Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam attracted 24.81 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first five months of 2026, up 34.9% year-on-year, the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance reported on June 3.
The figure includes newly registered capital, additional capital injected into existing projects, and foreign investors’ capital contributions and share purchases.
As of May 31, Vietnam had licensed 1,576 new FDI projects with a combined registered capital of 14.84 billion USD, rising 1.7% in project number and 2.1-fold in value compared to the same period last year.
The processing and manufacturing sector remained the largest recipient of new projects, drawing 9.64 billion USD, or 65% of the registered capital. The value reached 2.45 billion USD in the production and distribution of electricity, gas, water, and air conditioners, equivalent to 16.5%; and 2.75 billion USD in the remaining sectors, 18.5%.
Among 58 countries and territories with newly licensed investments in Vietnam, Singapore was the largest with 6.8 billion USD, accounting for 45.9% of the total, followed by the Republic of Korea with 4.22 billion USD (27.4%) and China with 1.79 billion USD (12.1%).
Meanwhile, 415 existing projects registered an additional 5.78 billion USD in capital, down 32.1% from a year earlier.
Combining capital channelled into new and existing projects, the value amounted to 14.52 billion USD in the manufacturing and processing industry, representing 70.4%. About 2.45 billion USD, 11.9%, was registered for the production and distribution of electricity, gas, water, and air conditioners. The remainders attracted 3.65 billion USD, or 17.7%.
During the reviewed period, foreign investors contributed 4.19 billion USD through share purchases and capital contributions, up 46.7% from a year earlier. That includes 1.9 billion USD invested in wholesale and retail, along with automobile and motorcycle repair, equivalent to 45.4%; 1.16 billion USD in specialised and sci-tech activities, 27.7%; and 1.13 billion USD in the remainders, 26.9%.
Notably, disbursed FDI reached an estimated 9.75 billion USD in the January–May period, up 9.6% year-on-year and also the highest five-month figure recorded in the past five years. Of the total, 8.06 billion USD, or 82.7%, was disbursed in processing and manufacturing; 716.5 million USD, or 7.3%, in real estate; and 356.6 million USD, 3.7%, in the production and distribution of electricity, fuel gas, water, steam, and air conditioners, according to the office./.
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The FDI sector remains a key pillar of Vietnam’s economy, with more than 46,500 valid projects and total registered capital exceeding 543 billion USD so far. Disbursed capital has reached around 357.6 billion USD. The FDI sector contributes over 20% of GDP, accounts for around 70% of total export turnover, and creates jobs for millions of workers. Vietnam continues to rank among ASEAN’s leading FDI destinations despite global investment slowdowns.
