According to the article, published on nationthailand.com, an English-language news website, Vietnam has attracted more than 25 billion USD in foreign direct investment since the beginning of this year. Pledges from China were the highest at 8.2 billion USD in the first 11 months, twice as much as in the same period last year. Industry experts say the increasing FDI growth is propelling Vietnam up the value chain, it said. Lower labour cost and greater connectivity have made Vietnam extremely attractive to global companies, according to the article. By the end of July, Vietnam had signed 16 free trade agreements with major economic partners and is also part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership./.