Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam is estimated to have reached $40 billion last year, placing the country among the top 15 developing nations in terms of FDI attraction. This impressive achievement is the result of massive FDI into several cities and provinces in the last two months of 2024, which also created records in FDI for several regions.

Major manufacturers say that provinces like Bac Ninh have great conditions in terms of industrial infrastructure, photo Le Toan

Nghe An People’s Committee, in late December, granted approval for a $590 million textile manufacturing facility by Mega Textile Singapore. The factory, set to be built in the Tho Loc Industrial Park within the Southeast Nghe An Economic Zone, will span over 50 hectares.

The factory’s planned annual production includes 67,200 tonnes of fabric, 10,300 tonnes of knitted goods, 7,200 tonnes of coloured yarn, 130 million pieces of clothing, 100 million belts, and 2.2 million semifinished products. The initiative will follow a phased implementation schedule, with preparations concluding by the second quarter of 2025 and trial operations commencing in the second quarter of 2028.

In late November, Chairman of Nghe An People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Trung awarded an investment licence for two projects to Luxshare Group of China.

These contributed to the FDI amount of 2024 reaching $1.7 billion – a record high. The achievement also placed Nghe An in the top 10 localities attracting the most FDI for the third consecutive year.

“Nghe An is one of the few localities to attract five of the world’s technology giants to invest in the province, including Foxconn, Luxshare, Goertek, Everwin, and Juteng. These enterprises poured more than $1.3 billion and generated more than 86,000 jobs,” said Vice Chairman of Nghe An People’s Committee Bui Thanh An.

To achieve this success, An said, Nghe An set-up a strategic direction for selecting capital inflows, prioritising high-quality and green growth. Regarding investment promotion activity, the province focuses on partners and oriented fields, thoroughly integrating foreign affairs activities, trade promotion, and tourism.

A northern locality also reporting extremely impressive results is Haiphong. The northern ity attracted $4.7 billion of FDI last year, up 235 per cent on-year. The statistics underscore the city’s strengths in modern infrastructure, favourable policies, and a strong commitment to sustainability and environmental protection. Haiphong is currently a production hub for several leading manufacturers, such as LG, Pegatron, USI, and Bridgestone.

Meanwhile, Bac Ninh province is estimated to have attracted over $4.8 billion in FDI in 2024, an increase of 2.9-fold over the same period, ranking first in the country and simultaneously marking the highest total FDI influx to the province so far.

At an investment roundtable about the northern province in the United States in September 2024, a representative of Amkor Technology stated that Bac Ninh has the best industrial infrastructure in Southeast Asia. The province’s infrastructure system meets all the strict requirements of investors, especially semiconductor investors, such as stable electricity and water supply systems, transportation, logistics, and social infrastructure. The province’s management authorities are also ready to support investors promptly.

The province also organised specific meetings to resolve barriers for key projects. For example, in December, Vuong Quoc Tuan, Chairman of Bac Ninh People’s Committee, hosted a meeting to unlock the barriers in terms of land clearance for the Nam Son-Hap Linh Industrial Park, funded by Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corporation, and simultaneously supported Goertek to develop the scheme on schedule.

At the meeting, Tuan asked departments and relevant authorities to address pending issues before Lunar New Year, so investors could implement their projects smoothly.

“The province will research, propose, and pilot several specific policies to become a centrally run city and maintain this growth momentum of FDI. These include outstanding incentives with international competitiveness to attract strategic investors and multinationals in production and business, research and development, and innovation,” Tuan explained.

In 2024, several foreign-led projects contributed to setting records for localities. These included Amkor in Bac Ninh, which secured an additional $1.07 billion, increasing its total investment to $1.6 billion for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. In addition, Samsung announced an additional $1.8 billion investment in its Bac Ninh factory to expand the production of OLED displays for vehicles and IT equipment.

Meanwhile, in Haiphong, LG Display received an additional $1 billion, bringing its cumulative investment to $5.65 billion.