Foreign investors registered 1.56 billion USD by Feb. 23, representing 68 percent of the figure in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency.

The investment includes 1.47 billion USD in 93 newly licensed projects and 86 million USD of additional capital for 14 existing projects.

The ministry reported FDI disbursement continued to rise. During the period, about 1.15 billion USD of FDI has been disbursed, posting a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent.

Processing and manufacturing industries topped FDI attraction with registered capital of 1.2 billion USD in the two-month period, followed by construction with 71.7 million USD and retail and wholesale, 48.8 million USD.

Ho Chi Minh City led the country in terms of FDI attraction with 1.1 billion USD, a more than three-fold increase compared to the same period last year (328.3 million USD).

According to the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan, by Feb. 18, 34 foreign-invested projects were granted licences, including a 1 billion USD solar cell plant in Cu Chi district, while 13 valid projects were permitted to raise capital.

The economic hub was followed by Da Nang city with 180 million USD of FDI attraction, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, 81.4 million USD and Dong Nai province, 47.2 million USD./.