Garments made at a factory in Hai Duong Province for export to the EU. The province received $122 million in foreign direct investment into its industrial zones in January. - VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

According to the Municipal IZs Authority, over $41.55 million of the total FDI has been invested by five newly-licensed projects, while the remainder of the capital is from three projects operating with growing levels of capital.

These projects include a $27 million plant on animal breed production, financed by Malaysia’s Leong Hup Feedmill Viet Nam Co, and South Korea’s Kefico Viet Nam Co’s existing factory on manufacturing automotive components, which has raised capital by $65 million.

The Head of the Authority Pham Minh Phuong told Viet Nam News that with the newly added capital, the operating projects nearly doubled in size. This was a good signal, and reflected that the IZs-located enterprises experienced efficient business performances, while also proving their growing trust for the provincial investment climate.

Over the past few years, besides applying the "one-stop-shop" policy to attract more investment, the province also organised numerous direct dialogues with investors to resolve their obstacles in a timely fashion, Phuong noted.

Thanks to these efforts, Hai Duong had attracted 20 new foreign-invested projects to its IZs last year, capitalised approximately $336 million, while allowing 18 other projects to raise capital by $142 million, the authority’s report revealed.

By the end of 2014, the provincial IZs had 149 foreign-invested projects, with capital totalling more than $3.02 billion. Of these projects, 144 have become operational.

Speaking at the licence granting ceremony on Sunday, the Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Manh Hien, pledged that local authorities would always create favourable conditions for investors, including those from foreign countries, and help them implement their projects in the locality.

This year, the province has set the goal of attracting an additional FDI of $235 million for its IZs.