Binh Duong remains FDI magnet Workers at a Japanese-invested company in Binh Duong Province's My Phuoc 3 Industrial Zone. The province remains an attractive destination for FDI inflow. - VNA/VNS Photo Quach Lam BINH DUONG (VNS)- The southern province of Binh Duong yesterday granted investment licences to 17 new projects and allowed 12 existing ones to increase their capital. This has pushed its total number of foreign-direct-investment (FDI) projects that have received investment licences since the beginning of this year to 40, worth a total of US$365 million, according to the provincial People's Committee. Most of the new projects, located in the Viet Nam-Singapore Investment Park, are from regional countries and territories including Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Brunei and South Korea. The projects are an indication that Binh Duong is still an ideal destination for foreign investors, senior provincial officials said. Last year, the province is said to have led the country in attracting FDI with a 253 per cent over 2011 to more than $2.8 billion. It accounted for more than 17 per cent of the total national FDI intake. The investment was mainly in real estate, services and trading; not in industrial manufacturing as in the past. "Year 2012 was a tough year for businesses. However, our province still managed good results thanks to efforts in upgrading infrastructure, improving human resources, amending regulations related to administrative procedures and promoting trade activities," said People's Committee chairman Le Thanh Cung. Cung also said that authorities used people from other countries to advertise Binh Duong's investment environment, asked old investors to help them attract new ones and invested in promoting the province's image. In the first two months of this year, Binh Duong has attracted $365 million in FDI, an encouraging figure in the context of economic difficulties. Its FDI target for the year is $1 billion. In 2013, the province continues to call for investment in the high-tech sector in order to create high value-added products. It will place higher priority on supporting industries, services like healthcare and education as well as projects developing socio-economic infrastructure, industrial zones and urban areas. Senior provincial officials also said they would encourage investment from diverse sectors to develop the province's socio-economic infrastructure through varied investment forms, particularly public-private partnerships. - VNS