Vietnam licensed for 172 foreign-invested projects with the registered capital of US$300 million since the beginning of this year, according to a report of the business newspaper Vietnam Investment Review on Monday.
Although the number of newly-licensed projects increased by 14 percent against the corresponding period last year, total registered capital is down 38 percent.
Of the newly invested projects, some 58 projects worth US$121 million are to become tenants at 69 industrial and export-processing zones.
Most projects are on small scale, with 78 percent concentrated in the industry and construction sectors, including oil and gas.
Agriculture, forestry and aquaculture took second place with 12 projects worth US$27 million, or 9 percent of the total investment capital.
Services and other sectors received 26 new projects worth US$33 million, or 11 percent of the total.
South Korea and Japan were among the largest foreign investors in the country in the first four months of this year.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's biggest economic hub, remained the leading position for foreign-invested projects, with 58 projects worth US$47 million since the beginning of the year.
By the end of March this year, there are a total of 3166 foreign-invested projects in Vietnam with the total capital of more than US$38 billion.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2002)
