Foreign investment into Vietnam over the first eleven months of this year reached a record high of more than $13 billion, official statistics showed Nov. 28.
Vietnam licensed 1,283 new projects worth $13.4 billion between January and November, the General Statistics Office said. That was roughly double the 734 projects worth $6.1 billion registered over the same period last year, the figures showed.
That is the most practical measurement of our efforts to improve the business environment in Viet Nam," said Phan Huu Thang, head of the country's foreign investment agency.
South Korea remained the top investor with nearly $3.7 billion for 369 new projects. British Virgin Islands ranked second with $3.5 billion and then came Singapore with $1.5 billion, the official figures showed.
Meanwhile, Vietnam's industrial production between January and November increased by 17% year-on-year, with the total value at more than 519,000 billion dong (US$32.43 billion), the statistics office said.
Vietnam, a member of the World Trade Organization and a newly emerged economy in Southeast Asia, hopes to for economic growth of 8.5% this year.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
