Vietnam has attracted only $22 million worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) in two health and social support projects in the first nine months this year. The figure accounts for just 0.22% of the country’s total FDI of $9.9 billion during the nine-month period. Vietnam also lured just $1.02-billion FDI in 74 health care projects as of Aug 20, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said. The government is calling more investments in healthcare and pharmaceutical production which is regarded as attractive sectors because of the rising demand of local people amid the rapid economic development, said Nguyen Viet Hung, deputy director of the Ministry of Health’s Drug Administration. The Southeast Asian country ranks 51st among 191 nations worldwide in terms of health-system attainment and performance, a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) showed. Between Jan and Sept, Vietnam have disbursed VND739 billion ($35.53 million) worth of state funds for health projects, fulfilling 82.2% of the year’s set target and rising 6.7% on year. (www.mpi.gov.vn [1] Sept 27)
