A worker at a production line of a Japanese-invested factory in Vietnam.

Despite challenges prompted by the complex developments of COVID-19, Vietnam saw positive signals in foreign investment in 2021, according to an article published on the foreign investment consulting firm Dezan Shira & Associates’ Vietnam Briefing website.

It cited statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, which showed that Vietnam granted permission to 1,738 new projects last year, posting a year-on-year plunge of 31.1 percent. However, registered capital hit 15.2 billion USD, rising 4.1 percent compared to the previous year.

Economic zones and industrial parks (IPs) attracted 539 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects and 615 domestic ones with combined registered capital valuing at 12.8 billion USD, up 15 percent compared to that in 2020.

According to the article, Vietnam has introduced incentives facilitating investment in IPs.

To support enterprises recover their business activities, the Vietnamese Government released several support packages, such as a 30 percent corporate income tax reduction applied to all businesses that had revenue of less than 8.8 million USD in 2021. Other support measures were issued in the form of land rent reductions, social insurance and unemployment insurance benefits, and one-time payments.

The country welcomed various large-scale projects last year, including one of LG Display electronic giant to raise its investment in Hai Phong northern port city by more than 2 billion USD.

The US semiconductor provider Amkor Technology will invest 1.6 billion USD until 2035 to develop a plant in Bac Ninh province.

Danish toy production company LEGO Group will build its 1-billion-USD factory in Binh Duong province.

Regarding Vietnam’s perspectives in 2022, the article believed that thanks to competitive labour costs, preferential tax and investment policies, and its geographically strategic location, the country has become one of the go-to destinations for multinational companies’ manufacturing and assembly needs.

In the year ahead, Vietnam is expected to recover to pre-COVID growth. Vietnam’s role as a low-cost manufacturing hub is expected to continue to grow, helped by the further expansion of existing major industry sectors.

Furthermore, infrastructure projects will create more convenient traffic connecting industrial parks with seaports. The demand for land rental and ready-built factories is expected to increase sharply in 2022, according to the article./.