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Korea’s investment in Vietnam falls sharply in first five months
Currently, Korea is the second biggest foreign investor in Vietnam. But in the first five months of this year, Korea’s investments in Vietnam have tumbled significantly, Do Nhat Hoang, head of Foreign Investment Department (Ministry of Planning and Investment) said at the talk with Korean firms on June 6 in HCM City.
In details, in Jan-May, there have been 58 projects of Korean investors with a total pledged capital of nearly $220 million. The total newly pledged and raised FDI capital of Korean investors reached $255 million, down over 51 percent over the same period last year ($522/89 million, or 11.2 percent of the total FDI investment capital).
Kim Jai Woo, President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in HCM City (KoCham), said due to the difficult economic situation, Korea’s investment has decreased worldwide, including Vietnam. In addition, Korea’s investment in real estate is also difficult.
So far, there have been over 3,000 licensed investment projects of Korean investors in Vietnam, totalled nearly $24 billion, ranking at the second place after Japan. Of which, Korean investors poured the biggest investment capital in processing and manufacturing industry sectors (47%) and followed by real estate sector (28%) and construction (9%). Some provinces have attracted the biggest investment capital from Korean investors such as Hanoi, HCM City, Ba Ria Vung Tau and Dong Nai.
According to the Foreign Investment Department, most Korean big groups and corporations have been investing effectively in Vietnam such as Samsung, Kumho, GS, Posco, LG and CJ.
For over 20 past years (since 1988), 2008 saw the biggest pledged FDI capital in Vietnam with $71.3 billion. But so far, FDI capital in Vietnam has dropped to $15.5 billion in 2011.
In Jan-May, the total FDI capital in Vietnam reached $5.32 billion, falling from $7.8 billion of 2011 and $9 billion in 2010.
However, according to Do Nhat Hoang, registered FDI capital fell while disbursed FDI capital remained stable with an average level of $4.5 billion in the first five months of this year.
Currently, the US is attracting the biggest investment from Korean investors with four million Korean expatriates living here and then China, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
TBKTSG
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