Hanoi (VNA) - Support industries for machinerymanufacturing, electronics, and deep processing are forecast to attract greaterforeign investment in the years to come, according to insiders.

Hua Quoc Hung, Director of the HCM City ExportProcessing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), said it has already exceeded its 2020 investment goal, with totalregistered capital of more than 591 million USD, up 7 percent compared to the sameperiod last year.

Investment primarily focuses on areas encouraged by the city, including supportindustries, the official noted.

Six of the 11 newly-licensed FDI projects are in support industries for the fieldsof mechanics, electronics, plastics, and rubber.

Notably,Japan’s Nikkiso Vietnam MFG Co., which specialises in producing medical equipment, increased its investmentcapital by 3 million USD to expand production in Vietnam.

Among the FDI projects licensed by local authorities in 2020 are many largeprojects in support industries, such as the 20 million USD investment fromSingapore’s Ever Giant International Private Limited producing aluminium alloy products,and a 30 million USD project owned by the island state’s Sung Shin Tech Limited.

Eighty-six percent of FDI in Binh Duong has gone to manufacturing and processing,while many support industry projects in electricity, electronics, mechanics, pharmaceuticals,and chemicals have been attracting investors.

Meanwhile, according to the Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority (DIZA), the majority of newly-licensed FDI projects this year are in supportindustries.

Projects in the field also had capital added, such as those invested in by the SchafflerVietnam Co. and by the Chang Shin Vietnam Co., with 50 million USD and 87 millionUSD, respectively.

The Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in HCM City said itsigned an agreement with the management boards of industrial parks and export processingzones in the southern key economic region in late October to form a network of organisationsto support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in support industries viaregional links.

The agreement also supports businesses operatingin support industries in expanding domestic and foreign markets by creating a directsupply-demand link between enterprises and introducing industrial manufacturingunits to join the supply chains of domestic finished product manufacturers and FDIenterprises.

According to HEPZA, it will grant investment licensesto a large-scale FDI project in the support industry that will focus on buildinghigh-rise workshops for lease to enterprises participating in the group’s productionand supply chain.

Okada Hideyuki, Chairman of the Japanese Business Association in HCM City (JBAH), forecast that the wave of Japanese investment shifting to Vietnam will be strongerby the end of this year or early next year, when the COVID-19 pandemic is broughtunder full control.

Support industries for machinery manufacturing,electronics, and deep processing will receive major investment from Japanese businesses,he said, adding that within Japan’s new investment trend, most businesses are usingmodern and environmentally-friendly technologies and fewer workers.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc,meanwhile, signed Resolution No 115 this year on measures to further propelsupport industries, setting out development goals for the next decade.

Vietnamese enterprises are to be able to producehighly-competitive support products, meeting 45 percent of essential needs for domesticproduction and consumption and accounting for about 11 percent of industrial productionvalue by 2025.

About 1,000 enterprises are to be capable of directsupply to assembly enterprises and multinational corporations, with domestic enterprisesto account for about 30 percent by 2025.

By 2030, support products will meet 70 percentof demand and account for about 14 percent of industrial production value. Some2,000 companies are to be capable of supplying directly to assemblers and multinationalcorporations by 2030./.