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Firms invest US$1.8 billion overseas in four months
With nine projects licensed last month, Vietnamese firms invested nearly US$1.8 billion abroad in the first four months this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).
The agency said that most of the projects were related to power, rubber cultivation and telecommunications. The latest licences were granted to the US$800 million Se San hydroelectric power plant and a US$31.7 million rubber plantation in Cambodia.
Vietnamese enterprises pumped about US$3 billion into 25 countries and territories last year, according to statistics from the FIA. OF this total figure, US$1.83 billion went to Venezuela, more than US$387 million to Cambodia, US$345 million to Mozambique, and US$132 million to Laos.
Vietnam’s overseas investments have risen steadily over the last few years, but the efficiency of its projects remains in question.
FIA Director Do Nhat Hoang said it is necessary to regulate capital outflows as most of them are from State-owned groups and enterprises.
To better check the efficiency of overseas investments, the agency has recently required Vietnamese investors to submit reports on their business operation in foreign countries.
However, there is no comprehensive mechanism for overseeing overseas investments, which were mostly funded by the Government.
A lack of oversight might lead to inefficient use or even loss of that capital, it said.
Investment abroad has increased, but with a small economy, high trade deficit, an unstable international balance of payments and a low foreign currency reserve, overseas investment activities must be closely checked to regulate cash flows and ensure macroeconomic stability.
vov, VNA
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