Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi, the leading localitynationwide in FDI attraction in 2018, will focus on luring large-scale firms inthe future, a move expected to also open up opportunities for small firms toinvest in the city.

At a recent working session with Deputy Prime Minister VuongDinh Hue, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Doan Toanreported that with 7.5 billion USD in FDI, the city has become the biggest FDIattractor of the country last year.

As of December 31, 2018, Hanoi hosted nearly 4,500 valid projectswith total registered investment of 36.6 billion USD, of which 18.9 billion USDwas disbursed.

The contributions of the FDI sector to the development ofthe city include the transfer of advanced technology in sectors such astelecommunications, electronics and industry.

The sector has helped transform the economic structure andenhance the competitiveness of the city by bringing more services tointernational standards.

Meanwhile, the FDI sector has contributed to promotingadministrative reform, creating a favourable business environment. Understatistics released in April 2018, Hanoi ranked 13th out of 63cities and provinces in the provincial competitiveness index and second in thepublic administrative reform index. Hanoi also stood second in the level ofreadiness for applying information-communications technology.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chungattributed the results to the city’s efforts in classifying FDI projects intodifferent groups, thus giving them proper support. Municipal leaders have heldregular meetings with major investors to discuss promising sectors in the nextfive years.

According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment VuDai Thang, the ministry plans to coordinate with Hanoi in investment promotionthrough various policies.

Chung said that in the future, Hanoi will concentrate on luringlarge-scale firms to thereby attract smaller investors from other countries.

In 2019, the city has defined a number of prioritisedsectors for attracting investment, including urban infrastructure construction,environment, processing, and areas with high added value such as informationtechnology, tourism, trade and logistics.

Meanwhile, Toan said that Hanoi will build aservice-oriented administration, while improving the investment environment,speeding up administrative reform and removing difficulties facing foreigninvestors.-VNA