Vietnam has lured 350 million U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) so far this year, a year-on-year increase of 2 percent, a local investment agency told Xinhua on Thursday.

In the period, 29 new foreign-invested projects totaling 305 million dollars were licensed, while 10 existing projects raised their combined capital by 45 million dollars, said the Foreign Investment Agency under the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In 2006, Vietnam enticed 10.2 billion dollars in FDI, the biggest-ever amount in a year, and up 49.1 percent against 2005. Of the amount, 7.8 billion dollars comes from 833 fresh projects and the remainder from additional capital of 486 operational projects, said the agency.

"We have targeted FDI of 10.2 billion dollars in 2007," the agency said, noting that Vietnam is focusing on luring major projects which "either use high technology or turn out products with high competitiveness."

Source: Xinhua