Vietnam Attracts $825.5M FDI in Education Sector by Late 2014

Vietnam has attracted $825.5 million of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the education and training sector as of December 2014, accounting for just 0.33% of the country’s total FDI. The country has licensed 204 FDI projects in the sector during the period, making up 1.17% of the country’s total, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). In terms of average investment per project, education ranks 16th among the 18 sectors with FDI projects with $4 million, while the country’s average is $14.3 million. Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, the U.S., the U.K., South Korea and Japan are among countries having FDI projects in Vietnam’s education sector. Most of the projects have been located in big cities, including 70 projects in Hanoi with FDI of $328 million, HCM City (97 projects at $263 million) and Danang (eight projects at $157 million). The FIA warned that Hanoi and HCM City are facing a surplus of foreign-invested education establishments amid their poor training quality. Meanwhile, rural areas where have abundant workforce are in lack of training facilities. Economists have called on the government to work out measures to attract more investments in the sector and to better control foreign-invested facilities. (Hai Quan Jan 21)