A bright point in FDI attraction

Recently, at the ground-breaking ceremony of Bridgestone Corporation’s automobile tire factory in Dinh Vu Industrial Zone, Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Hoang Trung Hai acknowledged and praised efforts of the government and people of Haiphong City in FDI attraction. In the first half of 2012, Haiphong’s FDI attraction ranked third nationwide with total capital of USD 953 million.

During previous years, FDI projects in field of industrial production of the city were often registered the first time with small scale of capital, i.e., under USD 20 million. From last year up to now, many FDI projects with large scale of capital, i.e., USD 100 million and above, have been invested in industrial zones in the city. The opening was Kyocera Mita’s project in VSIP Haiphong Integrated Township and Industrial Park with total invested capital of USD 187.5 million, the ever-biggest of FDI projects in industrial production up to July 2011. In early February 2012, the automobile tire manufacturing project of Bridgestone Corporation made a new record with the invested capital of USD 575 million in phase 1. In April 2012, Haiphong Economic Zone Authority (HEZA) granted investment certificate to Nipro Pharma’s project to produce medical equipment and pharmaceutical products in VSIP Haiphong Integrated Township and Industrial Park with total capital of USD 250 million. As estimated, from now up to end of this year, there will be some projects of more than USD 100 million invested capital each to invest in industrial zones in the city. Remarkably, such FDI projects not only have large scale of capital and demand large number of labors, but also apply advanced and high technology of the world and produce mostly for export. These projects, therefore, will contribute to shifting the city industrial sector toward a positive direction.

In the first half of 2012, the city has attracted USD 953 million of FDI, increasing 333% over the same period last year, which brought Haiphong to the third rank nationally. FDI capital to the city, of which most are from Japan, has made up about one sixth of total FDI capital of the whole country.

Currently, the city is taking opportunities to impulse a specialized industrial zone for Japanese investors with attached utilities. Recently, in a meeting with city leaders, Mr. Yoshinori Go, Chairman of Member Council of Nomura Haiphong Industrial Zone expressed pleasure with Haiphong’s achievements in FDI attraction. As a partner of the city, he considered Haiphong’s achievements as his own success. He said, Nomura Haiphong Industrial Zone had been becoming a “show room” for Japanese investors to come and learn about Haiphong’s investment environment. Therefore, the company would try best efforts and determine to improve the industrial zone service quality in order to become a typical industrial zone in Vietnam. He also felt proud of the improvement of Vietnamese labors toward the direction of more professional skills and better quality which helped to create higher and higher added values to their products.