FDI attraction up over 13% in three months

Viet Nam lured close to US$6.17 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) from the beginning of this year to March 20, up 13.4 percent year-on-year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In the period, there were 644 newly-registered projects with total registered capital of US$4.77 billion, up 23.4 percent and 57.9 percent compared to the same period last year, respectively.

Meanwhile, foreign investors increased investments by over US$934.6 million in 248 existing projects, down 22.6 percent and up 6 percent year-on-year, respectively.

The value of capital contribution and share purchase deals decreased by 61.7 percent to US$466.2 million.

As of March 20, FDI disbursement was estimated at about US$4.63 billion, an annual rise of 7.1 percent.

The manufacturing and processing sector led in FDI attraction, with close to US$3.93 billion, followed by real estate with more than US$1.58 billion.

Ha Noi received the lion's share with US$970.8 million of the foreign investment, up 6.1 times against last year. The northern province of Bac Ninh came second with over US$745.2 million, followed by Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai.

Viet Nam is home to 39,758 valid FDI projects worth US$475.83 billion. Of the figure, US$301.8 billion have been disbursed, making up 63.4 percent.

So far, South Korea has topped the list of 145 countries and territories pouring capital into Viet Nam with nearly US$86.9 billion. It was followed by Singapore US$77.2 billion, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.