Twenty-two southern cities and provinces have benefited from 56.4%, or US$84.5 billion, of the nation’s total FDI from 1998-2008.

In 2008 alone, these locations drew $34 billion in FDI, equivalent to 53.12% of the country’s FDI, announced the Southern Foreign Investment Centre Deputy Director Nguyen The Hung.

The most successful locations for attracting FDI included HCM City, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Ninh Thuan and Binh Duong.

However, challenges in getting FDI remained in the southern region, especially with the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces, in which inadequate infrastructure facilities and skilled worker shortages were outlined as the two of biggest challenges, said Hung.

Localities in the region have yet to work out any kind of long-term collaboration to jointly implement investment promotions, an indispensable activity that needs to be conducted frequently.

This year has been forecast to be tough for the region to attract investment capital. Therefore, Hung emphasised the provinces should draw up effective solutions to introduce their economic advantages and take more initiative in accessing potential investors.

Besides, they should increase efforts to solve difficulties facing investors in implementing their projects, Hung said, describing it as a good way for the localities to better advertise their investment climate to new investors.

Provinces and cities should join hands to issue incentive policies and mechanisms, while assisting investment through information exchange, he suggested.

He pledged the centre would continue to assist these cities and provinces to establish lists of key projects calling for investment, seek large foreign investors, as well as frequently organise investment conferences at the regional level.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Bich Van, said that the ministry this year planned to step up the disbursement of committed investment capital, calling for investment from traditional investors such as Japan, US and EU besides to seeking new investment sources from Russia and the Middle East.

Groups which had large financial and technological capacities would receive the ministry’s top priority this year, Van added. (VNS)