Workers at Cocoa Collection and Fermentation Plant. Newly registered and additional foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in Viet Nam totalled US$20.8 billion in the first 11 months this year, up 54.2 per cent year-on-year. VNA/VNS The Anh

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— Newly registered and additional foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in Viet Nam totalled US$20.8 billion in the first 11 months of the year, representing a 54.2 per cent rise year-on-year.

Figures from the Foreign Investment Agency showed that 1,175 new and additional projects obtained investment licences with combined registered capital of $13.77 billion, up 73.3 per cent from last year.

Meanwhile, the 446 existing FDI projects in the country announced plans to increase investment by a total of $7.03 billion, a 26.9 per cent year-on-year surge.

The processing and manufacturing industries remained on top of the list of 18 sectors that received foreign investment, with 557 new projects capitalised at $16.07 billion, accounting for 77.2 per cent of the total.

Electricity, gas and water production and distribution took second place with combined capital of $2.03 billion, 9.8 per cent of the total. The sector was followed by real estate with 20 new and additional projects worth $884 million.

FDI inflow came from 52 nations and territories, with Japan remaining the largest investor. New and additional investment from Japan amounted to $5.6 billion, accounting for 27.3 per cent of the total figure.

It is followed by Singapore with $4.2 billion and South Korea with $4.1 billion.

Northern Thai Nguyen Province led other localities in FDI attraction, bringing in $3.3 billion, which accounted for 16.1 per cent of the total.

Central Thanh Hoa Province came in second with $2.9 billion from new and additional projects, accounting for 14 per cent of the total.The province's Nghi Son Refinery project alone saw $2.8 billion in additional capital.

Northern Hai Phong City took third place with $2.6 billion.

FDI disbursement in the January-October period reached $10.5 billion, increasing 5.5 per cent from last year.

The FDI sector reported trade surplus of $12.2 billion in the period. Its exports including crude oil were estimated at $81.1 billion, up 23.5 per cent year-on-year, or 67.06 per cent of the total.

Its imports were $68.9 billion, 56.92 per cent of the total import-export turnover in the 11-month period, an increase of 26 per cent against last year. — VNS