Foreign direct investment commitments to Vietnam hit four-year high of $16.74B

FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) pledged to Vietnam in t he f irst f ive months of t his year hit a four-year high of $16.74 billion, a Foreign Investment Agency (FI A) report has shown.

The FDI inflow also represented a yearly increase of 69 per cent, the report said, adding that FDI disbursement jumped to $7.3 billion in the period, up eight per cent year-on-year.

More than 1,360 new projects were licensed with total registered capital of $6.46 billion in January-May, surging 38 per cent against the same period last year, while 505 existing projects were injected an additional $2.63 billion, up six per cent year-on-year.

During t his period, 3,160 projects had $7.65 billion in capital contributed by foreign investors, nearly triple t he f ig ure of t he same period last year and accounting for 46 per cent of tota l registered capita l.

Among 19 fields and sectors receiv ing capita l f rom foreig n i nvestors, manufacturing and processing led wit h $12 billion, accounting for 72 per cent of tota l FDI. Rea l estate came next with $1.13 billion, or eight per cent, followed by retail and wholesa le wit h $ 864 million or f ive per cent.

Hong Kong was Vietnam’s largest source of FDI in the five-month period with nearly $5.1 billion, accounting for 30 per cent of total investment, thanks to Hong Kong’s Beerco Limited spending $3.85 billion on a stake in Vietnam Beverage Co Ltd.

South Korea and Singapore were the runners-up wit h $2.62 billion or 16 per cent and $2.1 billion or 13 per cent. Mainland China claimed fourth place with more than $2 billion, followed by Japan wit h $1.52 billion.

Hanoi retained its crown as the most attractive destination for foreign investors with $4.8 billion, making up 29 per cent of t he nation’s tota l investment in t he period as t he cit y has been making efforts to streamline investment procedures.

From now to t he yea r’s end, t he cit y wil l focus on investment promotion through conferences and meetings with investors, while speedi ng up t he l icensi ng of project s a nd developi ng i n f ra st r uct u re s y stem to lu re investors, online newspaper v ietnamplus.v n cited loca l aut horities as say ing.

The cit y will a lso focus on attracting FDI into information technolog y, innovation, biotech nolog y, tou r ism beside to educat iont ra ining, hea lt hcare, log ist ics, f inance a nd research and development.

The southern economic hub HCM City ranked second with $2.8 billion or 17 per cent of total FDI registered in the country, followed by its neighbour Binh Duong province, with more than $1.2 billion or seven per cent of the total.

From Januar y to May, the foreign-invested sector generated $70.4 billion from exports, a f ive per c ent yea r-on-yea r i ncrea se a nd accounting for 70 per cent of t he countr y’s tota l export turnover.

The sector’s import turnover in t he period rose by seven per cent compared to the same period last year to $ 53 bi l lion. That resulted in a trade surplus of more t han $12.7 billion in t he f ive months.

The FI A also said in its report that Vietnamese firms poured nearly $183 million into 69 projects abroad in t he period.

Most of their overseas investment focused on science and technolog y ($ 82 million), the ba n k i ng s e c t or ( $ 37 mi l l ion) a nd t he information and communication sector ($31 million).

During the period, Spain, the US and Cambodia attracted the largest shares of Vietnamese investment with $60 million, $44 million and $38 million.