Vietnam FDI declines

Vietnam FDI declines

HANOI (AFP): New foreign investment approvals in Vietnam this year have registered a decline for the first time since the country launched its open door policy, according to official statistics released on Saturday.

Foreign investment capital approved by Hanoi in 1997 only reached US$5 billion compared with $8.7 billion last year, the official Vietnam News Agency reported.

The 42 percent drop in foreign investment was the second consecutive year foreign investors have slackened interest in Vietnam.

South Korea tops the list of foreign investors in Vietnam this year, followed by Japan, France -- thanks to the signing of several big contracts during the November visit by President Jacques Chirac -- Singapore and Thailand.