Foreign investors pour US$194 billion into Vietnam's industrial and economic zones

Vietnam's industrial parks (IPs) and economic zones (EZs) have so far attracted 9,850 foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of nearly US$194 billion, 70% of which has been disbursed, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). 

Foreign investors pour US$194 billion into Vietnam's industrial and economic zones.

Meanwhile, IPs and EZs have received VND2,300 trillion (US$99 billion) in terms of newly-registered capital and additional capital poured into 9,650 projects carried out by Vietnamese investors, stated a MPI’s report, adding 45% of the said amount has been disbursed.

In the first five months of 2020, industrial parks and economic zones drew 390 foreign projects worth US$4.3 billion.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, revenues of enterprises operating in IPs and EZs suffered an 8% decline year-on-year in the January – May period to US$81 billion, while their exports rose 4% to US$58 billion.

Additionally, over 3.82 million workers are being employed in IPs and Ezs, down 0.77% against late 2019.

Since the beginning of 2020, around 120 enterprises in EZs and IPs were forced to suspend operations due to the pandemic, the majority of them were in southern industrial parks in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces.

Vietnam currently has 336 industrial zones covering an area of nearly 97,800 hectares as of the end of May, of which 260 are operational, other 76 are in the process of site clearance and construction. The occupancy rate reached 76.1% at operating industrial parks.

Additionally, the country has 17 coastal economic zones covering a combined area of approximately 845,000 hectares on land and water surface.