HÀ NỘI — Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Việt Nam reached US$1.42 billion from the beginning of the year until January 20, according to data from the General Statistics Office.

The amount exceeded FDI during the same period in 2016 by 6.6 per cent.

During this time, Việt Nam attracted 175 newly-approved projects with total registered capital up to $1.24 billion, up by 37.8 per cent in terms of project number and 23 per cent in terms of capital compared with the same period last year.

Simultaneously, 76 projects from previous years had applied for capital adjustment with an added amount of $179.2 million.

Estimation of capital disbursement for FDI in January 2017 alone reached $850 million, up by 6.3 per cent from the same period in 2016.

The real estate business attracted $297.4 million, accounting for 23.9 per cent of total national FDI.

In total, 26 cities and provinces of Việt Nam approved renewed FDI projects, in which southern Bình Dương Province had the largest amount of registered capital at $666.2 million, followed by northern Bắc Giang Province at $159.5 million.

In January 2017, out of 31 countries and territories with renewed FDI projects in Việt Nam, Singapore was the most significant investor with $416.7 million, accounting for 33.5 per cent of total renewed capital. The Republic of Korea was in second place with $347.8 million at 28 per cent, followed by China with $310.1 million at 24.9 per cent.

Thai investment

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), Thailand has invested US$7.7 billion in 440 projects in Việt Nam to become the country’s tenth largest investor.

So far, Việt Nam has attracted foreign direct investment from 112 countries and territories, the agency says.

Thai businesses began investing right after Việt Nam introduced policies to attract foreign investment, it says. From 2006 to 2008, Việt Nam wooed the largest investment capital from Thailand amounting to $5 billion, accounting for 21.4 per cent of the total investment from ASEAN to Việt Nam worth $23.3 billion. Investments from Thailand have focussed on processing and manufacturing industries.

At present, Thai investors have assured investments of $7.04 billion in 205 projects in the processing and manufacturing industries, accounting for 87.2 per cent of total registered invested capital. The largest project in those industries is the Southern petrochemical complex with a total investment of $3.77 billion.

The agency says Thai investors are now turning their attention to industrial infrastructure and retail sectors. These include a joint venture project between Amata VNPCL of Thailand and Sonadezi Biên Hòa in the infrastructure sector and a project of MM Mega Market Co, Ltd in HCM City, with a capital of $36 million, reports vneconomy.vn.

Việt Nam is considered an important investment destination in the region in line with Thailand’s policies on promoting investment in foreign countries. This is big opportunity for Việt Nam to attract investment capital from this country, FIA says.

Thailand is near Việt Nam on the map and the two countries have cultural similarities. They signed an agreement on encouraging and protecting investments in 1992 and to create favourable conditions for investment co-operation. Therefore, Thai investors have not faced many difficulties while investing in Việt Nam. Meanwhile, the Thailand government has also encouraged and supported Thai investors already in Việt Nam. — VNS