Vietnam’s FDI capital flow down
By Phuong Thao - The Saigon Times Daily
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| Workers on a production line at Japanese-invested firm Nidec. Vietnam attracted US$8.43 billion in FDI in the first half of this year, down by nearly 20% year-on-year - Photo: Quoc Hung |
HCMC – Vietnam attracted US$8.43 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, down by nearly 20% against 2009, according to a report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency.
The nation in the first half of 2010 issued investment licenses to 438 projects totaling US$7.9 billion, a 43% year-on-year increase.
These include prominent projects such as the AES TKV Mong Duong Power Co. Ltd. worth US$2.1 billion in northern Quang Ninh Province, Kobelco Vietnam Iron Nugget Co. worth US$1 billion in central Nghe An Province, Skybridge Dragon Sea Co. Ltd. of US$902 million in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and Posco SS-Vina Co. Ltd. worth US$620 million also in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Processing and manufacturing drew the largest FDI capital flow with 164 new projects totaling US$2.87 billion while there were three new FDI projects in gas, electricity and water distribution and production sector with the combined capital of US$2.2 billion.
The property sector ranked third with 12 projects worth US$1.7 billion.
Meanwhile, foreign investors of 121 operational projects registered to inject only US$525 million more in the country, a sharp fall of nearly 90% against 2009.
Among 39 countries and territories investing in Vietnam from January-June, the Netherlands was the largest investor, with a total pledged capital of US$2.2 billion, accounting for 26.3% of the country’s total FDI attraction. South Korea was the second biggest investor in Vietnam, with registered capital of US$1.7 billion, or 21%, followed by Japan with US$1.2 billion, or 14.5%.
Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province was the most attractive investment destination in the country, attracting US$2.16 billion in FDI, followed by Quang Ninh Province with US$2.14 billion, HCMC with US$1.18 and Nghe An Province US$1.1 billion.
Also according to the Foreign Investment Agency, some US$5.4 billion was disbursed in the period. The country targets US$10-11 billion for the whole 2010.
The FDI sector obtained US$17.2 billion in export value in the first six months of this year, a 26% year-on-year increase, given strong recovery of the economy. Excluding crude oil, export revenue of foreign-invested firms still hit US$14.6 billion, up 39.5% against the same period of 2009.
Meanwhile, import value of the sector surged nearly 49% to US$16 billion during the first half.