The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) will prioritise attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to develop the infrastructure, hi-technology, supporting industries and highly competitive products for export.

Changing the tack for attracting FDI will be also combined with a series of measures to tighten the assessment and management of projects.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong told the Investment newspaper in a recent interview that a great deal of consideration will be taken in large scale projects that use large land funds and significant amounts of the country’s mineral resources and energy, that can cause pollution and to use domestic resources for sustainable development.

Investment licences will be granted to ensure all the requirements for development are adhered to, said Dong.

He said that the MoPI plans to carry out investment promotions in special areas, branches, sectors and regions to take advantage of the country’s potential and strengths.

Vietnam is targeting attracting FDI projects by big multi-national conglomerates to help the nation integrate into the global added value market to create a firm foundation for further production.

However, he said, it is a positive move when a number of FDI projects have cut their capital and changed the direction of their investments.

FDI projects based on cheap labour are shifting to other nations as Vietnam no longer has this advantage. Instead, the presence of Samsung, Vina and Intel plus others with hi-tech knowledge has underlined this in the shifting of Vietnam’s hi-tech sector.

The MoPI is scheduled to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to draw up policies to attract FDI for seafood processing and exports including preferential tariffs. A similar policy for the supporting industry will be carried out with the assistance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The MoPI is targeting 20 billion USD in newly-registered FDI capital and 11.0-11.5 billion USD in disbursement this year./.