Vietnam’s FDI capital flow down

Vietnam attracted $8.43 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, down by nearly 20 percent 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 totalling $7.9 billion, a 43 percent year-on-year increase.

These include prominent projects such as the AES TKV Mong Duong Power Co. Ltd worth $2.1 billion in northern Quang Ninh Province, Kobelco Vietnam Iron Nugget Co. worth $1 billion in central Nghe An Province, Skybridge Dragon Sea Co. Ltd of $902 million in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and Posco SS-Vina Co. Ltd worth $620 million also in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Processing and manufacturing drew the largest FDI capital flow with 164 new projects totalling $2.87 billion while there were three new FDI projects in gas, electricity and water distribution and production sector with the combined capital of $2.2 billion.

The property sector ranked third with 12 projects worth $1.7 billion.

Meanwhile, foreign investors of 121 operational projects registered to inject only $525 million more in the country, a sharp fall of nearly 90 percent 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 $2.2 billion, accounting for 26.3 percent of the country’s total FDI attraction. South Korea was the second biggest investor in Vietnam, with registered capital of $1.7 billion, or 21 percent, followed by Japan with $1.2 billion, or 14.5 percent.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province was the most attractive investment destination in the country, attracting $2.16 billion in FDI, followed by Quang Ninh Province with $2.14 billion, HCM City with $1.18 and Nghe An Province $1.1 billion.

Also according to the Foreign Investment Agency, some $5.4 billion was disbursed in the period. The country targets $10-11 billion for the whole 2010.

The FDI sector obtained $17.2 billion in export value in the first six months of this year, a 26 percent year-on-year increase, given strong recovery of the economy. Excluding crude oil, export revenue of foreign-invested firms still hit $14.6 billion, up 39.5 percent against the same period of 2009.

Meanwhile, import value of the sector surged nearly 49 percent to $16 billion during the first half.

Tags: invest in Vietnam, Vietnam FDI, Vietnam investment