Hong Kong is biggest investor in Vietnam

Hong Kong is biggest investor in Vietnam

HANOI (Reuter): Asian companies continued to dominate foreign investment in communist Vietnam in the first nine months of this year, with Hong Kong firms in the lead, the government said on Saturday.

The State Committee for Cooperation and Investment (SCCI), which judges investment applications, said Hong Kong companies had 39 projects approved with total investment capital of US$441 million.

They were followed by Taiwan, with 42 projects worth $269 million, and Singapore, with 22 projects with capital of $250 million, according to figures listed in the Vietnam Investment Review (VIR), published by the SCCI.

Japan, often criticized here for being slow to invest, had 18 projects approved worth $170 million, placing it fifth in the list of investors so far this year. Switzerland, involved in a $200 million cement plant, came in fourth with $235 million of investment from five projects.

U.S. companies, freed to invest in Vietnam last February when President Bill Clinton lifted an economic embargo, were the sixth biggest investors, with 13 projects approved this year with total capital of $165 million.

But the United States remained in 14th position on the overall list of investors since 1988, when Vietnam opened up the economy to foreign investment.

Taiwan remained in top place, with 144 projects worth $1.8 billion, followed by Hong Kong with 157 schemes worth $1.4 billion and South Korea with 78 projects with capital of $754 million.

The SCCI licensed its 1,000th foreign investment project last week, VIR said. Total investment pledges, which passed $10 billion last month, were now $10.25 billion, it added.

Oil and gas, industry and hotels and tourism are the main sectors in which foreign investors have shown interest.