Foreign investment in HCM City soars in two months hinh anh 1Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – The southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City lured 443.1 million USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first two months of 2017, a year-on-year rise of 61.3 percent.

The statistics were revealed at a meeting of the municipal People’s Committee on February 27.

Director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment Su Ngoc Anh said in February alone, the city licensed 96 new projects capitalised at 119.1 million USD, and allowed 24 existing ones to increase investment with a combined added capital of 59.7 million USD.

FDI mainly went to such fields as information and communication (50.5 million USD); automobile and motorbike (31.92 million USD); and processing and manufacturing (10.34 million USD).

Malaysia topped the list of investors with 44.24 million USD or 37.2 percent of total investment, followed by Japan (24.34 million USD), and the Netherlands (16 million USD).

In January – February, the city had 4,404 newly-established businesses with a total registered capital of over 57 trillion VND (2.6 billion USD), a year-on-year increase of 11 percent in number and 100 percent in registered capital.

The new firms are mainly operating in real estate, automobile and motorbike, and construction.

To attract more investment, the municipal People’s Committee will continue taking measures to support businesses and improve investment climate while holding meetings between local authorities and foreign-invested businesses.

The city will also help enterprises to increase productivity and product quality as well as establish a startup ecosystem and expand overseas markets.-VNA

VNA