Jul. 5 – The Netherlands topped the list as Vietnam’s largest foreign investor from January to June this year at US$2.2 billion worth of investment.
During that time, 438 foreign-invested projects were licensed amounting to US$7.9 billion while 121 existing projects were allowed to bring in more funding worth US$525 million. The Netherlands was followed by South Korea with US$1.6 billion, Japan with US$1.2 billion and the United States with US$991.5 million.
Dutch and Vietnamese trade tends to center on businesses involving water management, agriculture, maritime and energy. From January to November 2009, bilateral trade reached US$1.16 billion.
Vietnam mainly exports rice, rubber, coffee, cashew nuts, seafood, textiles, footwear, handicrafts and electronic parts to the Netherlands and imports machinery equipments and parts, chemical products and plastic materials.
Disbursement of foreign project funding reported an increase of 6 percent amounting to US$5.4 billion so far this year. Vietnam is aiming to entice US$25 billion worth of foreign investment and disburse US$11 billion.
