Dong Nai makes a breakthrough in foreign direct investment (FDI)

In 2006, Dong Nai failed to make the list of the top-three in term of FDI attraction. But, remarkable growth in FDI were observed in Dong Nai with total FDI inflows surpassing US$ 1 billion. The figure showed that the province has been more effective in promoting FDI and is becoming a more competitive destination for FDI.

Assembling circuit boards for digital cameras at a factory of Sanyo Vietnam located in Bien Hoa 2 industrial zone

The province is currently home to 835 valid investment projects with a total registered capital of more than US$ 9 billion. Of these, 592 projects have been operational. This is also a sign that investors have confidence in Dong Nai and they are willing to bring investment capital in the province. The province’s achievement was attributed to administrative reforms and the improvement of industrial parks’ infrastructure.

Dong Nai identifies a development strategy for sustainable economic growth. Particularly, the province will take steps to develop industrial sector in order to achieve its goal of rapid industrialization besides promoting the development of trade, service and agriculture. The province targets to attract US$1.2 billion worth of investment projects in 2007, a year-on-year increase of nearly 20 per cent. After Vietnam’s entry into the WTO, the country will welcome a new wave of foreign investment in coming years and various investment promotion activities undertaken by Dong Nai over the past years have also received attention of foreign investors. Hence, these things will make the province easy to reach the goal in 2007.

There is a shortage of manual workers in garments and footwear sectors

Under WTO commitments, Vietnam will open further its market to trade and investment so foreign investors will invest in various sectors in the country. It is forecasted that some emerging sectors, such as trade, service, financial and banking and real estate would attract the most attention of foreign investors. Therefore, the locality will become more competitive and have an advantage over other ones if it can create an enabling environment with adequate policies and strategies for reliable and quality infrastructure as well as hasten administrative reform to create a transparent environment for foreign investors.

By 2010, Dong Nai’s industrial zones are expected to reach the number of 32 with a total area of about 11800 hectares. In order to succeed in achieving its goals, the province should train human resource for meeting the demands of investors as well as create a transparent and friendly environment for both domestic and foreign investors.

Reported by Kim Nguyen