Committed FDI flow exceeds 60 billion USD

Hanoi (VNA) - A total of almost one billion USD was poured into foreign
direct investment (FDI) projects during November, bringing the total amount
of FDI capital absorbed by Vietnam so far this year to over 60 billion
USD.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) of the Ministry of
Planning and Investment, during November, 726 million USD was pumped into
106 new FDI projects, increasing the total amount of newly-registered FDI
capital to 59 billion USD, a seven-fold rise over the same period last year.

November also saw the country allowing 25 existing projects to add 272
million USD in funds.

FDI disbursement has reached 10 billion USD so far this year, including
950 million USD in November alone, a year-on-year increase of 44.2 percent.

Foreign-invested businesses reported a year-on-year increase of 26.3
percent in revenue during the reviewed period. They earned 22.2 billion USD
from exports, up 24.9 percent, and imported 26.2 billion USD worth of
commodities, an increase of 34.2 percent, over the same period last year.

FIA director Phan Huu Thang said that this year Vietnam is likely to
attract up to 65 billion USD in FDI, three-times higher than last year's
figure. 2008's FDI disbursement is expected to peak at 11 billion USD, up 37
percent year-on-year.

Thang also made predictions regarding prospects for 2009, when he expects
the FDI flow to decrease, but still reach at least 30 billion USD, mainly
invested in large-scale, core projects.

FDI disbursement in 2009 is expected to reach 12-13 billion USD, or 9-12
percent more than this year.-Enditem