Vietcombank gives more support to FDI businesses

Hanoi (VNA) - The Joint-Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam
(Vietcombank) has become the first domestic partner of the Foreign Investment Agency
(FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment to provide banking services to
foreign direct investment (FDI) businesses.

According to an agreement signed between Vietcombank and the FIA on April 21 in
Hanoi , the FIA will help to launch the bank's promotional progammes to serve FDI
businesses both inside and outside the country.

Both parties will cooperate in information exchange, advertisement for products
and services, foreign investment promotion and other training activities.

Through the FIA, Vietcombank will get access to reliable information related to
FDI businesses and extend cooperation with foreign banks to provide better
services for entrepreneurs.

Both their representatives have agreed to set up a close cooperative mechanism and
jointly monitor the implementation of their agreements to improve the domestic
investment environment and assist FDI businesses.

With the important role they play in the national economy, FDI businesses have
for the past three years contributed a huge amount of capital to socio-economic
development.

The sector provided 4.1 billion USD of the country's total investment capital in
2006, 16.2 percent, and over eight billion USD in 2007, 24.8 percent.

Apart from its 55 percent of the total export value last year, FDI businesses also
generated jobs for 37,000 workers in the 2006-2008 period, raising the number of
workers in the sector to 1.4 million people.

FDI registered capital reached more than 64 billion USD last year with 70
countries and territories investing in Vietnam . These investments were not
only poured in the key economic zones in the north and south of Vietnam but also
in other localities in the central and the Mekong delta regions.-Enditem