Investors using State capital who owned the project outright or were majority shareholders would have to submit an application for a licence to invest in foreign markets and include a report on the economic effectiveness of the projects, granted by an investment assessment agency.

The draft aims to facilitate administrative procedures and tighten the regular check-ups on investments, including project progress and quality, costs and fluctuations.

A representative of the decree's editing board said the management would review difficulties and create support to resolve them.

The checkups would focus on project planning, bidding, capital utilisation and disbursement.

It also stipulates that projects which are a wholly or majority State investment will have to follow a law on bidding for their purchase, consultancy and installation.

The ministry's Foreign Investment Department Agency head, Do Nhat Hoang, said there had been a growing trend among domestic enterprises to invest in foreign markets even while their turns remained low.

The country had had 601 projects in 55 foreign nations and territories since 1989 with a total registered capital of US$10 billion. Of that, $2 billion had been disbursed.

Ministry statistics also indicated each project that Vietnam invested in foreign countries cost an average $66 million, much higher than the average $14.6 million for foreign investment projects in Vietnam.

Authority investigations revealed that there were 130 projects worth $1.99 billion of investment in foreign countries in the first 10 months of this year. Of the total, State investment accounted for more than 60 per cent.

Statistics also indicated that Vietnam's investment outflows have increased each year, but returns on equity has been low at 2.02 per cent from 1989-2010.

"The number of projects invested abroad will continue to rise," Hoang said.

Laos, Cambodia, the US and Russia had been major markets for Vietnamese businesses. Laos was the biggest market with 187 projects.

The five agencies with the highest amount of overseas investment were the National Oil and Gas Group, the Vietnam Coal and Minerals Corporation, Rubber Corporation, telecommunications firm Viettel and Da River Construction Corporation. They have brought $1.35 billion to foreign countries.

The department said most were long-term projects related to petroleum, minerals exploitation, rubber and power plants. (VNA) nt