Industrial parks and export processing zones in HCM City have attracted investments of more than US$480 million in the year-to-date period, an increase of 48 per cent over the same period last year.— File Photo

HCM CITY (Biz Hub)— Industrial parks and export processing zones in HCM City have attracted investments of more than US$480 million in the year-to-date period, an increase of 48 per cent over the same period last year.

Announcing this, the city's Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) said foreign direct investment accounted for more than $341 million, a year-on-year jump of 114 per cent.

But only $63.6 million of the investment was in new projects.

Japan was the biggest investor with $31.9 million in four projects, followed by Singapore with $16.7 million and Australia with $9.8 million.

Services, pharmaceuticals, plastic, mechanical engineering, apparel and textile, and food processing attracted the largest investment.

But domestic investment declined 15 per cent to $138.8 million.

Food processing, mechanical engineering, electronics, software, and plastic were the major sectors attracting investment.

Exports by firms based in IPs and EPZs rose by 6 per cent to $3.4 billion while imports fell 10 per cent to $2.5 billion.

HEPZA attributed the decline in imports to the lack of orders and rising input costs.

Firms in IPs and EPZs employ nearly 270,000 people, including 1,900 foreigners. — VNS