Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-28
By: Central News Agency

Hanoi, March 28 (CNA) Taiwan invested nearly US$400 million in Vietnam in the first quarter, making it the third largest source of foreign investment in the country during the period, according to data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The investments by Taiwanese businesses accounted for 9.6 percent of all foreign investment in Vietnam in the January to March period, behind only South Korea, which invested US$513.5 million and had a 12.7 percent share, and Singapore, which invested US$449.3 million and had an 11.1 percent share.

The Vietnamese government approved 473 proposals for new investment by foreign businesses totaling US$2.74 billion and 203 proposals by foreign businesses to expand investment worth US$1.29 billion in the first three months of the year.

The processing and manufacturing sectors drew US$2.98 billion in foreign investment in the three-month period, or 72.2 percent of the total. The real estate sector received investment of US$239.8 million, or 5.9 percent of the total. Foreign capital is flowing into Vietnam because of the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community over the past year, which has created a free trade bloc in the region, according to Vietnamese economists.     [FULL  STORY]