Foreign investment inflows into Vietnam reached more than 2.1 billion on Jan. 20, up 4.2 percent year-on-year, signaling the country’s investment appeal, the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) reported.
After recovering from late 2021 after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many foreign-invested companies have stabilized and expanded their production and business activities. For example, the payout of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first month of this year also saw a positive increase of 6.8 percent to more than $1.61 billion, the FIA said in its report.
The data showed that up to 103 new foreign investment projects were licensed with a total registered capital of nearly USD 388 million, an increase of 119.1 percent year-on-year in terms of the number of projects, but a decrease of 70.7 percent in value.
Although registered investment capital decreased compared to the same period last year due to a lack of large-scale projects, an increase in the number of new investment projects showed foreign investors’ confidence in the country’s investment environment, the FIA said.
Meanwhile, 71 operational projects were allowed to increase their capital by USD 1.27 billion, a 54.3 percent increase in the number of projects and almost three times the capital level in the same month last year.
Capital contributions and equity purchases by foreign investors amounted to USD 443.5 million, doubling from the same month last year.
According to the Foreign Investment Agency, the processing and manufacturing sectors of the 15 sectors that received FDI in the first month led the way with more than USD 1.2 billion, accounting for 58.9 percent of total FDI. Real estate came next with USD 472 million or equal to 22.5 percent. Administrative sectors and support services; wholesale and retail were the runners-up with over USD 221 million and USD 52.5 million respectively.
According to the data, Singapore led 33 countries and territories that invested in Vietnam with a total investment capital of nearly USD 666 million, representing nearly 31.7 percent of the total FDI recorded in the country.
The Republic of Korea is in second place with more than USD 481 million, an increase of five times year-on-year or equal to 30 percent of total foreign direct investment. Mainland China came in third with nearly USD 451 million, down 27 percent or 21.5 percent.
The capital attracted the highest amount of FDI, with more than USD 448 million, 29.9 times more than last January, representing 21.3 percent of the total. The central province of Nghe An came in second with USD 400 million or 19 percent thanks to two existing projects that increased their capital levels. It was followed by Bac Ninh, Long An and Phu Tho, according to VIR.
