Hanoi (VNA) – ℱWith a variety of local advantages, Vietnam is emerging as a new manufacturing hub in the world, according to Russia's Sputnik news agency.

The news agency noted that the country boasts advantages in terms of strategic location, transportation, low production cost, an abundant and dynamic workforce, open investment policy, and increasing number of factories. Therefore, it said, Vietnam now houses an increasing number of factories and is luring big foreign firms to take on production in the Southeast Asian nation. It cited statistics by the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) as showing that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam will reach 38 billion USD this year. Last year, new and adjusted capital, and capital contribution for share purchases by foreign investors were valued at nearly 27.72 billion USD. Among the 108 nations and territories pouring capital into Vietnam this year, Singapore ranked first with 6.46 billion USD. It was followed by the Republic of Korea (4.88 billion USD), and Japan (4.78 billion USD). Notably, capital disbursement hit a record at over 22.4 billion USD, representing a rise of 13.5% from 2021, the highest over the past five years. FIA head Do Nhat Hoang said right at the beginning of this year, many localities set their FDI targets with impressive figures, and rolled out solutions to speed up the work to meet those targets. Bac Giang, a northern province that attracts great FDI, granted investment licenses to Singapore’s Ingrasys Pte.Ltd, the investor of the Fulian precision technology factory project, and Fulian Company Limited that implements the project. It handed over the minutes of the memorandum of understanding between Chinese investor Hainan Longi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and the Bac Giang Industrial Zones Management Authority earlier this year. The two projects have a total registered capital of around 760 million USD. Bac Giang province is focusing on creating favourable conditions for businesses, said Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Anh Duong, pledging that the locality will zone out more land for new investments. Sputnik also quoted the General Department of Vietnam Customs as saying that this year and even during the 2021-2030 period, Vietnam will lure high-tech projects that have modern administration, high added values and positive impacts, and are connected to global production and supply chains. MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said Vietnam is now selective in FDI attraction, targeting projects that benefit the implementation of the national sustainable development strategy. He stressed the need to roll out solutions that are effective and feasible, saying apart from stabilising the macro economy, and improving the infrastructure and human resources, Vietnam needs to build and promote a science-technology and innovation ecosystem with flexible mechanisms matching the digital business environment. The official said Vietnamese startups are growing, attracting more investments than previous years, considering this a rosy sign for the domestic startup, innovation ecosystem. The government and management agencies have paid due attention to innovation and startup, and they have offered various incentives, along with programmes and projects in support of national digital transformation and business digital transformation, Dung added. Sputnik also cited statistics showing the FDI sector’s contribution to the national gross domestic product (GDP) has been on the rise since as far back as 2005./.