>> Mega FDI projects have investment licenses revoked in 2010
>> Task force proves FDI firms falsified losses to avoid taxes
According to the Foreign Investment Agency, foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) obtained a trade surplus of USD2.35 billion in 2010.
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| Vietnam continues to be a favourite destination for foreign investors |
The trade surplus among FIEs in 2009 was USD5.03 billion.
During the year 2010, the foreign-invested sector reached export revenues of USD38.8 billion, up 27.8% against last year, while its import value was estimated at USD36.4 billion, up 39.9% on-year.
The Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment said, in 2010, Vietnam attracted a total pledged foreign direct investment (FDI) of USD18.6 billion, down 17.8% against last year. However, FIEs in Vietnam disbursed USD11 billion in 2010, up 10%.
The manufacturing and processing industry has remained the most attractive to foreign investors in 2010, attracting over USD5 billion from newly-licensed projects and added capital from existing projects.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dang Huy Dong, said statistics showed that FDI inflow in Vietnam has moved from low-technology areas to high-technology ones and the country has exported technology-intensive products.
He also admitted that many FIEs falsified losses to avoid taxes, particularly in multinational firms.
For example, in Lam Dong Province, tea companies sold one kilogramme of tea at USD2.8-USD4 compared to the production cost of up to USD8-USD9 to report losses. However, after tea products were transferred to their parent companies in foreign countries, the products were divided into bags of different sizes, labelled and then sold at from USD5.5 to USD11.6 per kilogramme (two to three times higher than the reported levels).a
