Disbursed FDI in Jan-Aug hits five-year high

About 14.15 billion USD worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) was disbursed in the first eight months of this year, up 8% year-on-year, marking the highest for an eight-month period over the past five years, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

During the reviewed period, Vietnam saw a total of 20.52 billion USD in registered FDI capital, an increase of 7% against the same period last year.

Of the total, nearly 12 billion USD 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 USD, 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 USD.

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 USD, 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 USD), and the wholesale and retail sector (844.9 million USD).

Among the 94 countries and territories investing in Vietnam during January-August, Singapore topped with over 6.79 billion USD while Hong Kong (China) ranked second with 2.4 billion USD, 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 USD, 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 USD and over 1.76 billion USD, respectively.

As of August 31, there had been 41,142 valid FDI projects worth 491.39 billion USD in Vietnam, of which approximately 311.33 billion USD had been disbursed.