The province attracted 42 new foreign- invested projects with a total investment of $622 million, an increase of 46 per cent over the same period last year. It also signed agreements for 50 projects, adding $456 million to total project investments.

Provincial industrial-zone management board deputy head Nguyen Phuong Lan said that foreign businesses had become more careful in their investment plans because of the economic turmoil.

Newly licensed projects in October alone were mostly focused on sectors like mechanics, electronics spare parts assembling and food processing.

Among the new projects, two were in high-tech. They were Belmont Manufacturing, specializing in health care equipment, and Maspro Vietnam, producing satellite television receivers and transmitters and security equipment.

Foreign-invested projects accounted for 62 per cent of Dong Nai’s total industrial production and 95 per cent of its export turnover.

They also helped create more than 500,000 jobs.

Also this year, the People’s Committee of the southern province of Dong Nai had cancelled projects of nine foreign direct invested enterprises and revoked their investment licenses.

The enterprises, mostly located in industrial parks with total investments of over $72 million, had intentionally delayed implementing projects. Some of them went bankrupt.

Thu said the province was upgrading its infrastructure and training skilled laborers to attract more investors.