Trade deals to bring investment

HCM CITY — In 2019, foreign direct investment in Việt Nam will be significant thanks to new-generation free trade agreements that have already been signed or are under discussion with various partners.

“Especially in the context of the trade war between the US and China, investment flows into Việt Nam will be stronger next year,” Nguyễn Văn Hùng, chairman of the Bình Dương Province –based Becamex IDC, was quoted as saying in Việt Nam Investment Review (Đầu tư) newspaper.

“Our company has carried out investment promotion for a long time in many countries like Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and the US and Europe, and FDI will strongly flow into Việt Nam and Bình Dương province as a result.”

At last month’s Horasis Asia Meeting, many foreign corporations had signed memorandums of understanding with Becamex IDC to invest, he revealed.

Nguyễn Thanh Trúc, director of Bình Dương province’s Planning and Investment Department, said: “Relevant authorities and industrial park infrastructure developers in Bình Dương Province will promote trade and review demand by enterprises to expand to create the most favourable conditions for foreign enterprises.”

No big FDI for southern region in 2018

Bình Dương attracted around US$1.6 billion worth of FDI this year, down from $2.8 billion in 2017.

“This year, there were no big FDI project, and registered capital of each project was also low,” Trúc said.

The biggest project was worth $135.2 million by US fund Warburg Pincus.

The neighbouring Đồng Nai Province, another locality which has traditionally attracted a lot of FDI, also reported $1.8 billion worth by the end of November.

The biggest project was by Singapore’s KCC Company and worth $60 million.

Lê Hoài Quốc, head of the Sài Gòn High Tech Park, said a $500 million battery project by a US company to supply Tesla would not be able to complete procedures this year and would instead begin production next year. — VNS