Call for FDI licensing rules to become tougher

Published: Wednesday, September 08, 2010

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The Foreign Investment Bureau (FIB) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment was urged to keep a close eye on unqualified projects in order to boost disbursement.

Participants at a workshop in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Tuesday asked the FIB to review the practice of disbursing foreign direct investment (FDI) at the grassroots level in an effort to help local administrations to speed up the process.

They called on the FIB to take firm measures against unqualified projects.

“Those projects which apply obsolete technology or have a negative impact on the environment must not be granted licences for investment. The FIB should also be determined in withdrawing land lots and licences of those FDI projects which are slow in deployment,” the workshop heard.

Participants from the Association of FDI Enterprises, planning departments and industrial zone management boards in southern provinces and cities, also asked the FIB to withdraw land areas left unused by some FDI projects to allow reallocation to other projects.

The FIB forecast a further rebound of the national economy during the rest of the year after a fast recovery since early this year.

The first half of the year witnessed 438 projects licensed for investment capitalised at US$7.9 billion, representing an increase of 43 percent over 2009.

Up to July, 2010, a total of 11,759 FDI projects operated nationwide with a combined investment of over $187 billion. Investors came from 91 countries and territories.

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