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Foreign investment in HCMC falls
Foreign investment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest economic hub, fell 90 percent in the first seven months of this year to US$758 million, according to the HCMC People’s Committee.
The municipal government said 207 new projects to be funded by foreign direct investment (FDI) were announced between January and July this year, a 27 percent decline on the same period last year.
Despite the significant slump in FDI promises, the HCMC People’s Committee said the amount of new foreign investment in the city was “encouraging.”
Last year, the city attracted a record $8 billion in FDI, higher than all the FDI pledged between 2002 and 2007
The new FDI projects in HCMC included 54 joint ventures and 147 wholly foreign-owned projects, Vietnam News Agency reported.
Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, the UK, France and the U.S. were the biggest investors of the 29 countries and territories investing in the city.
During the first seven months of 2009, HCMC’s FDI projects generated $2.65 billion in exports, while spending $1.97 billion on imports.
The city’s FDI sector also registered 7 percent a year-on-year increase in industrial production in the January to July period, compared with the city’s private sector, which posted 7.3 percent growth.
In a bid to speed up investment flows, HCMC is in the process of identifying the 50 largest FDI projects that have yet to disburse promised funds.
Thuy Hang
vietnews
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