A production line for Casumina motorcycle tyres in Dong Nai Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

DONG NAI (Biz Hub)— Seventeen foreign direct investment (FDI) projects abandoned by investors in southern Dong Nai Province had their investment certificates revoked this year, according to the province's Industrial Zone Management Board.dy exodus of FDI investors since the early 2000s, leaving around 47 abandoned projects worth US$100 million in the area.

A $2 million project by Haileck started in 1997 to develop pipelines in Nhon Trach 1 Industrial Zone. However, investors retreated in 2010 with the company halting all operations in the country.

In a similar fashion, Richway Plastics Company shut down a $3 million project to build a factory in Nhon Trach 3 Industrial Zone with investors fleeing only four years after the project commencing in 2006.

The Dong Nai Industrial Zones' Management Board has pointed to project losses and financial difficulties as the major causes for the sudden flight of capital from the province. However, the board also blamed Viet Nam's bankruptcy proceedings as too tedious and costly for investors to wind up the projects properly or with due notice.

The sudden disappearance of FDI projects has left thousands of labourers without jobs and despite efforts to contact investors, no response had been received by the province's Management Board.

Nguyen Manh Van, deputy director of the management board, said dealing with abandoned FDI projects had been difficult due to the lack of detailed regulations in the Law on Investment.

He said the Ministry of Planning and Investment had since issued a document providing instructions for the handling of the projects early this year.

Inspection of the remaining 30 FDI projects left unattended is also underway, he said, adding that the projects were often inefficient and distorted employment opportunities.

"Handling these projects is urgent and now we have the regulations to resolve outstanding issues" he said. — VNS