First-half FDI disbursement grows 6%
By Quoc Hung - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC - Foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursements in Vietnam are forecast to amount to US$900 million this month, raising the total in the first half of the year to US$5.4 billion, up about 6% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
The Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the ministry said FDI reports by cities and provinces nationwide for the first six months of 2010 had just been collated.
According to FIA, the average monthly disbursement totaled around US$900 million, so it is predicted FDI disbursement will reach US$11 billion this year, slightly higher than last year when the figure was put at US$10 billion.
This can be seen as an achievement with regard to the regional and international economic scenes. It is ascribable to the fact that many long-delayed FDI projects have resumed this year.
Ministry of Planning and Investment officials and industry experts have therefore suggested placing greater emphasis on FDI disbursement in 2010, especially in production-oriented areas.
In 2006-2009, the total registered capital of FDI projects reached US$119 billion while the disbursed amount was only US$33.6 billion, or 28% of the total.
The first half of this year has seen as much as US$7.9 billion committed to fresh FDI projects, up 43% year-on-year, according to FIA. However, additional capital injected into operational FDI projects has tumbled by 89% to a mere US$525 million.
The aggregate FDI amount in the first half has therefore contracted 19% to US$8.43 billion only.
The major newly-licensed projects include AES TKV Mong Duong Power Co., Ltd. worth US$2.1 billion, Kobelco Vietnam worth US$1 billion, Skybridge Dragon Sea Co. Ltd worth US$902.5 million, and POSCO SS-Vina worth US$600 million.
According to FIA, Vietnam is expected to receive US$22-25 billion in newly registered and expanded FDI capital this year, an increase of 5-10% from 2009 on the back of international analysts’ predictions for an inflow rebound due in 2011.
New FDI approvals in 2009 plunged as much as 70% from the previous year due mainly to the global economic crisis.
FIA said exports by foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in January-June surged in tune with recovery of the economy. And FIEs have also shown an impressive improvement in production output, especially in the processing and manufacturing industries.
Improved production has helped FIEs obtained export turnover of US$17.2 billion in the first six months, a year-on-year rise of 26.2%. With crude oil excluded, their export revenue has grown 39.5% to US$14.6 billion. Import spending of FIEs has totaled US$16.1 billion, a 49% rise over the same period last year.