The country attracted 11.3 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first 10 months of this year, representing a year-on-year decrease of 22 percent.

In addition, FDI disbursement surged by 1 percent, hitting 9.1 billion USD, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

The Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the MPI also revealed an increase in new registered investment capital. During the period, around 860 new foreign-invested projects, valued at around 8.9 billion USD, were granted licences, equal to 70 percent of the same period last year.

Meanwhile, 264 established projects received approval to raise their capital levels by a combined 2.4 billion USD, a jump of 38 percent against last year.

While some foreign investors have expressed concern about domestic macroeconomic fluctuations, FIA's Director Do Nhat Hoang said that investors continued to seek local opportunities based on present levels of development.

Hoang added that in this month alone, 86 projects had raised their capital, the highest number so far this year.

This could be a good sign as FDI business growth could serve as evidence of good investment conditions.

The processing and manufacturing sectors jumped by 5.6 billion USD, accounting for half of the total FDI, with 362 newly registered projects and 190 increasing their capital.

Electricity production and distribution sectors contributed 2.5 billion USD while the construction industry made up 712 million USD.

Hong Kong remained Vietnam's largest source of foreign investment with 2.98 billion USD, making up 26 percent of the country's total FDI capital, followed by Singapore with 1.55 billion USD and Japan with 1.31 billion USD.

The northern province of Hai Duong attracted the largest amount of FDI, drawing 2.56 billion USD, 23 percent of the national total. The province granted a licence to the Hai Duong Thermoelectricity plant operated via the Build-Operate-Transfer model at a total investment of 2.26 billion USD.

FDI businesses experienced 43.2 billion USD in export turnover while imports made 38 percent.

The FDI sector enjoyed an export trade surplus of 4.9 billion USD in the same period. However, the department said that some FDI enterprises had to borrow money from credit organisations in Vietnam, negatively affecting the country's investment environment.

The Government has asked relevant agencies to strictly manage foreign currency and FDI activities. /.