 |
|
A production line is being monitored at Matsumura Electronics Company in My Phuoc Industrial Zone in southern Bnh Duong Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Quach Lam
|
HA NOI — The country attracted nearly US$8.22 billion in registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first four months of the year, meaning it was more than halfway to fulfilling the annual goal, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency.
During the period, the agency licensed 341 new FDI projects worth nearly $4.9 billion, up 14.9 per cent. It also allowed another 121 existing projects to raise capital by $3.34 billion, up 20.7 per cent.
The agency reported that disbursed FDI during the period surged 3.9 per cent from one year ago to $3.75 billion.
FDI registered capital went mainly to the processing and manufacturing industries. With $7.4 billion devoted to 164 projects, these industries accounted for more than 90 per cent of the country's total registered capital.
Among 37 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam, Japan was the biggest foreign investor with registered capital of $3.6 billion, followed by Singapore and Russia with $2.3 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively.
After approving an increase in registered capital for the Nghi Son Oil Refinery, Thanh Hoa Province topped the list of FDI attractors with $2.8 billion. The province was followed by Thai Nguyen and Binh Dinh with $2 billion and $1 billion, respectively.
As for import-export, foreign firms in the first four months of the year earned $25.527 billion, an increase of 23.2 per cent against the same period last year that accounted for 64.7 per cent of the country's total export value. Imports also rose 25.2 per cent to $21.76 billion.
Experts urged relevant authorities to prepare for increasingly fierce competition with other countries in the region.
They said that Japan, still the biggest foreign investor in Viet Nam, had poured billions of dollars into Myanmar as that country drew attention from the rest of the world. Japan also has more than 7,000 businesses in Thailand, much more than its 1,500 businesses in Viet Nam. — VNS