Vietnam Reports Pledged FDI US$45.28 Bln in Jan-July: MPI

<div align="justify">The Ministry of Planning and Investments Foreign Investment Department said that Vietnam has licensed US$45.49 billion worth of registered FDI capital in the first seven month this year, much higher than US$21.3 billion for the whole last year</div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">Of the pledged sum, 654 new foreign-invested projects registered US$43.7 billion and 188 existing projects added US$788 million to their operation, the MPI said.</div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">All the foreign-invested projects reported to have disbursed US$6 billion between January and July, up 42.9 per cent on year, the MPI noted.</div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">The foreign companies are estimated to have revenues of US$25.35 billion in the seven months, up 34 per cent on year, and they paid tax of US$1.18 billion during the period.</div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">During the phase, the FDI sector posted export value of US$13.77 billion and imported US$16.39 billion worth of goods, up 29.4 per cent and 32 per cent on-year respectively. </div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">The service sector lured US$22.84 billion, accounting for 51.34 per cent, followed by the industry and construction sectors with US$21.45 billion, or 48.2 per cent of the total while agro, forestry and fisheries sector attracted only 0.5 per cent, Vietnam News Agency said.</div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">Taiwan takes the lead with 82 projects valued at US$8.4 billion, followed by Japan with 65 projects worth US$7.2 billion, Malaysia 28 projects valued at US$5.07 billion, Brunei with 14 projects costing US$4.3 billion and Canada with 4 projects totaling US$4.2 billion.</div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">Projects of note licensed in the seven-month span included the US$7.9 billion Hung Nghiep Formosa steel plant in central Ha Tinh province, the US$6.2 billion Nghi Son oil refinery and the US$4.23 billion tourism complex in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. </div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">The ministry added that the new record made by Vietnam in FDI attraction showed foreign investors&rsquo trust in the country&rsquos investment environment despite its high inflation. (Investment, VNA)</div> <div align="justify"><b> </b></div>