietnam this year decreased 18 percent to 12.7 billion USD due to the global economic slowdown, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

This amount includes 7.8 billion USD in registered capital for 1,097 new projects and 4.9 billion USD in additional registered capital for 406 existing projects.

This year's FDI inflow inched down by 5 percent against last year to 10.5 billion USD.

Director of the Ministry's Foreign Investment Agency Do Nhat Hoang said that FDI in the manufacturing and processing sectors- the focal points of Vietnam's FDI attraction policy - had increased remarkably this year.

According to the ministry, manufacturing and processing were the most attractive industries to foreign investors this year with a registered capital of 8.9 billion USD, accounting for 70 percent of the country's total registered capital.

Several large projects are taking shape in these industries, including an 870 million USD electronic components project supervised by Taiwan's Wintek and an 830 million USD mobile phone project for Samsung of the Republic of Korea.

The real estate industry followed closely behind with 1.8 billion USD, 14.5 percent of the country's total registered capital.

Japan was reported to remain the largest investor with total registered capital of more than 4 billion USD, followed by the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The southern province of Binh Duong was the most attractive destination to foreign investors this year with more than 1.63 billion USD, making up 20.9 percent of the country's total registered capital.

It was followed by the northern city of Hai Phong, the capital city of Hanoi and the southern province of Dong Nai, with more than 1.11 billion USD, 618.8 million USD and 468.7 million USD, respectively.

Planning and Investment Minister Bui Quang Vinh said that the country's goal for FDI pledges next year would be 14-15 billion USD, of which 10-11 billion USD would be disbursed.

As the continuous global economic slowdown could affect the country's FDI attraction target, experts recommended that the country intensify administrative procedures to ease investors' spirits.

Human resource development, especially in the areas of science and technology, could also make the country more attractive to foreign investors, experts said.