Total foreign direct investment put into operation in Vietnam this year is expected to reach US$3.3 billion, up 15.3 per cent against 2004, according to Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning & Investment.
The disbursement will be the highest level in terms of capital and growth since the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
Vietnam this year licensed 771 fresh FDI projects with total registered capital of US$4 billion from 42 countries and territories in the world, up 63 per cent in terms of capital but down 2 per cent in the project number from 2004.
The country also allowed 509 existing projects to raise capital by over US$1.8 billion in total, typically Canon Co. with a combined increased capital of US$60 million, Honda Vietnam with US$58 million, and Toto Vietnam with US$52 million.
The total new FDI capital, therefore, was around US$5.8 billion this year, up 38 per cent against last year and exceeding the initial yearly plan by nearly 30 per cent, the biggest figure since the regional economic crisis in 1997.
Foreign-invested firms reported total revenues of nearly US$17 billion this year, including about US$7.8 billion from crude oil export, accounting for 56 per cent of the country’s total export turnover.
The foreign-invested sector (excluding oil and gas firms) also contributed over US$1.1 billion to the Vietnam State budget, up 41 per cent from last year. This is the biggest tax payment since Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Law came into effects in 1998.
Foreign policy, economic growth, social and political stability, and efforts for investment promotion activities and meetings of Vietnam were attributed to the bloomy of foreign investment into the country, according to the official.
The official, however, said Vietnam’s attracted FDI has not yet met the demand of the country’s economic development. The FDI flow has come in mainly from Asian nations, while the investment from the EU and US into Vietnam remained sluggish.
The number of big project together with the transfer of original technology from transnational corporations was modest.
Moreover, most of the foreign investment has gone to big cities with good infrastructure such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Binh Duong. And the link between the foreign-invested sector and State and domestic private sectors is limited, and supporting industries have been underdeveloped.
Vietnam is predicted to draw about US$6 billion in foreign direct investment next year, compared to US$4.2 billion in 2004 and US$3.2 billion in 2003.
The People
April 24–25, 2026
Kinh Bac Cultural Center, Bac Ninh Province
Vietnamese
