At a semiconductor technology research lab in HCM City (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi – The inflow of foreign investment into Vietnam hit over 2.1 billion as of January 20, up 4.2 percent year-on-year, marking good signals for the country’s investment attraction, the latest report from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) showed.

Following the recovery from the end of 2021 after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many foreign-invested enterprises have stabilised and expanded their production and business activities. Thus, disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) also saw a positive increase of 6.8 percent to surpass 1.61 billion USD during the first month of this year, FIA said in its report.

According to the report, up to 103 new foreign-invested projects were licensed with a total registered capital of nearly 388 million USD, up 119.1 percent year-on-year in terms of the number of projects but down 70.7 percent in value.

Although registered investment capital decreased compared to the same period last year due to a lack of large-scale projects, an increase in the number of new investment projects showed the confidence of foreign investors in the country’s investment environment, FIA said.

Meanwhile, 71 operating projects were allowed to raise their capital by 1.27 billion USD, up 54.3 percent in project number and nearly triple the level of capital seen in the same month last year.

Capital contributions and share purchases by foreign investors stood at 443.5 million USD, up two times over the last year’s corresponding month.

Among 15 sectors receiving FDI in the first month, processing and manufacturing took the lead with over 1.2 billion USD, accounting for 58.9 percent of the total FDI. Real estate came next with 472 million USD or equivalent to 22.5 percent. Administrative sectors and supporting services; wholesale and retail were the runners-up with over 221 million USD and 52.5 million USD, respectively.

As per the data, Singapore led 33 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with total investment capital of nearly 666 million USD, making up nearly 31.7 percent of the total FDI registered in the country.

The Republic of Korea ranked second with over 481 million USD, up five times year-on-year or equivalent to 30 percent of the total FDI. Mainland China came third with nearly 451 million USD, down 27 percent or 21.5 percent.

The capital city attracted the highest amount of FDI, with over 448 million USD, 29.9 times higher than last January, making up 21.3 percent of the total. The central province of Nghe An came second with 400 million USD or 19 percent thanks to two existing projects increasing their levels of capital. It was followed by Bac Ninh, Long An and Phu Tho.

Source: https://vir.com.vn/