Committed foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ho Chi Minh City in the first quarter of the year surged by 109 percent year on year, according to the city's Department of Planning and Investment.

The trend means that foreign investors have regained their confidence in the local economy with the positive result in the stabilization of the macroeconomic situation.

Regarding new investment, some 78 FDI projects with a total investment of about $160 million were licensed during the first quarter.

Specifically, the municipal People's Committee in late March gave the green light to Sanofi Viet Nam Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Sanofi Aventis Group, to set up its third plant worth $75 million in the city's Hi-Tech Park in District 9.

In addition, 26 operational FDI projects in the city were also approved, adding $175.3 million more capital for the expansion of their projects.

Among them is the $95.8 million capital expansion of Nidec Tosok Vietnam, a subsidiary of the Japanese Nidec Group, bringing the total investment of the plant located in Tan Thuan Industrial Park in HCM City's District 7 to $205.6 million.

HCMC’s EPZs and IZs in the first quarter of 2013 lured a total $144.5 million worth of new investment, up by 21.4 percent over the same period last year, according to HCMC Export Processing Zone and Industrial Zone Authority (HEPZA).

The new investment included $122.65 million and $21.83 million worth of FDI and local investment, a 57.35 percent year-on-year rise but a 57.35 percent year-on-year drop, respectively.

The profitable operation of companies in the city's Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks, especially foreign-invested enterprises, was behind the rising investment trend, said Nguyen Tan Dinh, deputy head of the HCM City Export Processing Zone Authority (HEPZA).

“HEPZA will take measures to attract even more investment to the city's EPZ and IPs with a focus on hi-tech industries that have high added values like mechanics, electronics/information technology, chemicals, and food and foodstuff processing,” Nguyen Tan Dinh, deputy head of the HEPZA told Vietnam News Agency.

“In addition, the city will map out a plan to build an industrial area for support industries within the Dong Nam Industrial Park, and is seeking Japanese investment for infrastructure construction,” he added.

HCMC trade authorities, including HCMC Trade and Investment Promotion Center, the Department of Planning and Investment, and the IP and EPZ Infrastructure Development Co,  will jointly launch fresh investment promotion campaigns in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the US and Canada this year to attract more FDI to local IPs.]