Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ha Noi, April 7 (VNA) -- An additional 65 foreign-invested projects were licensed in the first quarter of this year with a combined investment capital of USD 148 million.

Ho Chi Minh City topped the list with 21 projects valued at USD 51 million. Binh Duong province, next to Ho Chi Minh City, had 24 projects licensed worth only USD 16.5 million; and Ha Noi had four projects valued at USD 4.4 million.

In the period, foreign direct invested (FDI) businesses spent USD 250 million in production, earning a total turnover of USD 1.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 56 percent. They increased their export turnover by 55 percent year-on-year to USD 773 million.

FDI businesses recruited an additional 4,000 workers in the period, raising the total number of employees in this sector to 300,000.

Increasing amounts of foreign investors have poured money into industrial production with many businesses recording an average annual growth rate of 20 percent.

Of the total 2,403 foreign-invested projects that are operational with a combined investment capital of USD 35.95 billion, 1,256 projects are involved in industries, with a total investment of USD 14.9 billion.

With regard to production capacity, FDI businesses have so far been involved in 100 percent of the oil and gas exploration and exploitation and the assembling of computers, automobiles, high-capacity transformers, office equipment, washing machines, air conditioning units and video tapes; 95 percent of construction glass production; over 70 percent of steel processing; over 50 percent of the production of rolled iron, paint, toiletries electronic appliances, and cloth; 40-50 percent of soft drink, milk, cement, garment, fertilizer, and insecticide production; and 35 percent of footwear production.

Many of FDI businesses' products have reached international standard thanks to the application of new technology and modern equipment, including IT and electronic products, chemicals, and automobiles.--VNA