Nineteen of the existing foreign-invested projects have been permitted to increase their registered capital by 241.6 million USD, according to the Ha Noi Planning and Investment Department.

During the first six months of this year, the Department has advised the Ministry of Planning and Investment to withdraw the investment licenses of 49 foreign-invested projects and to help 23 others to overcome their difficulties.

Ha Noi will further simplify its administrative procedures in a bid to attract more foreign investment. Between now and the end of this year, it will establish a working team in charge of foreign investment to implement a "one-stop" policy for the licensing of foreign-invested projects and facilitating the operations of many large projects, including a 65-storey building, a 100-bed hospital and the CDMA-2000 mobile phone service.

As an economic hub in northern Viet Nam, Ha Noi has done much to increase foreign direct investment. In the first half of the year, Viet Nam attracted nearly 350 foreign-invested projects, with a total registered capital of 2.4 billion USD, representing an annual increase of 20 percent.(VNA)