Following the impressive results of attracting foreign investment (FDI) in 2023, reaching 36.6 billion USD, right from the beginning of 2024, activities such as signing agreements and granting investment certificates to foreign investors have been very lively.
FDI attraction shows positive results in the first month of 2024
FDI Capital Increasing Strongly in the First Month of the Year
The Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Planning and Investment) has just announced that in January 2024, the total newly registered capital, adjusted capital, capital contribution, and share purchase amounts of foreign investors reached over 2.36 billion USD, an increase of 40.2% compared to the same period in 2023. Among them, there were 190 new investment projects granted Investment Registration Certificates, an increase of 24.2% compared to the same period, with a total registered capital of over 2 billion USD.
In addition, there were 75 projects registering for capital adjustment, with an additional registered capital of over 235.4 million USD. According to a representative of the Foreign Investment Agency, the newly registered investment capital in January 2024 increased sharply compared to the same period due to the increase in the number of new projects. It is worth noting that there is a project with a large investment capital scale, with over 600 million USD, contributing to the strong increase in this capital flow.
In the picture of attracting FDI in the early days of 2024, Nghệ An province emerged as a bright spot when it issued Investment Certificates for 5 projects in high-tech fields such as components, electronic equipment, and green energy.
Notable projects include the Radiant Opto – Electronics Vietnam Factory invested by Radiant Opto – Electronics Corporation (Taiwan, China) with a capital of 120 million USD; Precision Technology Co., Ltd. project in VSIP Nghệ An Industrial Park, with a total investment of 24 million USD, invested by Casetek Singapore Pte.Ltd (Singapore).
Recently, this locality has focused on significantly improving the investment and business environment, emphasizing administrative reforms. At the same time, it has strengthened decentralization, delegation, promoting proactive, creative, and responsible roles of all levels and branches, resulting in a continuous increase in FDI inflows in 2023 and the beginning of 2024.
In Vĩnh Phúc, FDI inflows into this locality have also been active since the beginning of the year when it granted Investment Certificates to 2 new projects and approved capital adjustment for 5 projects, with a total capital of 68.21 million USD.
The leader of the Foreign Investment Agency also revealed that FDI inflows in the first month of 2024 have been pouring into 35 provinces and cities across the country. Hanoi takes the lead with a total registered investment capital of over 867 million USD, accounting for 36.7% of the total registered investment capital and 39.7 times higher than the same period in 2023. Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu province ranks second with a total registered investment capital of nearly 282 million USD. Next are Bắc Giang, Bắc Ninh, Đồng Nai provinces, respectively.
“Hanoi’s investment capital has increased sharply due to a large new investment project with a total investment capital of over 662 million USD, aiming to invest in a new urban area project in Hanoi,” said the leader of the Foreign Investment Agency. In terms of the number of projects, Ho Chi Minh City leads the country in the number of new projects, accounting for 42.1%.
Proper Policies Needed to Catch the Investment Wave
With the lively atmosphere from the beginning of 2024, it is expected that the results of attracting FDI will continue to be impressive in the coming time. At a meeting with foreign investors on the evening of January 26 in Hanoi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the Government of Vietnam always accompanies investors and clearly stated the viewpoint “your success is our success.”
Proper policies need to be issued soon to adapt effectively and flexibly to new investment waves
Minister of MPI Nguyen Chi Dung said Vietnam will proactively attract and cooperate in foreign investment in a selective manner, aiming for quality, efficiency, technology, and environmental protection. In particular, priority will be given to projects with high added value, high technology content, linked to domestic businesses, with spillover effects, connecting global production and supply chains.
According to the Minister, encouraged investment areas include electricity, electronics, semiconductors; renewable energy, high-efficiency agriculture; digital economy, digital transformation; innovation, research and development; financial center.
Assessing FDI attraction in 2024, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that in addition to opportunities and favorable conditions, Vietnam will face challenges as the world and regional situations continue to be complex, investors tend to seek investment opportunities in neighboring countries to shorten supply chains.
Along with that, competition in attracting investment is becoming increasingly fierce, with some countries in the region such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia having better resources, reducing taxes, or providing more support to foreign investors, requiring Vietnam to constantly improve its system and improve the investment environment, affirm its position on the foreign investment map.
The Minister also frankly pointed out that Vietnam’s investment and business environment still has some difficulties for enterprises. In particular, “post-investment” administrative procedures such as land, construction, fire prevention and fighting,… still have many shortcomings, affecting the smooth process of improving the investment environment.
To overcome these challenges, the Minister of MPI said that the Government and ministries will continue to review and adjust foreign investment policies that are appropriate to global investment trends. “It is necessary to issue appropriate policies soon to adapt effectively and flexibly to the impact of global minimum tax and ensure the trust of investors, maintaining the attractiveness of the investment environment,” said the Minister.
Along with that, administrative procedure reforms, especially the implementation of post-Investment Registration Certificate procedures such as land, construction, fire prevention and fighting, environment, and customs.
According to the head of MPI, it is necessary to strengthen the linkage of labor force training according to the needs of enterprises as well as be proactive in training labor force to meet the demands of attracting investment in high-tech fields, advanced technology in the coming time.
At the same time, to prepare the necessary conditions for infrastructure, clean land, energy, and human resources to attract large-scale projects that truly have significance for economic and social development. “It is necessary to accelerate the implementation progress of public investment projects, especially projects in the transport infrastructure sector to meet the requirements of investors,” emphasized Minister Nguyen Chi Dung.
At the local level, Mr. Mai Son, Deputy Permanent Chairman of the Bac Giang Provincial People’s Committee, said that the province will continue to persist with measures to improve the investment and business environment, attract investment, and promptly remove obstacles and barriers for businesses and investors.
At the same time, enhance the quality of investment promotion activities to improve the image of the province. Similarly, a representative of the Vinh Phuc Provincial People’s Committee said that in the coming time, it will accelerate the compensation and site clearance progress to complete the construction of complete infrastructure structures for industrial parks such as Khai Quang, Binh Xuyen, Ba Thien II, Tam Duong II – Zone A… to enhance readiness in attracting investment.
In addition, the province will focus on listening and quickly resolving obstacles for investors, enhance consulting and support for investors and businesses to implement documents and procedures. At the same time, be prepared with human resources to meet the requirements of investors.
Keeping the Stability of the Investment Environment is Needed
From the results of attracting FDI in 2023 and the challenges of 2024 mentioned above, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung believes that to continue to achieve positive results in attracting this capital flow, it is necessary to maintain the stability of the investment environment, especially the commitments that the authorities have signed and the stability of policies.
In addition, potential investors in key sectors such as high technology, information technology, and high-quality services should be selected to proactively access and invite them to invest in Vietnam.
