Foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals in HCMC in the January-May period rose a staggering 67.5% against the same period last year, largely owing to a mammoth project by a U.S. investor.
The city’s Department of Planning and Investment said on Tuesday that the city attracted more than US$1.33 billion in fresh foreign capital registered in 123 new projects, up 61.5% year-on-year. In addition, in the first five months of this year, 42 existing FDI projects have registered to increase capital by US$193 million.
This result is largely attributed to the project of the U.S.-invested company First Solar Vietnam Manufacturing Co. Ltd. to develop a thin-film solar power panel factory worth US$1 billion in Cu Chi District.
The initial investment in the first phase of the project, which got off the ground in March, was around US$300 million, and the facility will come on stream in the second half of next year.
Much of the new FDI is committed to the city’s industrial parks and export processing zones.
The HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza) said that total FDI into these zones so far this year, including additional funds injected into operational projects, has amounted to US$1.183 billion, up nearly US$1.1 billion year-on-year.
Meanwhile, the management authority for the city’s southern area development licensed seven projects with investment capital of over US$131 million.
Authorities of Thu Thiem Urbanized Area, Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) and HCMC North-West Metropolitan Area have yet to grant a license this year.
The city to date has some 3,990 valid FDI projects with total registered capital of more than US$31 billion.
