The southern province of Binh Duong on December 17 granted investment licenses to 30 projects, with 29 of them directly invested by foreign investors.

Among the FDI projects, 16 new ones worth 115.1 million USD were registered while 89.12 million USD was added to the 13 existing projects.

Major new projects included a 28 million USD synthetic plastic plant of the Japanese-invested Riken Vietnam Co. Ltd, and a 15 million USD razor factory of the US ’s Procter & Gamble Indochina Co. Ltd.

Meanwhile, Austria’s Schoeller Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment Vietnam Co. Ltd registered an additional investment of 15 million USD and Switzerland ’s Phonak Operation Centre Vietnam Co. Ltd, 12.12 million USD.

At present, Binh Duong has 2,375 valid FDI projects with a total investment of 20.38 billion USD, making it among the top five localities with FDI topping 20 billion USD besides Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai provinces.

In 2014 alone, the province attracted 1.655 billion USD, including 812 million USD from 151 new projects and 843 million USD from 126 existing ones. The total figure is 65 percent higher than its yearly target.

Chairman of the Binh Duong People’s Committee Le Thanh Cung said the province will continue to upgrade infrastructure and streamline administrative procedures.

It will also work harder to ensure social security and safety as well as businesses’ property and operation while always listening to investors to timely iron out obstacles for them.

Binh Duong, together with the provinces of Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, Long An and Tien Giang, and Ho Chi Minh City, forms Vietnam’s southern key economic region.-VNA