Hanoi (VNA) - Strong reforms to improve the investment environment have helped foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam rise sharply over the past 10 months, creating strong momentum for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the remaining months of this year.
FDI growth supported by robust M&A transactions
According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance, total registered foreign investment in Vietnam reached 31.52 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2025, up 15.6% year-on-year.
Notably, although newly-registered capital declined, investment through capital contributions and share purchases climbed to 5.34 billion USD, a surge of 45.1% compared with the same period last year.
Ho Chi Minh City alone attracted nearly 7.3 billion USD in FDI in the first 10 months of 2025, up 28.67% year-on-year. The city approved 2,098 applications by foreign investors for capital contributions, share purchases or stake acquisitions in domestic enterprises, totalling 3.33 billion USD.
The latest report by Grant Thornton Vietnam showed that 52 M&A transactions were completed in October 2025, with a total announced and estimated value of around 720.4 million USD.
Notably, OCI Holdings (Republic of Korea), through OCI ONE under OCI TerraSus, acquired a 65% stake of Elite Solar Power Wafer, a solar wafer manufacturing project under construction in Vietnam.
Levanta Holding Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) purchased a 80% stake of HBRE Gia Lai Wind Power JSC from Super Energy Group and Super Wind Energy for 33.1 million USD.
Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) acquired 49% of stocks of Cuu Long Energy and Engineering Consulting JSC (MEE JSC) from GreenSpark Group.
Foreign funds also continued to make notable investments in Vietnam, such as Ares Asia Private Equity investing in MEDLATEC, and Emerging Markets Investment Advisers (EMIA) injecting capital into MyStorage. MyStorage secured a million-USD investment from EMIA, while MEDLATEC announced Ares Asia Private Equity as its new strategic investor.
These transactions indicated that investors from Japan, the Republic of Korea and Europe remain the most active in joint ventures and equity acquisitions in Vietnam.
Administrative reforms strengthen M&A momentum
The surge in FDI is closely linked to improvements in the investment climate. In Ho Chi Minh City, administrative procedures for investment projects have been significantly reduced, with processing time shortened markedly.
At a dialogue with foreign businesses in late October 2025, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc reported that the city had eliminated 435 administrative procedures and simplified 441 others.
Investment-related procedures are now handled through a one-stop mechanism at the Department of Finance and the Management Boards of Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks. The processing time for new investment registration certificates, and applications for capital contributions, share purchases and stake acquisitions has been cut from 15 days to 7 working days.
Similarly, adjustments to investment registration certificates have been reduced from 10 to 5 working days, while procedures relating to project names or investor information now require only one working day.
These reforms have helped the city to attract 3.33 billion USD through M&A deals over the past 10 months.
At a recent meeting with the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, investors from Japan, the US and Europe affirmed their readiness to expand investment, including through M&A, provided procedures become faster, simpler and more predictable.
Duoc stressed that administrative reform remains a breakthrough priority for the city, noting that the success of FDI enterprises is a key indicator of the city’s governance capacity and investment environment./.
VNA
