From 2009-2012, FDI flows to Vietnam continuously
declined. In 2008, Vietnam attracted US$64 billion of FDI, but in 2009,
the index fell to US$21.48 billion; in 2010 US$18.1 billion; in 2011
US$14.7 billion; and in 2012, up to December 15, Vietnam attracted more
than US$13.01 billion of FDI.
Meanwhile, a large number of ongoing FDI projects
expanded in terms of investment capital. In 2011, Vietnam saw increases
totaling nearly US$3.14 billion in the registered capital of 374 FDI
projects, a rise of 65 percent compared with 2010.
The situation of 2012 was similar to that of 2011.
Last year, Vietnam granted investment certificates to 1,100 new FDI
projects with total registered capital of US$7.85 billion, equal to 64.9
percent of that in 2011. Meanwhile, 435 FDI projects were registered to
increase their investment capital by a total of US$5.15 billion, a rise
of 58.5 percent compared with 2011.
Since the beginning of 2013, FDI flows in Vietnam
have showed signs of recovery after four years of continuous decreases.
In the first seven months of this year, Vietnam attracted US$11.91
billion of FDI, up 19.6 percent compared with the same period of 2012,
and this included both the capital of newly licensed projects and
increases in the capital of ongoing projects. Specifically, the capital
of newly licensed projects was US$6.92 billion, up 10 percent, and
increases in the capital of ongoing projects totaled US$4.99 billion, up
36 percent. Clearly, increases in the capital of ongoing projects have
considerably contributed to the recovery of FDI flows to Vietnam.
Impressive capital increases
Notably, of the 266 FDI projects registered to
increase their capital in the first seven months of 2013, some projects
have had their capital increased by US$1 billion or even several billion
US dollars. Typical examples included the Nghi Son Refinery and
Petrochemicals Complex in Thanh Hoa Province, a Japanese investment
project, with its capital increasing by US$2.8 billion to US$9 billion;
and the Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) project in Bac Ninh Province
with its capital increasing by US$1 billion to US$2.5 billion. This was
the second time the SEV project had its capital increased.
The Foreign Investment Agency has not announced but
according to information from Phu Yen Province, the province has signed
an investment certificate allowing the Vung Ro Petrochemical and Oil
Refinery project of Russian investors to increase its capital from
US$1.7 to US$3.18 billion. The construction of the project will start in
the third quarter of this year.
It is forecasted that more ongoing FDI projects will
be registered to increase their capital. In Thai Nguyen Province, after
investing more than US$2 billion in the construction of a mobile phone
assembling and hi-tech product manufacturing plant, the Samsung Group
intends to invest US$1.2 billion in building another plant specializing
in manufacturing, assembling microchips and integrated circuits. In the
city of Hai Phong, the LG Electronics Vietnam Company Limited plans to
invest US$300 million in an electronics project in the Trang Due
Industrial Park./.
Source: VEN