Hanoi (VNA) – Provinces and centrally-run cities in theSouthern Key Economic Zone are now more selective in attracting foreign direct investment(FDI) by giving priority to high-tech, environmentally-friendly and less labour-intensive projects.

Since the beginning of 2023, major economic andindustrial hubs in the region like Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces haveworked to upgrade the quality of foreign investments.

Speaking at a working session with Japan's SMC Corporation on May 10, Director ofDong Nai province’s Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Huu Nguyensaid the locality is luring investment in clean, environmentally friendlytechnologies, and less labour-intensive projects.

Under a draft project on FDI attraction for2023-2025, HCM City also set a target of raising the number of multi-nationalgroups included in the list of the world’s 500 largest corporations by the US FortuneMagazine in the city by 50%.

The rate of firms using cutting-edge technologiesand modern administration in HCM City is also expected to increase by 50% per year.

The southern largest economic hub will “roll out redcarpet” for investors in e-commerce, logistics and retail, industries with highadded values and AI-powered projects.  

Tran Viet Ha, deputy head of the HCM City ExportProcessing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), noted that the city will work harderto improve its investment and business environment instead of capitalising ontax incentives.

Such FDI attraction orientations have received thewarm response from foreign investors, as reflected through new large-scale FDIprojects launched in the localities, using renewable energy.

Notably, Danish toy maker LEGO on November 3, 2022,began construction of an over-1.3 billion-USD factory in Binh Duong, which willbe operated by solar energy.

Rajib Gupta, Chairman of the Indian Business Chamberin Vietnam, described the southern region as as magnet for foreign investors, notingthat Indian investors are interested in IT, pharmacy, high-tech agriculture andrenewable energy in the region.

In an effort to attract more high-tech projects, BecamexIDC Industrial Development and Investment Corporation of Vietnam and Singapore’sSembcorp Development Ltd. in February 2023 signed a memorandum of understandingon cooperation in developing five green, smart, sustainable industrial parks inVietnam within the next three years, including those in Binh Duong.

Gia Dinh Group and SEP Cooperative of the Republicof Korea (RoK) in April also inked another MoU on cooperation in building a “NetZero” industrial cluster in Phu Giao district of Binh Duong province.

In Dong Nai province, most of new projectsspecialise in supporting, processing and manufacturing industries and use state-of-the-art technologies, said Director of the provincial Department ofPlanning and Investment Nguyen Huu Nguyen.

In the first quarter of this year, Dong Naiattracted seven projects worth 30.46 million USD in supporting industries, makingup 58% of the total newly-registered capital in the province, he added./.