$2.8 bln power plant makes Japan Vietnam’s biggest foreign investor in H1

By VnExpress   July 2, 2017 | 11:52 pm PT
FDI pledges for new projects and additional investment hit $19.22 billion in the first six months.

Actual foreign direct investment flowing into Vietnam is estimated to have risen 6.5 percent in the first six months of 2017 from the same period last year to $7.72 billion, according to figures from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Pledges for new projects and additional investment went up nearly 55 percent on-year to $19.22 billion, with nearly half heading to the manufacturing and processing industries.

Major projects registered during the first half of the year include a Japanese thermal power plant in the northern province of Thanh Hoa, with approved investment of $2.79 billion.

The 1,200-megawatt plant makes Japan the country’s biggest foreign investor during the first half of the year, with total pledges of more than $5 billion. Vietnam is largely reliant on coal-fired and hydropower plants to meet its annual electricity growth demand of around 11 percent.

South Korea was the second biggest foreign investor in the first half of the year after promising an additional $2.5 billion for a Samsung factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh. Singapore came third.

FDI is a major driving force behind Vietnam’s economy. Export revenue from the sector increased 21 percent during the first six months to nearly $71 billion, accounting for 72 percent of the country’s export turnover.

 
 
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