Vietnam jan-apr pledged FDI rises 23.4% on Year To $474.1M
HANOI - Newly pledged foreign direct investment to Vietnam rose 23.4% on year in the first four months of 2004 to $474.1 million, a government executive said Wednesday. The executive at the Ministry of Planning and Investment told Dow Jones Newswires that Vietnam approved 141 new foreign-invested projects in the January-April period, most of which are in the southern provinces.
She said among the new projects licensed during the period, 61 - worth a total of $206.4 million - will invest in Vietnam's industrial and construction sectors, and 39 - worth $155.7 million - will invest in light industries and food processing. Another 20 - worth a total of $94.4 million - will invest in agriculture, and the remainder will be invested in the services sector. Some 95 projects, worth a total of $209.2 million, will be invested in Vietnam's relatively investor-friendly southern provinces. Ho Chi Minh City attracted 49 projects with total capital of $49 million, MPI's figures show.
Canada was the largest investor, with five newly approved projects worth a total of $150 million, followed by Taiwan with 24 projects worth $106 million, South Korea with 40 projects worth $69.3 million, Hong Kong with eight projects worth $27 million, Japan with 10 projects worth $26.1 million and China with 16 projects worth $17.4 million. U.S. investors registered six new projects valued at $22.6 million in the first four months, compared with five projects valued at $12.5 million from the same period last year.
Vietnam is trying to attract more foreign investment, both for the cash and for the expertise involved. The country received 596 foreign-invested projects worth $1.51 billion last year.
Dow Jones - April 28, 2004
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