Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Vietnam attracted 13.33 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eight months of this year, an annual increase of 30.4 percent, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency.
As of August 20, the country had granted investment licenses to 1,219 newly-registered projects worth 7.87 billion USD, up 8.7 percent in value.
Some 5.46 billion USD was added to 389 existing projects, up 82.8 percent in value.
During the period, a total 8.5 billion USD of FDI was disbursed, a year-on-year rise of 7.6 percent.
Foreign investors injected money into 17 sectors with the majority of the attention on industrial processing and manufacturing, real estate and retail trade.
Currently, the Republic of Korea is firmly leading among the 55 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with combined newly-registered and increased capital of 5.26 billion USD, accounting for 39.5 percent of the total investment in Vietnam.
The UK ranked second with 1.25 billion USD, making up 9.39 percent of the total investment in Vietnam.
From January-August, overseas firms invested in 49 local cities and provinces. The northern province of Bac Ninh led the country in FDI attraction with 3.33 billion USD, followed by Ho Chi Minh City with 2.42 billion USD and southern Dong Nai province with 1.13 billion USD.
The Red River Delta region was the most attractive to foreign investors, absorbing 5.68 billion USD, comprising 42.6 percent of the country’s total registered investment.
The runner-up was the southeast region with 5.48 billion USD, making up 41.2 percent of the total investment.
The Central Highlands was at the end of the list in the field with 34.93 million USD, accounting for a mere 0.3 percent of the nation’s total investment.
In the period, foreign investment sector exports (including crude oil) were estimated at 74.6 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 14.7 percent and accounting for 70.2 percent of the total export turnover.-VNA
