Vietnam reported a total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) of US$5.328 billion in the first two months of this year, accounting for just 70 per cent of the same period last year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) said on February 25 in an initial report.
Of the sum, 67 newly-licensed projects hold over US$1.5 billion, said the report that was based on statistics from seven provinces and cities across the country through February 20, including Hanoi, HCM City, Binh Duong and Danang.
The rest comes from capital rise of 10 existing projects by US$3.815 billion, up 41 per cent on-year, according to the ministry.
In February alone, the country attracted more than US$5.1 billion FDI due to big projects granted licenses and allowed to raise capital in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
The MPI said the current world economic slowdown has had a bad impact on FDI attraction so far this year.
Hanoi licensed only 30 FDI projects worth US$40 million, equal to 7 per cent of the figure for the same period last year, meanwhile, central Danang city with only one project of US$2.3 million and northern Haiphong city with US$15 million, equivalent to 27 per cent of 2008’s same phase.
The MPI noted that in the context of the current economic difficulties, this year, the Southeast Asian nation will focus on supporting licensed projects and boosting the disbursement, besides luring fresh FDI projects.
The MPI has recently sent a dispatch to the centrally run provinces and cities, asking them to clearly point out the difficulties faced by their FDI projects. (chinhphu.vn, Vietnam Economic Times)
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