ID :
27844
Sat, 11/01/2008 - 06:18
Auther :

Agricultural sector missing out on FDI flow

Hanoi (VNA) - The agriculture-forestry-fishery sector accounted for only
0.5 percent of the FDI capital registered in the first ten months of 2008,
according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In the period between January and October this year, only 42 projects worth
300 million USD out of a total of 953 FDI projects with 58.3 billion USD,
were invested in this sector, which is now hungry for new capital and
technology.

The sector attracted 7.4 percent and 5.3 percent of the total FDI capital
in the country in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

The current situation makes the goal of 1.5 billion USD in FDI for
agriculture by 2010 seem impossible to attain.

According to the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural
Development, the majority of investors in the sector are small and
medium-sized businesses with investments of 2 million USD or less, resulting
in their projects being run inefficiently.

More than half of the capital for agriculture is invested in food and farm
product processing, and most of the projects are based in the Red river and
Mekong river deltas, further contributing to uneven development in this
sector.

Moreover, FDI sources are mainly from other Asian countries, such as
Thailand , Indonesia , Malaysia and China ; there is a dearth of
investment from countries that have advantages in agricultural processes,
for example the US , Canada , Australia and the EU.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said it will work to
complete a number of relevant mechanisms and policies, improve rural
infrastructure and simplify licence granting procedures in order to
effectively promote investment.

It will also focus on regional planning and assisting local businesses in
investment promotion and marketing activities, the ministry said.-Enditem

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