(14-08-2008)

Song Than Industrial Zone in the southern province of Binh Duong. FDI disbursement reached US$6 billion during the first seven months of the year, marking just 13 per cent of $45 billion in registered capital. — VNA/VNS Photo Tu Hai

HCM CITY — During the first seven months of this year, Viet Nam saw US$6 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursement, making up only 13 per cent of the registered $45 billion, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA)’s figures.

Weaknesses in infrastructure were slowing down disbursement, said Cao Viet Sinh, Planning and Investment deputy minister.

HCM City, among the country’s top cities for FDI, has seen only $400 million disbursed out of a pledged $7 billion in capital.

Most FDI projects are in real estate while industry and high technology are not as attractive, according to an official with the HCM City Department of Planning and Investment (DPI), who declined to be named.

Slow work on residential compensation and site clearance mainly accounted for project delays, he explained.

Viet Company’s steel project worth $500 million and licensed in 2007 in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, for example, is still delayed because the local government has not given the investor enough land.

The head of the Ba Ria Vung Tau Industrial Park Authorities, Le Minh Chau, said that he had no choice but to withdraw the licence of Qian Ding Samoa Co., Ltd (Taiwan) as the company had been too slow at disbursing capital on schedule.

In 2005, Qian Ding Samoa Co Ltd’s $700 million FDI project to build a stainless steel factory was considered a "super project" in Ba Ria Vung Tau Province but it is still only on paper.

Meanwhile, other projects outside the property industry are not encountering delays.

FDI disbursement had reached more than 50 per cent in Binh Duong Province since most of the projects are related to industrial parks, said Le Viet Dung, deputy of Binh Duong DPI.

The Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park also showed good results in FDI attraction and implementation as $200 million out of $300 million registered has been disbursed.

Le Kim Huong, director of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau DPI, said the province had attracted more than $7 billion in FDI over the last 20 years, and had disbursed over $3 billion, or 48 per cent on average. It also has new FDI projects worth $11 billion.

The head of the country’s FIA, Phan Huu Thang, said that there was indeed disparity between pledged and actual FDI capital after expansion, but added that it was normal as large projects needed more time.

The growth rate is satisfactory, he said, adding that it was up by 43 per cent compared with the same period last year. — VNS