The northern province of Vinh Phuc aims to attract 370 million USD in investment by 2015, the provincial People's Committee has reported.

Of the total, 300 million USD is expected to come in 25 foreign-invested projects with the remainder from 50 domestic investors.

Last year, the province continued to see strong investment, especially the foreign investment, the committee reported.

In addition to 6.74 trillion VND (345.6 million USD) of domestic investment, the province attracted 15 foreign-invested projects worth 250 million USD, bringing the number of foreign-invested projects to 121 with a combined registered capital of 2.32 billion USD.

Last year, the foreign-invested sector accounted for 88 percent (403 million USD) of the provincial total export revenue and created 30,000 jobs.

Committee chairman Phung Quang Hung attributed the "encouraging" result to administrative procedure reforms, improved infrastructure and higher quality personnel.

"The socio-economic achievements in recent years have also made Vinh Phuc an attractive location for investors here and globally," Hung said.

The province is one of the country's top localities for economic growth in the past five years, recording an annual rate of 18 percent.

It also ranks seventh in industrial production value. Last year, its industrial output rose by 20.4 percent to reach 41.46 trillion VND (2.12 billion USD).

To attract investment, Vinh Phuc has focused on developing a series of industrial parks and clusters, Hung said.

Up to 24 industrial parks, covering 6,038ha, had been approved by the Prime Minister. Four have been completed and three are under development.

Head of Industrial Zones Management Board Nguyen Cong Loc said Vinh Phuc is giving investors as much encouragement as possible.

Top priority will be given to key industries such as engineering and manufacturing and electronics and environmentally friendly projects to turn Vinh Phuc into an industrialised province by 2020, Loc said./.