Corrugated iron sheets are manufactured at a plant in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone, southern Dong Nai Province. Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authorities had granted licences to 59 new foreign-invested projects by the end of September, worth US$315.5 million. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu

DONG NAI (Biz Hub) — The Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authorities (DIZA) had granted licences to 59 new foreign-invested projects by the end of September, worth US$315.5 million.

According to DIZA statistics, authorities also continued to support 54 existing projects, adding $515.1 million to their capital.

The nine-month FDI attraction figures, which totalled $830 million, made up 83 per cent of the 2013 target and were equivalent to 78 per cent of the amount from the same period last year, DIZA said.

DIZA had also green-lighted eight new domestic projects by the end of September - with total registered capital of over VND1.44 trillion ($69 million) - and approved three operational projects increasing capital by a further VND332 billion ($15.9 million).

Dong Nai is now home to 31 IZs, spanning a total area of 9,832ha. Of these, 27 are already operational, with the remainder still under-construction.

However, difficulties in land clearance compensa-tion, signing new land lease agreements and getting bank loans for IZ infrastructure construction remained major hurdles for the province to overcome if it wanted to attract further investment.

In an attempt to lure more Japanese investment, the province recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan's Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ on co-operation in promoting regional investment.

Under the MoU, both sides would exchange information and work together to organise seminars on investment in Dong Nai and meetings with potential investors in Japan.

Japan is currently one of the province's leading sources of FDI. To date, Japanese investors are behind 167 projects in the locality, capitalised at $3.1 billion . — VNS