Registered and disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) along with the issuance of investment certificates in the first ten months of this year have been consistent with a stable business climate, radio the Voice of Vietnam quoted Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh as saying.

Though Vietnam has become more attractive with its tax incentives, low-cost labour, and long coastline and its increasingly modern port infrastructure, FDI attraction policies still naturally face some challenges, according to Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, Director of Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM),

To overcome these obstacles and continue to attract more FDI in the future, Vietnam needs to take a long-range view and develop a national strategy that embraces FDI as a powerful driver for sustainable economic development, Cung said.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) during the 10 month period, newly registered FDI capital dipped by 23.9 percent to 9.95 billion USD, representing a total of 1,306 projects.

Meanwhile the FIA reported supplementary capital for existing projects dipped 39.1 percent to 3.74 billion USD for 469 projects.

FIA Deputy Director Nguyen Noi said the declining FDI registered capital was principally due to the reduction in the number of large scale projects this year as compared to 2013.

There were fewer projects having capital of more than 1 billion USD each this year while the overwhelming majority (70%) of FDI projects had registered capital of under 5 million USD that was the main cause of a decline in FDI capitalisation this year, Noi explained.

However, Tran Duy Dong, Director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI)’s Economic Zone Management Department, said in fact many foreign investors continued to pour investment into their business in Vietnam. Dong cited the Samsung CE Complex and Samsung Display Bac Ninh projects, which each has registered capital of more than 1 billion USD, as prime examples of the confidence of foreign investors in the country.

Foreign invested enterprises contributed 82.48 billion USD to the nation’s export revenues (including crude oil), up 13.6 percent and comprising 67 percent of the country’s total export value.

All this adds up to the simple fact that Vietnam has continued to remain a safe and attractive destination for foreign investors, Dong concluded.

To improve FDI attraction, FIA Director Do Nhat Hoang says the agency has set a target to attract large-scale projects with more competitive products and plans to join global value chains of multinational groups.

At the same time the agency will pay appropriate attention to small-and-medium sized projects and strike a balance between the two. Furthermore, FDI attraction would focus on the supporting industry, construction, services, and agro-forestry, Hoang said, noting that in the exploitation of natural resource, only projects using advanced and environmentally friendly technologies and machines will be granted licences.

To realise the target, Vietnam should have proper strategies to attract investors. “Currently, some Vietnam localities, such as like Binh Duong, have been better at attracting foreign investment, because local authorities support businesses and have timely and clear investment procedures. The model should be expanded in the future” says Professor Nguyen Mai.

Meanwhile, Dr.Nguyen Dinh Cung said localities should outline clear and specific criteria for choosing investors and offer transparent policies for mutual benefit.-VNA