FDI surges by 65.5 per cent   Workers at Philippines-invested food manufacturer URC Vietnam package products. Viet Nam has so far attracted US$19.2 billion in foreign direct investment. - VNA/VNS Photo Quach Lam HA NOI (VNS)- Viet Nam has brought in US$19.2 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first 10 months of the year, a whopping 65.5 per cent more than last year's figure, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). The GSO said around 1,050 new projects had been licensed this year with a registered capital of $13.1 billion, up 79 per cent from the previous figure, with the remaining $6.1 billion in capital coming from existing projects. Meanwhile, FDI disbursement in the January-October period only rose by 6.4 per cent from last year to $9.6 billion. According to the GSO, FDI flows were mostly directed towards the processing and manufacturing industries, accounting for 77.6 per cent ($14.9 billion) of total registered capital. Electricity production and distribution, and air conditioning made up 10.6 per cent with the remaining industries bringing in $2.3 billion. In the same period, northern Thai Nguyen Province trounced other localities with $3.39 billion in registered capital, making up 26 per cent of the total FDI haul. It was followed closely by central Binh Thuan on $2.03 billion, northern Hai Phong on $1.84 billion and central Binh Dinh on $1.09 billion. The provinces with the lowest levels of FDI included HCM City on $844 million, northernHai Duong on $613 million and southern Binh Duong on $521 million. South Korea became Viet Nam's largest FDI investor in the ten month period, accounting for 27 per cent ($3.58 billion) of investment. Singapore was the second largest contributor with $2.72 billion, followed by China on $2.2 billion and Japan on $1.15 billion. Russia was the fifth largest investing bringing in $1.01 billion. More than 3,600 FDI businesses checked on tax duties. Deputy minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said the ministry had completed its review of more than 3,600 out of 9,200 FDI businesses operating in Viet Nam. Tuan said the ministry had discovered 225 out of 300 enterprises conducting transfer pricing, adding that some firms even reported losses to avoid paying higher taxes. He urged taxation departments to classify the risks of individual firms to provide suitable management. The ministry has built a system of 460,000 licensed businesses in Viet Nam to oversea foreign entities. Based on the system, tax agencies would enhance monitoring enterprises with abnormal indices in production and relocations of their registered address. Around 10,000 businesses in the system showed signs of violating the tax code. He said the ministry has asked the General Department of Taxation to mobilise an extra 15,000 people to investigate tax obligations and other duties at foreign businesses. - VNS