An electronics spare parts production line at an Mtex Viet Nam facility in HCM City. The city is hoping to attract US$2.5 billion in FDI this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The southern hub of HCM City aims to attract US$2.5 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) this year, which is 20 per cent higher than last year's figure.

According to the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, the top priority would be given to foreign-invested projects in high-value added industries such as engineering, electronics, IT and biological technologies; processing and manufacturing; banking and finance; telecommunication; real estate as well as tourism.

It added that the prioritised sources of foreign investment would be the US, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Germany.

The goal was set based on the city's encouraging FDI investments in 2013 and in the first two months of this year as well, head of the department's investment registration division Le Thi Huynh Mai said.

In spite of the global and domestic economic difficulties, Mai said that last year, FDI in the city surged significantly by 52 per cent to touch $2.08 billion. Of the total, $1.05 billion came from 477 newly-licensed projects, up 77 per cent in terms of capital and 9.5 per cent in the number of projects. The remainder came from 139 existing projects which added $1.03 billion to their capital.

Up to 46 new projects were granted investment licences during the period, up by 12.2 per cent year on year, with a total registered capital of $164.3 million, up by 267.2 per cent over last year.

The city started this year also with a significant amount of $217 million in FDI being registered in the past two months, which is 226 per cent higher year on year.

Meanwhile, 14 ongoing projects were also allowed to increase their capital by $52.6 million. — VNS