North-central Nghe An province climbed to 8th place among Vietnam’s 63 cities and provinces in terms of FDI attraction in August, according to the Foreign Investment Agency at the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

It granted investment licenses to nine FDI projects during the month with capital of over $778 million.

The province also approved additional capital for six projects totaling $110 million, bringing newly-registered and additional capital to $888 million in August, a year-on-year increase of over 160 per cent.

In the first eight months, therefore, the province attracted 140 FDI projects with total capital of $3.5 billion.

One reason behind the province’s success in FDI attraction is its efforts in simplifying investment procedures for investors, according to Chairman of the Nghe An Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Trung. He cited the example of Shandong Innovation Metal Technology from China, which received an investment license within five working days.

Mr. Trung issued a document on August 7 asking relevant agencies to take measures to streamline administrative procedures and tackle difficulties and obstacles facing people and businesses. The time to deal with online administrative procedures was shortened by 20 per cent, with officers found to cause delays in handling procedures to be strictly punished.