FDI firms thrive in Vinh Phuc   Motorbike assembly line at Piaggio Viet Nam in the northern province of Vinh Phuc. Foreign-invested enterprises account for 84 per cent of the province's total number of investment projects. - VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam VINH PHUC (VNS)  - Most of the foreign-invested enterprises in the northern province of Vinh Phuc are operating more effectively than last year, generating a stable income for local workers. According to the management board of industrial parks in Vinh Phuc, it is managing 114 operational projects, including 77 foreign-invested ones, equivalent to 84 per cent of the province's total number of investment projects. In the first 10 months of this year, local businesses have recruited some 4,000 new workers, which has helped raise the number of people working at the industrial parks to 49,000. Of these, 44,700 at the foreign-invested firms receive an average monthly salary of VND4 million (US$190). The Republic of Korea (RoK), which has invested in the Daewoo Apparel Viet Nam company, specialising in making garment and textile products, employs some 1,600 workers, most of them female. Foreign-invested firms always exert effort to ensure the rights of their employees are being met by observing legal and safe-production practices and offering high-quality meals to staff. Thanks to its bid to improve equipment and technology, Daewoo Apparel Viet Nam has improved the quality of its products and maintains a monthly average wage of VND3.5 million ($165). Vina Korea Co Ltd is another example. Despite facing stiff competition from its Chinese and Indian partners, the RoK-invested enterprise still holds its position in the market of garment and textile exports. Most foreign-invested businesses in Vinh Phuc are careful to invest in labour safety and the improvement of working conditions for employees. These firms have applied environmentally friendly and modern technologies to reduce their production costs. To help local businesses maintain stable production and attract workers, the province is striving to speed up the construction of social housing and other facilities for them, while continuing to perfect the infrastructure of the industrial zones. - VNS