A harbour in Austrialia. The country received the largest share of Vietnamese outbound investment in the first eight months of this year.— Photo AFP

Total outbound Vietnamese investment topped nearly US$440 million from the beginning of this year to August, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Approximately $340 million was poured into 102 newly licensed projects while the remaining $99.6 million was injected into 23 already operating projects.

In the first eight months of the year, the wholesale and retail sector lured the largest share of Vietnamese investment with $97 million, accounting for 22 per cent of the total. The agro-forestry-fishery sector ranked second with $89 million, making up 20 per cent of the total, and the science and technology sector came third with $84 million or equivalent to 19 per cent, followed by real estate trading with $72 million or 16 per cent.

Among the 30 countries and territories where Vietnamese investors were active from January to August, Australia was the largest recipient with $179 million or 41 per cent of the total, mainly thanks to two large-scale projects of TH Group worth a total of $88.5 million, the agency said, adding that the projects are in agriculture and dairy farming.

Australia was followed by Spain which attracted $60 million or 14 per cent. Other destinations for Vietnamese investments were the US ($46.3 million or 11.2 per cent), Cambodia ($39 million or 9 per cent) and Singapore ($36 million or 8 per cent).

Experts forecast that Vietnamese overseas investment would continue to increase if the world economy stays stable. Meanwhile, free trade agreements which Viet Nam has joined could help drive local enterprises to seek investment opportunities in foreign markets thanks to tax cuts. —  VNS