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BUSINESS REPORT

newly-registered capital, additional capital,
and capital contributions or share purchases High-quality FDI has
by foreign investors had totaled $5.4 billion continued to find its
this year, equal to 84.4 per cent of the figure way to Vietnam in recent
in the same period of 2020. Disbursed FDI years. Giants like Samsung
capital was estimated at $2.5 billion, a 2 per and LG are expanding
cent increase year-on-year. There were 126 investment and production
new projects licensed with capital of $3.31
billion, down 74.8 per cent and 33.9 per and turning Vietnam into an
cent, respectively. Additional capital totaled R&D location.
$1.61 billion, a 2.5-fold increase, while the
total value of capital contributions and share
purchases was $543.1 million, a 34.4 per
cent decline.
Notable among newly-licensed projects
is not just their billion-dollar price tags but
also their high quality. The increase in invest-
ment at LG Display, for example, is believed
to be due to rising orders from Apple for According to Mr. Do Nhat Hoang, Director
new generation screens. of MPI’s Foreign Investment Agency, given
Foxconn’s investment into Thanh Hoa that developed countries like the US, Japan,
comes after it found success in northern Bac South Korea, and elsewhere have issued poli-
Giang province and expands its presence in cies on prioritizing and assisting companies
the country. This proves that giant producers to return home or shift production from one
of electronic devices have selected and are foreign country to another in order to diversify
selecting Vietnam as their strategic production supply chains, Vietnam needs to make use of
location, giving hope to sustained improve- the opportunities to come by resolving any
ments in the quality of FDI flows. and all challenges and removing bottlenecks
A survey released by the Japan External in attracting quality FDI.
Trade Organization Vietnam (JETRO) in Feb- First, in terms of investment location,
ruary confirmed that Vietnam is viewed as a MPI, the Ministry of Natural Resources and
sound investment destination by Japanese Environment, and localities are reviewing
investors. Some 46.8 per cent of respondents delayed or poorly-performing projects and
said they will continue expanding their busi- considering license revocation to create a
ness in 2021. “Though this is down from 63.9 larger land fund for new projects. The two
per cent last year, it is still relatively high in ministries will also review and identify local-
Asia, exceeded only by Pakistan, India, and ities, industrial parks, and economic zones
PHOTO: VIET TUAN
Myanmar,” said Mr. Takeo Nakajima, Chief with the infrastructure, workforce, and energy
The Foxconn Corporation from Taiwan Representative of JETRO Hanoi. supply necessary to welcome relocating pro-
(China) conducted research into the potential Reasons for Japanese investors selecting duction facilities. They will also review and
for production in northern Thanh Hoa province. Vietnam as an investment destination include plan for industrial parks to receive new FDI.
It then asked provincial authorities to suggest increasing revenue in the domestic market, Second, in terms of human resources, the
suitable investment locations, and selected rising revenue from production expansion, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social
three industrial parks. It will manufacture and the substantial potential for growth. More Affairs is cooperating with other ministries,
electronic components and products, with than 86 per cent of respondents believe pro- localities, and industries to develop workplace
each site being some 150 ha. The project will duction and business activities will return to training for highly-skilled jobs in digital tech-
create 100,000 to 150,000 jobs, with annual normal this year despite Covid-19. nology, information technology, applied infor-
export revenue standing at $10 billion. matics, electronics-telecommunications, and
Last June, the Millennium Energy Corpo- Seizing the day mechanics-manufacturing. Training programs
ration from the US also signed an MoU with High-quality FDI has continued to find will be created or adjusted to suit the human
Thanh Hoa province for a $5-billion investment its way to Vietnam in recent years. Giants resources needs of foreign-invested enterprises
in the construction of a 4,800MW liquefied like Samsung and LG are expanding invest- (FIEs), while a database of technical workers
natural gas power plant. The project plans to ment and production and turning Vietnam with overseas training and experience will
import all inputs and resources. The corporation into an R&D location. be created for them to choose from.
has already begun hiring design consultants It is also worth noting that not only Foxconn Third, Vietnam has issued and will issue
and put certain works into operation. but also other names in Apple’s production various developmental policies for the coun-
And more recently, at the end of January, chain, like Luxshare, Pegatron, and Wistron, try’s supporting industries. The Ministry of
Russian firm AVG Partners Corporation signed have made an appearance in Vietnam, grad- Industry and Trade has already built a Web
an MoU with the Thanh Hoa Provincial Peo- ually creating a local ecosystem. Portal of Supporting Industries, at vsi.gov.vn,
ple’s Committee for a $1.4 billion investment Away from technology, projects in indus- to help investors connect and cooperate with
in a pork processing complex. trial production with a large proportion of local companies.
high-technology are also being licensed. “In the context of Covid-19, Vietnam’s main
Flows coming in The main problem for now is how to effec- focus must be on controlling the pandemic
According to the Ministry of Planning tively absorb the substantial amount of while ensuring economic recovery, to maintain
and Investment (MPI), as of February 20, incoming FDI. its attractiveness,” Mr. Hoang believes. %

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