The Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) has recently requested local authorities to scrutinize any foreign-invested projects that have caused environment pollution and lagged behind schedule.
The agency also urged the authorities to cautiously appraise investment proposals before licensing, the Vietnam Investment Review reported Monday, citing Do Nhat Hoang, the FIA director.
The move is aimed at stamping out a large number of sluggish and environment-polluting FDI projects in order to improve their performance in Vietnam, which is emerging as one of the most global attractive investment destinations.
The Southeast Asian nation licensed 8,476 FDI projects totaling US$124 billion between 2001 and 2009, however; only US$47 billion or one-third of the sum has been disbursed, Hoang said at a FDI conference in Hanoi on May 21.
Many giant projects’ licenses have been withdrawn such as the STX shipbuilding venture in Khanh Hoa province. Others such as a US$10 billion steel complex in Ninh Thuan and a US$4.15 billion tourism complex in Quang Nam province are on the edge of having licenses revoked as there’s no progress on these projects.
Local authorities recently discovered environment pollution at the South Korea’s Huyndai Vinashin shipyard, Taiwan’s Tung Kuang and Taiwan’s Vedan has also raised concerns.
Although all foreign investors must prove their financial capacity and environment impact assessments of projects before gaining investment certificates, Hoang said supervision and management of FDI projects during their operation were being relaxed.
“FDI quality is now an worrying issue in the country. If the government does not have measures to ensure quality, it cannot meet FDI targets,” Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, Nguyen Mai said.
Between January and April, Vietnam attracted a total pledged foreign direct investment (FDI) of US$5.92 billion, down 25.7% from a year earlier. However, it disbursed US$3.4 billion during the period, up 36% on year.
This year, Vietnam aims to attract between US$22 billion and US$25 billion, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said. (VIR)
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