Vietnam garment sector received no major FDI in past six months

Vietnam’s garment and textile sector has not received any major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, even though the country achieved more than $11.2 billion FDI during the period, according to the country’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).

In 2015, Vietnam’s garment and textile sector had attracted nearly $1 billion in FDI for three projects, namely Polytex Far Eastern (Taiwan), Hyosung Dong Nai (Turkey) and Worldon Viet Nam (Hong Kong).

The record high investment in the sector last year was due to the anticipated benefits that Vietnam would enjoy following new free trade agreements, especially the 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Some provinces have sounded caution this year while giving green signal for setting up of garment and textile companies as they may require large plots of land or may cause pollution.

Of the total $11.2 billion FDI received by Vietnam in January-June 2016, $7.5 billion came from 1,145 newly licensed projects, while the remaining was contributed by 535 already-operating projects, FIA said.

Manufacturing and processing industries continued to be the top sector for attracting FDI. It received over $8 billion towards 488 newly registered projects and 405 existing projects.