(VEN) - According to official data released by the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) on December 30, 2011, last year Vietnam attracted US$14.7 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), including both capital of newly registered projects and increases in the capital of ongoing projects. Vietnam disbursed about US$11 billion of FDI in 2011.
Although Vietnam failed to realize the US$20-21 billion target set by the MPI for FDI attraction in 2011, the results it gained were highly appreciated for improved disbursement and positive changes in the fields of investment.
Don't look at the numbers
With US$14.7 billion, the FDI attraction for 2011 equaled just 74 percent of that in 2010. That included US$11.6 billion earmarked for newly registered projects, equal to 65 percent of 2010's figure, and US$3.1 billion in increases in the capital for ongoing projects.
Many economists are pessimistic and think that Vietnam is becoming less attractive to foreign investors. However, MPI leaders said that one should not look at FDI attraction in purely numerical terms in regards to the investment environment in Vietnam.
Do Nhat Hoang, the director of the Foreign Investment Agency, said that in 2011 registered FDI in Vietnam focused on industries and construction (76.4 percent, higher than 54.1 percent of 2010). Registered FDI in the real estate sector accounted for 5.8 percent of the total against 34.3 percent in 2010.
Increases in the capital of ongoing FDI projects totaled US$3.1 billion, up 1.65 times of that in 2010 (US$1.89 billion). This reflects foreign investors' positive attitudes towards investment and business in Vietnam.
Despite a decrease in the amount of FDI registered in 2011 compared with 2010, Vietnam disbursed US$11 billion of FDI last year, which equaled the implemented amount of 2010 and 25.9 percent of the country's total investment in development in 2011.
In 2011, the export value of the FDI sector grew 39.3 percent compared with 2010 and that was higher than the average export growth rate of all economic sectors last year. The FDI sector's revenue from domestic sources reached US$3.5 billion, up 15 percent compared with US$3.04 billion of 2010. This was a good result of FDI attraction in 2011 despite numerous difficulties that faced the Vietnamese and world economies.
Vietnam remains an attractive destination
Do Nhat Hoang said that although Vietnam did not achieve the desired FDI attraction results in 2011, international organizations still believe Vietnam will continue to be an attractive destination for foreign investors in the future.
The World Investment Prospects Survey (WIPS) 2010-2012 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) shows that Vietnam has moved up three places to hold the top position among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries in terms of FDI attraction and is one of the ten most attractive economies to foreign investors, especially to Japanese investors and those from other developing countries in Asia.
The results of a survey carried out by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) with businesses operating in the processing industry show that Vietnam continues to be an attractive destination to Japanese investors. Through an online survey with 346 Japanese investors, The Nikkei Business Online (Japan) found that 70 percent of them had chosen Vietnam to be their number-one future destination while India and Thailand were the second or third option./.
By Nguyen Hoa
|