HCM City augments measures to attract FDI

Right in the first week of 2016, the management board of the Saigon Hi-tech Park presented investment certificates to three new projects, including one FDI project with registered capital of US$21 million by Malaysia’s United More Sdn Bhd. The project is set to manufacture 12 million plastic products for smart TVs every year.

In the first two months of this year, the city granted investment registration certificates for 90 projects with combined capital of US$155.9 million.

Another US$78.8 million was added to 25 existing projects, helping HCM City stay among the top five FDI destinations in Vietnam, according to the municipal People’s Committee.

Twenty-three countries and territories poured money into projects there, including Japan (three projects worth US$50.6 million), Singapore (18 projects worth US$39.5 million), and Malaysia (three projects valued at US$22.6 million).

They were followed by Indonesia (one project – US$8.3 million), the Republic of Korea (17 projects – US$7.5 million) and Thailand (four projects – US$6.4 million).

Le Thi Huynh Mai, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, said the city is conducting a series of reforms to facilitate investments such as helping foreign investors compile business registration dossiers free of charge, providing an online investment registration service and granting investment registration certificates by post. 

Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Le Van Khoa said his city will focus investment attraction efforts on key industrial and service sectors and hi-tech agriculture.

It is also eyeing at inviting investments from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Republic of Korea and especially Japan in 2016. To do so, 108 promotion activities are planned to be organised this year.

Additionally, HCM City will solidify cooperation with foreign provinces and cities, he noted, adding that it plans to set up a Japan desk to offer the best possible assistance to Japanese investors.

He took the recent cooperation between Japan’s Creed Group with two Vietnamese companies as an example of effective investment promotion. The Creed Group agreed to work with the Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corporation and the An Gia Investment company in a housing project in District 7. The 8,000-flat project has capital of up to US$500 million.