Hanoi(VNA) – The foreign direct investment (FDI) sector has become an important partin Vietnam’s economy, with remarkable contributions to the country’s socio-economicdevelopment.

As of April 2018, Vietnam had attracted 25,524 FDI projects with totalregistered capital of more than 320 billion USD from 126 countries andterritories across the world, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA)under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said the FDI sectorcontributes about 25 percent to social investment capital and 20 percent to thegross domestic product (GDP).

Close to 58 percent of total FDI capital has went to the processing andmanufacturing industries, helping Vietnam increase the value of products andcreate a shift in domestic economic sectors in a more positive and competitiveway.

In 2017, the FDI sector made up 72 percent of total export value and generatedabout 3.5 million direct jobs and 5 million indirect employments.

FIA Director Do Nhat Hoang said FDI has flown into all 63 cities and provincesnationwide. The southern largest economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City tops the listwith 44.7 billion USD in registered FDI, accounting for 13.8 percent of the totalinvestment.

The southern province of Binh Duong ranks second with 30.7 billion USD,accounting for 9.5 percent of the total investment, followed by the capitalcity of Hanoi and Dong Nai province with 27.7 billion USD and 27.34 billionUSD, respectively.

The Ministryof Planning and Investment is drafting a strategy to draw FDI in 2018-2023 withthe assistance of the World Bank (WB).

Economists suggested Vietnam change its FDI attraction policies, focusing onhigh-quality projects applying new cutting-edge technologies, having stronginfluence on the economy and supporting domestic business development.

WB experts advised the country to draw FDI based on technology, labour skillsand production value chains.

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Vinh Phuc province Le Duy Thanh saidthere should be mandatory policies for foreign businesses while investing inVietnam such as requiring them to ensure a localisation rate of 60 percent insteadof 10 percent at present.

Vietnam remained an attractive destination for foreign investors in 2017 withtotal registered FDI capital hitting a record high of 35.88 billion USD, up44.4 percent against last year.

The most attractive sectors were manufacturing-processing industries, electricityproduction and distribution and real estate.

Among 115 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in 2017, Japan toppedthe list, with 9.11 billion USD, making up 25.4 percent of total amount.

It was followedby the Republic of Korea with 8.49 billion USD or 23.7 percent of the FDI, andSingapore with 5.3 billion USD or 14.8 percent.-VNA