The southern province of Binh Duong on June 4 held a ceremony to hand over investment licenses to 41 FDI projects with a combined capital of 146 million USD.

According to Mai Hung Dung, Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, among the projects, there are 10 from Japan, nine from the Republic of Korea, five from China, four from Hong Kong and three from Taiwan. Eight licenses were issued after May 15.

This is a positive sign for the province as it is one among the three localities most seriously affected by disturbances which occurred on May 13-14 when some individuals took advantage of workers' rallies - in protest of China's illegal placement of its Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig in Vietnam’s waters - to incite others to damage and loot assets of some foreign-invested companies and factories.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Thanh Cung said that after the riots, 98 percent of affected businesses have resumed their operations.

In recent years, Binh Duong has paid attention to projects and services with the application of advanced technologies in order to make high-quality and competitive products for both domestic and international markets, he said. The province pledges to continue facilitating the investment and operation of FDI companies and effectively implementing administrative reform, he added.

In the first five months of 2014, the locality attracted 978.4 million USD in foreign direct investment, up 14.9 percent from the same period last year.-VNA