Vietnam, which attracted nearly 6.5 billion U.S. dollars worth of foreign direct investment in the first 10 months of 2006, will entice the total investment of at least 7 billion dollars in the year, the local newspaper Labor reported Wednesday.

The 7-billion dollar mark is very easy to reach, since the country's Ministry of Planning and Investment is now considering licensing over 30 foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of more than 1 billion dollars, the newspaper quoted Phan Huu Thang, head of the ministry's Foreign Investment Department, as saying.

There is a strong foreign investment wave coming to Vietnam due to series of efforts of the Vietnamese government and localities in improving investment environment, Vietnam's high economic growth, and the country's approaching accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) slated for Nov. 7, Thang said.

"Our big partners like the European Union, China's Hong Kong and South Korea have not missed the extremely attractive opportunity. They are pouring investment into both new and existing projects in such fields as industry, construction and service. Besides, investment flows in other regions are redirecting to Vietnam," he said.

Vietnam lured nearly 6.5 billion dollars worth of foreign direct investment between January and October, posting a year-on- year surge of 41.4 percent and almost realizing its annualized plan of 6.5 billion dollars.

Of the nearly 6.5 billion dollars, 4.7 billion dollars came from 705 fresh foreign-invested projects, and the rest from operational ones.

"China's Taiwan is now our biggest investor with 1,547 projects totaling 8 billion dollars, followed by Singapore with 447 projects worth roughly 8 billion dollars, and Japan with 724 projects valued at 7.1 billion dollars," Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh told Xinhua late October.

China's mainland is ranked the 15th with 399 projects with total registered capital of 840 million dollars, he said, noting that Vietnam currently has nearly 6,500 operational foreign- invested projects with total registered capital of 55 billion dollars from 74 countries and regions.

Vietnam lured nearly 5.9 billion dollars of foreign direct investment in 2005, up 40.2 percent over 2004.

Source: Xinhua