Disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first nine months experienced a modest increase of 6 per cent to US$13.25 billion compared to the same period last year.

During that time, FDI commitments totaled $25.37 billion, almost unchanged from a year earlier, statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) revealed.

Up to 2,182 new projects were licensed with a total registered capital of $14.1 billion between January and September, down 3 per cent year-on-year, while 841 existing projects were given an additional $5.5 billion, a reduction of 18 per cent compared to the same period of last year.

Meanwhile 5,275 other projects had $5.7 billion in capital contributed by foreign investors, surging 37 per cent year-on-year.

Large-scale projects included the Japan-invested smart city in the capital’s Dong Anh District worth over $4.13 billion; the $1.2-billion polypropylene manufacturing plant financed by South Korean Hyosung Corporation in the southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau; the Laguna hospitality project with an additional fund of $1.12 billion from Singaporean investors. Others were the $600 million Lotte Mall Hanoi project that includes a hotel, apartments, offices, and trade center complex and the LG Innotek Hai Phong facility with additional capital of $501 million for manufacturing camera modules.

As per the data, manufacturing and processing continued to lure the lion’s share of investment with $11.3 billion, accounting for nearly 45 per cent of the nation’s total FDI. Real estate came second with $5.8 billion, or equivalent to 23 per cent of total registered capital, followed by retail and wholesale with $2.1 billion or 8.3 per cent.

The data also showed 104 countries and territories invested in Viet Nam in the nine-month period. Among them, Japan ranked first with $7 billion, making up 28 per cent of total investment. South Korea and Singapore come second and third with $5.6 billion or 23 per cent and $3.6 billion or 15 per cent, respectively.

The capital remained the most attractive investment destination to foreign investors, with $5.8 billion, or 23 per cent of total FDI. It was followed by HCM City with $4.2 billion or 17 per cent and Ba Ria - Vung Tau with $2.1 billion or 8.5 per cent.

From January-September, foreign-invested businesses earned an export turnover of $127.8 billion, up 15 per cent year-on-year while importing $104.1 billion worth of goods, a yearly rise of 12 per cent. That had resulted in a trade surplus of $23.6 billion.

As of September 20, the country had 26,646 valid foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of $334 billion, and over half of the FDI had been disbursed, the agency noted.

Overseas investments

During the nine-month period, Vietnamese businesses injected $331 million into 122 projects abroad, statistics from FIA also revealed.

As much as $286 million was pumped into 99 new overseas projects, while the rest was earmarked for 23 existing ones.

As per the data, finance-banking attracted the most interest from Vietnamese investors, accounting for 32 per cent of their total, or $106 million. Agro-forestry-fisheries came next with $64 million (19.2 per cent), followed by manufacturing and processing with $46 million (14 per cent) and others.

Vietnamese businesses invested in 30 countries and territories in the period with Laos taking the lead with 29 per cent. Australia and Slovakia were the runners-up with 14 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively. — VNS