FDI to HCMC slows as the city becomes choosier about projects The foreign direct investment (FDI) flow into HCMC has unexpectedly decreased, though capital to other cities and provinces has increased.   According to the HCMC Statistics Office, 276 FDI projects were licensed in the first five months of 2016 with the registered investment capital of $481.2 million. Also, licenses were also granted to 48 expanded projects with additional investment capital of $166.1 million. As such, the total new FDI capital registered by mid-May 2016 had reached $674.3 million, much lower than that of the same period of last year at $1.05 billion. With the figure, HCMC ranks fifth in the country in terms of FDI attraction. Analysts commented that the FDI capital poured into HCMC has decreased considerably, while the capital into other cities and provinces keeps increasing. A report of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) showed that the total FDI registered capital in the country the first five months of the year reached $10.15 billion, up by 136.4 percent over the same period of last year. While Hanoi and Hai Phong Cities lead the country in attracting FDI with multi-billion dollar projects licensed, HCMC, after many years of topping the list of biggest FDI attractors, has fallen. The number of FDI projects in the HCMC High-tech Park (SHTP) has also been modest with only two projects licensed in the first five months of the year, capitalized at $22.34 million. The foreign direct investment (FDI) flow into HCMC has unexpectedly decreased, though capital to other cities and provinces has increased. Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue at the recent working session with the HCMC People’s Committee also reminded the city’s leaders of the fall in FDI attraction. Le Thi Huynh Mai, deputy director of the HCMC Planning and Investment Department, said on Nguoi Lao Dong that the city still attracts FDI, saying that the statistics about newly registered projects and capital do not include expanded projects and the cases of foreign investors contributing capital into projects. She also said that the figures in the first months of the year do not truly reflect the panorama of FDI in the city as big projects are often registered in the last months of year. Because of the Investment Law, since July 1, 2015 many investors have shifted to make investment through the capital contribution or stake acquisition. The total capital invested under this mode was about VND8.2 trillion, or $400 million in the first four months of the year, according to Mai. Meanwhile, Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted Tran Du Lich, a renowned economist, as saying that the decrease of FDI capital into HCMC is ‘quite normal’. He said HCMC has sent a clear message that it does not welcome the projects in the labor intensive industries and it prioritizes high technology projects. CV