Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under theMinistry of Planning and Investment, in the first quarter, Vietnam attractednearly 5.45 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI), down 39%year on year.
Of the total, over 3 billion USD came from 522newly-licensed projects, up 62% in a number of projects but down 6% in capital compared to the same period last year. Among these newprojects, the combined capital of under-1-million USD projects accounted foronly 2.2% of the total newly-registered investment.
Meanwhile, some 1.2 billion USD was added to 228 existingones, representing a hike of 3% in a number of projects and a decline of 70.3% year on year in capital.
However, foreign investors' capital contribution and sharepurchases rose 4% year-on-year to 798 million USD, the FIA said.
A survey from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO)shows that more than 60% of respondents said that their company would expandtheir business in Vietnam in the next two years, a higher proportion comparedto any other ASEAN country.
Nakajima Takeo, JETRO chief representative in Hanoi, saidthat there is a trend of Japanese SMEs increasing their investment in thecoming time.
Although the investment is not big, SMEs over the globe,especially those from Japan, own a lot of advanced technologies and hold notsmall market shares, he said, proposing Vietnam have appropriate preferentialpolicies to attract such businesses./.
VNA
