Investment: Vietnam Haiphong City Ranks 2nd in FDI Attraction in Eight Months

Vietnam’s northern port city of Haiphong attracted a total of over $1.1 billion in foreign direct investment in the first eight months of this year, ranking second in the country after the southern province of Binh Duong.

They city licensed 20 new FDI projects with total investment of over $1 billion and allowed 18 existing projects to expand their capital by $77.6 million during the period. Of the total value, 97% came from Japan.

Most of the FDI is poured into hi-tech industrial projects, with the biggest invested by tyre maker Bridgestone worth $574 million. Nipro Pharma registered a $250 million project while Fuji Xerox received a license for its $119 million plant.

The northern port city is now home to many industrial parks, including VSIP Haiphong, Nomura Haiphong, Dinh Vu and Nam Cau Kien. It boasts low labor costs and multiple airports and seaports, a favorable condition for exports.

Haiphong, which is 119 kilometers from the capital city of Hanoi, was home to 352 valid FDI projects with total pledged capital reaching $6.97 billion by late July. With the figure, it ranked 8th among localities in terms of FDI attraction.

DHL launches Malaysia-Vietnam LCL service

Cargo News Asia 31/08/2012. DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL, has launched a direct less than container load (LCL) service between Malaysia’s Port Klang and Cat Lai in Vietnam. The new weekly LCL service between Port Klang and Cat Lai offers the port-to-port transit time of three days, saving customers up to 10 days and boosting intra-Asia trade flows between Southeast Asia’s third and sixth largest economies. The LCL service gives companies direct, faster access compared with the previous routing which saw shipments consolidated in Singapore, says Sam Ang, Southeast Asia CEO of DHL. ”DHL is continually adapting to changes in the global marketplace so when we see a need for a new service like the one between Malaysia and Vietnam, we are best positioned to leverage our network to deliver what the customer wants,” says Asia Pacific CEO Kelvin Leung.