Vietnam’s businesses have so far registered to invest in 440 projects with a total capital of over 6.8 billion USD in 49 nations and territories, reports the Foreign Investment Agency.

In the first eights months of the year, Vietnamese businesses registered to invest 2.1 billion USD in projects outside Vietnam, said the department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment at a recent meeting.

The key markets targeted by Vietnamese businesses are ASEAN countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, as well as Russia.

Expanding their business is a new trend in their strategies, FIA said.

Highlighted was the Military Telecoms Corporation (Viettel), which has set a target of increasing its investment abroad to 100 million USD in the near future.

In February, Viettel opened its mobile phone service network Metfone in Cambodia which cost the company 30 million USD. Recently, it announced it had completed all the necessary procedures to open a representative office in Myanmar.

In its latest move, Viettel has informed Bangladesh’s state mobile phone company Teletalk, expressing its desire to invest 250 million USD in the company.

The Binh An Joint Stock Seafood Company is another example of this trend. The company said that its plan to invest 10 million USD in a fast food chain in the US got underway recently.

According to FIA, in order to boost investment overseas, Vietnamese businesses need to overcome a number of difficulties, including weak financial potential and poor awareness of foreign laws./.