According the General Statistics Office (GSO), of this sum, over $1.9 billion came from 291 newly-licensed projects, surging 96.6 per cent in the number of projects and 167.5 per cent in the level of capital, while another 137 operating projects, which expanded their investments, contributed $898.3 million. GSO noted that disbursements of foreign direct investment (FDI) also recorded a yearly rise of 15.4 per cent to an estimated $1.5 billion.

During the reviewed period, the manufacturing and processing sector accounted for more than 71 per cent of the total FDI pledged in the country, as it attracted $1.99 billion. This was followed by the entertainment industry, with $210.6 million.

Singapore remained Viet Nam’s largest source of FDI, with $435.2 million and making up 22.8 per cent of the nation’s total new registered FDI in the past two months. It was followed by Malaysia with $233.2 million or 12.2 per cent; South Korea ($202.4 million or 10.6 per cent); and Japan ($160.6 million or 8.4 per cent).

Large foreign investors also included Hong Kong, mainland China, the United Kingdom and Taiwan.

In the first two months, Ha Noi retained its position as the most attractive investment destination for foreign investors. The capital city attracted $242.4 million in investments, totalling 12.7 per cent of FDI pledged in the country.

The northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh came in second and third with $206.1 million or 10.8 per cent, and $200.6 million or 10.5 per cent, respectively. They were followed by Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with $157.1 million; HCM City ($156 million); Dong Nai Province ($143 million) and Ha Tinh Province ($139 million).

Earlier, Nguyen Mai, chairman of the VietnamAssociation of Foreign Invested Enterprises, told online newspaper bizlive that many multinational groups have scheduled to move their production and businesses from other countries in the region to Vietnamto take advantage of the FTAs. Therefore, the Government should guide authorities of provinces and cities to choose suitable foreign investors and technologies to protect the environment and reduce energy usage, he noted. —

In a recent interview, Jason Wan said Taiwan has many “ambitious” plans for trade with Brunei that cover agriculture, oil and gas and healthcare.

“In Asia, we are exempted from visas when we visit Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand. Why is it in Brunei we need a visa?” he said.

Currently, Taiwanese are eligible for a visa on arrival in Brunei.

Wan said many Taiwanese companies wish to increase their presence in the country and bring in their technology that can increase Brunei’s abundance of natural resources.

“In Taiwan, we have the Tropical Fruit Research Centre, where we are able to grow larger than average tropical fruits such as guavas and mangoes through scientific research.

“The tropical fruits in Brunei are more diverse, considering this is a tropical country, (so) Brunei can benefit from Taiwan’s agricultural technology (to) produce these larger than average tropical fruits to be exported,” added Wan.

Navy Chen, director of Taiwanese firm Kuo Sen Enterprise Co Ltd, said the oil and gas industry can also benefit from Taiwan investors as they have the technology to diversify the industry.

“Brunei has plenty of natural crude oil and natural gas that, with the right technology, can be processed into materials for various products,” he said.

He said a lot of Taiwanese companies would invest in Brunei if the sultanate removes barriers such as visas for Taiwan nationals and speeds up the process of obtaining a permit to establish a factory here.

“If this can be achieved, it will bring a lot of foreign investment to Brunei and elevate the country’s economy,” said Chen.

He went on to say that it could also boost tourism to the sultanate as a number of Taiwanese people are interested in spending their vacation here.

“Brunei is very calm and peaceful. It’s a good place for us to relax and de-stress ourselves,” he said.

However, Chen said Taiwan residents prefer to travel to Malaysia and Thailand due to visa exemptions.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting predicts the drought and saltwater intrusion will last until June.

The Water Resource Directorate under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Thursday sent an urgent message to agricultural department heads of 11 Mekong Delta provinces, urging them to warn local farmers about recurring saltwater intrusion with salinity content registering 4 grammes per litre of water between February 25 and March 7, 2016. The permitted salinity level is less than than 250 milligrammes per litre.

The directorate advised local farmers to take fresh water to be used for both irrigation and daily purposes from river sections about 30 to 45 kilometres away from the mouth of the Mekong river when low and medium tides occur.

Nguyen Van Dong, Director of Mekong Delta Hau Giang Province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department, said all local rice fields are threatened by the drought and saltwater intrusion.

Thus, the local administration had mobilised all sources in an attempt to tackle the problem. It directed units to reinforce dykes when the salinity surpasses 2 grammes per litre, Dong said.

Lu Van Hung, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said efforts are being taken to drill new wells to be used as water sources and build reservoirs to store water.

Heads of districts and communes will be held responsible if they fail to obey the committee’s directions, he said.

The province also plans to plant a new type of saltwater-resistant rice.

Statistics of the Mekong Delta’s Tien Giang province show that about 9,000 households are living in areas hit by drought and saltwater during the ongoing dry season (from November to April).

In response to the situation, the province has opened an additional 141 public taps to provide water to the households.

A 6.3 kilometre pipe system was promptly constructed to supply 1,200 cubic metres of water daily to local residents in the communes of Binh Dong and Binh Xuan, which have been suffering the most from water shortages.

In terms of long-term action, the Government and the Ministry of Planning and Investment have mobilised official development assistance (ODA) sources totaling about $500 million to upgrade the delta’s dyke and saltwater-resistance drainage systems.

The agricultural ministry also called upon research institutes and scientists to study and test new types of rice that could resist saltwater as a long-term solution to the problem.

Initial statistics from the Mekong Delta provinces reveal that drought and saltwater intrusion have caused an estimated loss of about 150 trillion dong ($6.7 billion) for the delta so far, and the losses are expected to continue surmounting until June.

Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said a total of nearly 340,000 hectare of winter-spring rice crops were affected by the drought and saltwater intrusion, accounting for 35.5 per cent of the delta’s total cultivation area during the winter-spring season.

The ongoing El Nino, which began in 2014 and is considered one of the most intense weather phenomena in at least two decades, was blamed for the severe drought and saltwater intrusion. It also caused rainfall to drop by 10-40 per cent compared to previous years, according to Dao Trong Tu, a senior water expert.

Unlike in previous years, the ministry has moved more quickly in signing the contracts to speed up the construction of infrastructures to support President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s economic program. The ministry has drastically cut the bureaucratic red-tape that companies must wade through in order to obtain construction permits.

“We’ve already signed all of the contracts for this year, seven months earlier than last year,” said Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said on Monday in Jakarta, accompanied by Jokowi and Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro.

Twenty four companies took part in the ceremony, representing various contractors. The contractors include giant state-owned energy company Pertamina, state-owned gas distributor PGN and the construction firms Wijaya Karya, Adhi Karya and Hutama Karya.

In his remarks, Jokowi said that Indonesia would need to be more competitive in meeting its food and energy needs in the next 30 years. “I always remind people to focus on food and energy. To achieve that goal we have to build the infrastructure,” he said.

The contract signing on Monday was the third, and by far the largest, wave of contracts that the ministry has signed in 2016. The first two waves, on Jan. 14 and Feb. 2, had a combined value of Rp 545 billion.

Earlier contracts included the construction of natural-gas stations, gas pipeline networks, micro-hydro power plants, solar-powered electric generators, waste-based power plants and bio-gas power plants.

The largest contract, worth Rp 493 billion, was for a gas pipeline project in Prabumulih in South Sumatra. The contract went to three state-owned companies, namely PT Wijaya Karya, PT Nindya Karya and PT Rekayasa Industri.

The SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh said in Directive No 01/CT-NHNN issued earlier this week that these were needed to support national goals of controlling inflation, stabilising the macro-economy and boosting economic growth in 2016.

The SBV will run the banking system, which includes domestic credit institutions and foreign bank branches, with active and flexible monetary policies in tight conjunction with fiscal and other macro-economic policies.

The central bank targets growth rates of 16 per cent to 18 per cent for total money supplies, and 18 per cent of 20 per cent for overall outstanding loans in the system. The figures may be adjusted based on the practical situation.

It urged lenders to continue to create advantageous conditions for enterprises, co-operatives and households to access loans, helping them enhance efficiency in their production and business activities.

The SBV will continue to speed up the restructuring of credit institutions and drastically handle weak lenders, in a bid to improve lending quality and maintain the bad debt ratio at less than three per cent of the overall outstanding loans.

Governor Binh’s directive is in line with the government’s resolution on socio-economic development plans in 2016, following which this year’s inflation will reach less than five per cent and gross domestic product growth will be around 6.7 per cent.