More FDI capital for sustainable development

CA - Vietnam needs to attract more “clean foreign direct investment (FDI)” capital to meet the country’s economic development and its industrialisation and modernisation, warned experts, as there remain a number of shortcomings in this area.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI)’s Foreign Investment Department, FDI in Vietnam hit US$66.5 billion in 2008, a 3.55 increase year-on-year. FDI capital injected into the Southeast Asian nation reached more than US$21 billion despite the global economic downturn in 2009 and this figure is expected to rise by more than 10 percent in 2010.

However, FDI has focused on the real estate sector which does not generate jobs for workers, promote the transfer of technology, production and export.

Regarding taking tougher measures to choose sources of FDI, the MPI said that an increase or decrease in FDI is attached to an increasing confidence in the country’s economic development, but not to attract FDI at all costs.

According to the latest research from the international consultancy firm A.T. Kearney, Vietnam ranks 12th in the top 25 of the FDI Confidence Index 2010 while Malaysia ranks 20th, Indonesia, 21st and Singapore, 24th.

The head of the Institute of Economics, Dr Tran Dinh Thien, said that it is time for Vietnam to select investment projects that are designed to use the best technology and expected to run and develop well.