Small- and medium-sized foreign firms in HCM City are looking to increase their capital because they see potential for expansion and growth.

The Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper quotes the HCM City Department of Planning and Investment as saying 65 FDI projects operating in the City have raised their investment capital to 168.9 million USD in the first nine months of this year.

These projects are mainly in the manufacturing, industrial, service and retail sectors.

Fastfood chain Lotteria Vietnam Ltd Co has decided to invest an additional 7 million USD to expand its chain, while sporting goods manufacturer Adidas Vietnam has decided to raise its investment by a million dollars to 3.9 million USD.

Retailer Giant South Asia has poured an additional 15 million USD into its distribution network and warehouses, raising its total investment capital to 20 million USD.

Lu Thanh Phong, DPI deputy director, said FDI businesses in the city had, compared to previous years, increased investments in manufacturing, processing and industrial production over the last two years.

Nguyen Tan Phuoc, deputy head of HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Park Authority, said the capital increase showed trust in the market's development potential and stability.

Yuki Vietnam Ltd, a company that produces industrial sewing machinery, has invested an additional 5 million USD this year, bringing its total investment capital to 20 million USD. This is the third time it has increased its capital investment in the city.

Tsunoda Shinji, general director of the company, said the increase in capital aimed to expand its domestic market share, instead of focusing on exports. Currently, the company earns 16 million USD per year from the domestic market, and it aims to increase this to 24-26 million USD a year in the near future.

A representative of Australia 's RMIT University said it had invested more than 15.1 million USD to build a dormitory for its students in Vietnam .

Merilyn Liddell, director of RMIT Vietnam, said the investment aimed to expand the school area by 2013 to meet rising demand for international standard education in Vietnam .

However, many FDI businesses had also complained that they were hampered by the lack of skilled workers, and were having to provide the needed training by themselves, the newspaper reported./.