Hanoi - attractive destination for Malaysian investors

Hanoi (VNA) - The capital city of Hanoi is becoming more attractive to
foreign investors, especially those from Malaysia , affirmed Malaysian
Ambassador to Vietnam Lim Kim Eng.

The Malaysian diplomat made the statement while granting an interview to
the Ha Noi Moi daily about the result of a recent working visit to
Malaysia by Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi.

During the visit, Mr Nghi and the Malaysian Health Minister witnessed s
signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between Hanoi 's Viet Ha
Company and Malaysia 's Berjaya Group on building a 500-bed International
Hospital at a cost of around 80 million USD in Hanoi .

She went on to affirm that Malaysia is ready to share its experiences
with the freshly-expanded Hanoi in building new administrative cities like
Putrajaya in Malaysia .

The Ambassador said she was happy that the visit has opened new chances for
investment and cooperation between the two capitals and the two countries as
a whole.

According to Ambassador Lim, Malaysia 's combined registered investment
capital in Vietnam rose from around 1.8 billion USD last year to 7.9
billion USD by July 2008. By July 2008, Malaysia ranked second after
Singapore in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and sixth
among countries and territories investing in Vietnam .

"This proved the investment environment of Vietnam in general and of
Hanoi in particular is becoming more attractive to foreign investors,
including Malaysian," she said.

Malaysian investors want to invest in banking, real estate and building
hospitals, hotels and factories in Vietnam , the Malaysian diplomat
added.

Ambassador Kim took the occasion to express her optimistic view about the
future development of Hanoi , especially in economic and cultural domains
as well as the living conditions of the city's people.-