Vietnam Attracts US$444Mln FDI in January 2006

Vietnam pulled in US$444 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) between January 1 and 20, an on-year increase of 12 per cent, according to the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

 

Of the total figure, US$419 million came from 58 new FDI projects licensed in the first month of this year and US$25 million was additional investment for 11 existing projects.

 

Around US$242 million of FDI was also realized in January, the department said.

 

South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are still the biggest investors in Vietnam, especially in real estate and industry markets, it said, adding that many large-scale investment projects have been registered for licenses, including US Intel Corp.’s US$605 million project. 

 

According to the Ministry of Trade (MoT), the foreign-invested sector is operating in full swing. FDI-invested enterprises have so far this year earned total export revenues of US$1.6 billion, up US$116 million as compared with the same period last year and imported US$1.13 billion, up US$118.7 million on-year.

 

In 2006, Vietnam hopes to draw about US$6 billion and disburse US$3.5 billion in foreign direct investment. In 2005, the country attracted US$5.8 billion of FDI and the total disbursed capital was US$3.4 billion.

Vietnam & World Economy, Investment