Inflows of registered foreign direct investment surpassed US$10 billion during the first quarter of this year, reaching peak levels over the last three years, according to a source from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
FDI disbursement was estimated at US$4.12 billion in the first quarter of 2019, up 6.2 per cent on year.
Vietnam Economic Times cited data from the MPI Foreign Investment Agency as showing that the registered, additional, and share capital of foreign investors amounted to US$10.8 billion, up 86.2 per cent on year. Previously, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows during the first quarter of previous years stood at lower levels, with only US$4.03 billion in 2016, US$7.71 billion in 2017, and US$5.8 billion in 2018.
As many as 785 new projects were granted investment licenses in the first quarter of the year, with total registered capital of US$3.82 billion, a year on year rise of 80.1 per cent.
The three-month period saw nearly 280 projects add a combined US$1.3 billion to their total registered capital, or 72.5 per cent of the figure seen over the corresponding period last year. One project recorded the largest single injection of registered capital with an additional US$110 million.
FDI disbursement was estimated at US$4.12 billion in the first quarter of 2019, up 6.2 per cent on year.
The FDI sector earned a total of US$41.45 billion from exports, including crude oil, representing 70.8 per cent of the country’s total export turnover. The figure edged up 2.7 per cent on year.
Manufacturing and processing industries topped the attraction of FDI with US$8.4 billion in the three-month period, or 77.7 per cent of the total FDI registered.
They were followed by the real estate sector with US$778.2 million, equal to 7.2 per cent of the total FDI in the reviewed period. Meanwhile, US$383.2 million was registered in the science and technology sector.
Hong Kong tops the list
Hong Kong (China), with US$4.4 billion in FDI, was ranked first among foreign investors in Vietnam in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 40.7 per cent of the total.
Following Hong Kong (China) were Singapore with US$1.46 billion (13.5 per cent of the total) and the Republic of Korea, with US$1.3 billion (12.2 per cent).
Hanoi was the largest FDI receiver across the country, with an influx of US$4.15 billion in the first three months of this year, or 38.4 per cent of the total.
The capital city was followed by Ho Chi Minh City which lured US$1.57 billion in registered FDI or 14.5 per cent of the total, and Binh Duong with US$625 million or 5.8 per cent of the total.
VOV
