Despite the difficulties and challenges of the global economy, foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to “pour” into some southern provinces and cities.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Bureau of Statistics, as of June 20, 2023, the total FDI inflows into Ho Chi Minh City reached nearly 2.9 billion USD, up 30.7% over the same period in 2022. In which, there were 514 newly granted projects (up 69.1%), but the registered capital only reached 231 million USD (equivalent to the same period last year); 163 projects adjusted registered capital (up 139.7%) with registered capital increased by 458 million USD, equaling only 33.3% over the same period in 2022.
In terms of the number of projects, Ho Chi Minh City is the leading locality in the country in terms of new projects (38.9%), number of adjusted projects (24.9%) and capital contribution to buy shares (65.4%). In addition, many foreign corporations operating in Ho Chi Minh City also want to expand the project, in which, Intel Corporation alone has invested an additional 1.5 billion USD and wants to continue to grow in Vietnam. With this result, Ho Chi Minh City continues to maintain its position in the top 10 localities assessed by FDI enterprises with good prospects in terms of investment environment.
At the recent press conference of the Management Board of EPZs and IZs in Ho Chi Minh City (Hepza), Mr. Hua Quoc Hung, Head of Hepza, said that there are high-tech enterprises promoting investment in Ho Chi Minh City with an investment scale of about approx. 700 million USD. According to the Department of Planning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City, the city is developing a plan to attract FDI in the period of 2023-2025 with a vision to 2030 aimed at strategic investors (investment capital from VND 30,000 billion for ordinary projects or from 3,000 billion VND to the innovation project).
This plan is expected to attract more than 50 high-tech projects by 2025 with at least one big-name high-tech corporation with a total investment capital of at least 3 billion USD. At the same time, the plan also targets the ratio of registered investment capital of key investors to reach 70% of the total capital in the period of 2023-2025. Priority is given to multinational corporations associated with domestic enterprises to form and develop clusters of industry linkages according to each value chain.
In Binh Duong, in the first 6 months of 2023, there are 20 countries and territories investing and contributing capital, in which, the largest new investment project belongs to Pandora Group (Denmark) with investment capital more than 163 million USD, accounting for 16.7% of total registered capital. Cicor Group (Switzerland) has increased investment capital to build and inaugurate a factory in VSIP 1 Industrial Park (Binh Duong province) to manufacture electronic and electromechanical products and semi-finished products for export, bringing the total investment capital in Binh Duong to 15 million USD.
Mr. Yeh Ming Yuh, General Director of Polytex Far Eastern Co., Ltd (Bau Bang Industrial Park) said that in the third quarter of 2023, the company will continue to pour more than 250 million USD into Binh Duong. Thus, after the third capital increase, Polytex Far Eastern will become the largest FDI project in Binh Duong.
Regarding the construction of the 3rd investment expansion project, Mr. Yeh Ming Yuh shared, the Company will invest in expanding the production line with super durable yarn products (applied in the production of safety wire, airbag, tire lining, etc.). Responding to green transformation in production, the Company will also build a solar power plant to provide electricity for production.
According to data from the Dong Nai Statistics Department, in the first 6 months of 2023, Dong Nai attracted 77 FDI projects, of which, there were 33 new investment projects and 44 capital increase projects, 2 times higher compared to the same period last year. The growth in investment attraction shows that Dong Nai is still an ideal destination for FDI enterprises. Although the world economy has declined, FDI inflows into the province still increase thanks to the efforts of businesses and province’s policies to accompany the businesses.
FDI projects mainly invest in industrial parks to build factories and install modern machines to serve production. New enterprises investing and expanding production scale according to the plan are concentrated in a number of areas such as livestock, textile fibers, footwear, and furniture production. For example, Hyosung Dong Nai Co., Ltd. in Nhon Trach 5 Industrial Park invested VND 416 billion; C.P Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company in Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park invested in building a factory with a total capital of over 396 billion VND; Dona Standard Shoes Co., Ltd in Xuan Loc Industrial Park invested more than 41 billion VND…
Mr. Kim Young Whan, Chairman of the Korean Business Association in Vietnam, said that Korea is currently leading in investing in Dong Nai with over 400 projects with a total registered capital of more than 7.2 billion USD. In the coming time, Korea’s investment capital in the province will continue to increase if the problems related to land and procedures are quickly removed. Korean enterprises are committed to environmental protection and safety management when doing business in Vietnam.
However, many businesses are currently facing difficulties in applying for fire prevention and fighting certificates. Many FDI enterprises that have been and are about to invest in Dong Nai hope that procedures related to tax regulations, electronic invoices, etc. will limit errors and be adjusted quickly, helping businesses to be more convenient in production and export.
