The central city has attracted 43 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth US$60 million in the first eight months this year, 4.6 times the amount in the same period last year, vice director of the the Da Nang Investment Promotion and Support Agency, Nguyen Ky Anh said.

A worker at the Japanese Tokai company in Hoa Cam Industrial Zone. Da Nang has seen a surge in foreign direct investment.

In addition, five FDI projects increased their investment capital by a total of nearly $900,000.

Anh said tourism real estate and service projects made up 60 per cent of the new FDI projects, while manufacturing projects attracted 40 per cent.

The city now has 461 FDI projects worth more than $3.6 billion, mostly in tourism, services, property and industry.

Singapore was the biggest investor in Da Nang with 23 projects worth $717 million, while Japan had 134 projects worth $598 million. The United States ranked third with 46 projects worth $517 million, followed by South Korea with total investments of $244.6 million.

Da Nang encourages investors in high-tech industries and high-quality services in the form of public-private partnerships (PPP), as well as investment in waste treatment, infrastructure development, solar and wind power.

Earlier this month, the city listed 68 PPP projects, 22 of them in the high-tech sector. From 2017-20, the projects call for investment from domestic and foreign businesses of $1.4 billion.

The city’s 1,010ha high-tech park, which was built in 2013 in Hoa Vang District 20km west of the city, has attracted six projects valued at $180 million from two Japanese and four domestic investors.

The park, which was designed as a hub for green and high-tech investors, is keen on attracting more investors from Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

Korea, Japan investments

The city is seeking additional investment from South Korea and Japan.

At an investment promotion event in South Korea last week, president of Acro Eng, Lee Ho-sung, said his company would consider investment opportunities in the city’s high-tech park. Deahan A&C group also plans to invest in an underground shopping and entertainment complex, the Lotus Square project.

Last month, two new direct air routes connecting Da Nang with Deagu, South Korea, and Osaka, Japan, were launched. According to the city’s tourism department, there are 12 flights from Korea to Da Nang every week, carrying an average of 1,500 passengers.

Last year, Da Nang and the South Korean city of Gyeongsan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on development and co-operation in the cosmetics industry.

Tourists from South Korea make up the second-largest segment of foreign tourist arrivals in Da Nang, with more than 443,000 – nearly 20 per cent of total foreign travellers – last year.

In a promotion in Japan last Thursday, representatives from Da Nang’s administration urged the Japanese Business Association and Japanese businesses to invest in high-tech farms, infrastructure, sea ports and green industries.

The city has offered favourable conditions and priorities for Japanese businesses by setting up a one-stop shop and a Japanese desk to support investors in Da Nang.

Representatives of Kawasaki Heavies Industry and Mitsubishi Group have investigated investment in sea ports, electric cars and a metro in Da Nang.

Japanese goods accounted for 37 per cent of the city’s total imports, while 30 per cent of the city’s industrial production value comes from Japanese FDI projects.

Earlier this year, Route Inn Group from Japan inaugurated its first hotel project in Da Nang, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, with a total investment of $18 million.

FPT Software’s Da Nang company began its 10,000-Bridge Software Engineer (BrSE) programme in co-operation with Japanese partners in 2016. In 2014, Da Nang started including Japanese language education in its curriculum at some high schools and colleges.

Da Nang, which is situated in central Viet Nam and at the end of East-West Economic Corridors linking Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam, will help boost exports and trade between local manufacturers and regional markets, as well as industrial centres in Binh Dinh, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. 

VNS