An industrial park in Tan Huyen District, southern Binh Duong Province. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
About $14.15 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) was disbursed between January and August, up 8% year-on-year, marking the highest for an 8-month period over the past five years.
During the period, Vietnam saw a total of $20.52 billion in registered FDI capital, an increase of 7% against the same period last year , according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Of the total, nearly $12 billion was registered for 2,247 new projects, up 27% in value and 8.5% in the project number. Additional capital for 926 existing projects topped $5.7 billion, up 4.9% and 14.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, foreign investment through contributing capital to and buying stakes of local firms decreased by 40.9% to nearly $2.81 billion.
Foreign investors poured money into 18 out of the 21 national economic sectors, of which the manufacturing and processing industry led with nearly $14.17 billion, accounting for over 69% of the total registered and marking a 7.4% increase from a year earlier. It was followed by real estate ($3.36 billion), and the wholesale and retail sector ($844.9 million).
Among the 94 countries and territories investing in Vietnam during January-August, Singapore topped with over $6.79 billion while Hong Kong (China) ranked second with $2.4 billion, surging 75.5% and 43.7% year-on-year, respectively.
The northern province of Bac Ninh was the largest FDI recipient with nearly $3.47 billion, representing 16.9% of the total and a 2.94-fold surge compared to the same period last year. It was followed by the northern province of Quang Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City, with nearly $1.78 billion and over $1.76 billion, respectively.
As of August 31, there had been 41,142 valid FDI projects worth $491.39 billion in Vietnam, of which approximately $311.33 billion had been disbursed.
