Thirteen operational projects in the province raise their capital by some US$171 million, while 16 new projects with a combined investment capital of nearly US$376 million are registered.

Most of these projects are set up by investors from Asian economies like Japan, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan. The majority of them are manufacturing projects.

Still, foreign investors in Binh Duong are also involved in service, trade, real estate and production of hi-tech products, according to the provincial government.

The largest project licensed on Tuesday is VSIP Binh Hoa-Binh Duong Complex worth some US$199.6 million to be built on an area of 6.8 hectares in Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park I (VSIP I) by VSIP Joint Venture Company. The project consisting of a residential area with offices for rent, apartments and accommodations for specialists will get off the ground late this year.

Meanwhile, Toin Corporation of Japan will spend US$12 million developing a packaging-paper factory in My Phuoc 3 Industrial Park. The factory covering two hectares will be carried out this July and completed by the end of this year.

Panasonic Eco Solutions Vietnam Co. Ltd. will build a plant for production, assembly, processing, design and testing of electric and electronic devices. The plant worth US$38 million will be located in VSIP.

Taiwanese motorbike producer Kymco will set up a factory covering six hectares in Dai Dang Industrial Park. The US$23-million factory will be put into operation late this year to replace the current factory of Kymco in HCMC.

PepsiCo Vietnam will invest US$40 million in Song Than Industrial Park to make processed food.

Among the investors adjusting up their capital, URC Co. Ltd. of the Philippines spends an additional US$50 million expanding its food and beverage production, while Hariki Precision Vietnam Co. Ltd. pours US$11.5 million more into production of precision engineering components for industrial manufacturing.

Le Thanh Cung, chairman of Binh Duong, told the awarding ceremony the province still achieved good results in investment attraction despite the troubled economy.

Many large foreign groups have invested in service and real estate besides industrial manufacturing. Foreign investors are operating more and more efficiently, so they decide to raise capital to expand operations, he remarked.

Binh Duong last year lured over US$2.8 billion of foreign direct investment, up 253% over the preceding year, accounting for 17.1% of the nation’s total. There were 123 fresh projects with total registered capital of US$1.69 billion and 130 projects increasing their capital by nearly US$1.15 billion.