Employees in the Japanese Mabuchi Motor make the electricty parts in Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Zone, Dong Nai Province. — VNA/VNS Danh Lam

DONG NAI (Biz Hub) — Foreign direct investment (FDI) registered in southern Dong Nai Province has hit US$2.4 billion as of November 20, exceeding expectations and this year's target of $1.5 billion.

According to the province's Department of Planning and Investment, of the sum, $1.75 billion was for 100 newly-licensed projects while the remainder from 86 operational ones to raise their capitals. Most of the new projects were financed by Japanese and South Korean investors and were involved in the support industry in a bid to increase the support of locally-made components for the domestic manufacturers.

General Director of Osaka Fuji Viet Nam Yoshiharu Kondo told Voice of Vietnam (VOV) that after surveying many localities, the company decided to invest in Dong Nai thanks to its infrastructure advantages and streamlined administrative procedures.

The company's operational plant, built at a total cost of US$3 million in Nhon Trach 3 Industrial Zone, specialises in manufacturing machinery infrastructure and spare parts for the steel plating industry. It will also provide maintenance, repair and manufacture of industrial machinery for enterprises in Viet Nam.

The director said that his company would continue to expand production and increase the capacity of the plant in 2016.

The province is now home to approximately 1,190 valid foreign-invested projects worth a combined $24 billion. Most of them (1,039) are located in industrial zones (IZs).

Deputy head of the province's IZs Management Board Mai Van Nhon said that the province would continue to upgrade the infrastructure of its IZs, speeding up administrative reforms and improve quality of the personnel resource as move attract more FDI.

Dong Nai's trade surplus to hit $1.5bn in 2015

The southern province is likely to record a trade surplus of $1.5 billion this year, according to its Department of Industry and Trade.

The province's export turnover is estimated to cross $14 billion this year.

In the first 11 months of this year, trade surplus reached $1.3 billion, the highest level so far and up three times higher than that of the same period last year.

In November alone, the province earned $1.27 billion from exports and recorded $220 million in trade surplus. Key export products seeing trade surplus were footwear, wooden products, and garments, in addition to electronics and spare parts.

According to the provincial Statistics Department, exports of agro-fishery products reached over $1 billion in the January to November period, accounting for 8 per cent of the total export turnover. — VNS