Vietnam Pulls USUS$1.56Bln in FDI in First Quarter

Vietnam Pulls USUS$1.56Bln in FDI in First Quarter

Vietnam has this year attracted USUS$1.56 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) capital, a 100 per cent increase over the same period last year. Of the total FDI capital, USUS$1.2 billion came from newly licensed projects and the remainder from the expansion of existing projects.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning & Investment, the largest FDI projects licensed in the first quarter of this year include a USUS$655.9-million CDMA mobile phone network and a USUS$114.6-million skyscraper in Hanoi and a USUS$190-million shoe factory in Dong Nai.

Of the total FDI capital licensed in the first quarter, 70.5 per cent is to be invested in services. Hanoi takes the lead in terms of FDI attraction, followed by Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam expects to attract between USUS$4.5-5 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) capital this year compared with nearly USUS$4.2 billion in 2004.

By the end of February this year, the country had attracted 5,217 FDI projects with aggregate registered investment of USUS$47.16 billion, of which USUS$25.87 billion had been put into operation.

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