During the reviewed period, the province lured US$1.02 billion in FDI, 8 per cent higher than in the same period last year, the office’s latest data showed.

Of the sum, $514 million was poured into 48 newly licensed projects while the remaining $512.3 million was contributed to 512 operational projects to raise their capital.

South Korea was the province’s leading foreign investor in the first half of the year with capital amounting to $100 million.

Representatives of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment said most of the projects were high-tech, environmentally friendly and suitable for the province’s investment attraction policy.

So far, Dong Nai has attracted a total of 1,420 foreign-invested projects with combined capital of nearly $29.6 billion. Investors in the province have come from 43 countries and territories, led by South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

The FDI funds have mainly been injected into support industries in the fields of electronics; garments, textiles, and footwear; and the manufacturing of machinery products.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, Dong Nai now ranks fourth among 64 localities in term of FDI attraction.

Helmut Bode, Chief Executive Officer of German Schaeffler Group in the Asia Pacific region, told baodongnai.com.vn that the province’s open investment climate, its transportation advantages and improving infrastructure were main reasons his company had decided to invest in Dong Nai.

In May, Schaeffler inaugurated its new Greenfield plant, worth 45 million euros ($51 million), in the city of Bien Hoa, deepening its investment in the locality where it started its first production more than 10 years ago. The plant, located in the Amata Industrial Zone, produces industrial bearings and components for a wide range of applications.

The plant would be expanded next year with a total investment of about $67 million, increasing its production capacity by between five and 10 times, Bode told the online newspaper.

He said Dong Nai should continue to streamline its procedure reforms and shorten the time it takes to handle documents in order to attract more foreign investors, especially those in hi-tech industries.

In the future, the province would reject any project that was likely to cause environmental pollution or use out-of-date technology, instead prioritising clean investments, said deputy head of the Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority Mai Van Nhon.

Before granting investment licences, local authorities would consider the projects’ production value, labour productivity and disbursement rate, he said.

HCM City attracted $3.21 billion worth of foreign direct investment in the first half of the year, a 20 per cent increase year-on-year.

Of this $539 million went into 598 new projects, a 3.6 per cent increase.

The property sector attracted the largest amount of $221 million or 41 per cent of the total investment.

Nearly 22 per cent went into the technology sector, 19.5 per cent into wholesale and retail and repair of automobiles, motorbikes and other vehicles 5.8 per cent into manufacturing.

Around $300 million was invested in 145 existing projects, an 81.6 per cent rise.

The remaining $2.37 billion went into buying stakes in local companies, a 32.6 per cent increase.

Le Thanh Liem, deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee, said several investment and trade promotion events had been held this year, which had helped attract foreign and domestic investors and improve their trust in the local investment environment.

He however noted that despite increases in the numbers of projects and the total investment the average size of foreign projects was still small, estimated around $1 million each.