The Republic of Korea and Singapore were the runner-ups with USD 7.2 billion and USD 5 billion, making up 24.2 percent and 14.2 percent of the country’s total FDI, respectively.
Vietnam attracted USD 35.46 billion in total foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2018, equivalent to 98.8 percent of the previous year’s figure.
According to a report by the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, by December 20, FDI commitment for 3,046 newly-licensed projects reached nearly USD 18 billion, equivalent to 84.5 percent of the same period last year.
After a yearly decline of nearly 10 percent in FDI added to operating projects totaled at USD 7.59 billion, the capital pledged for stake acquisitions rose by 60 percent year on year to USD 9.89 billion, the report said.
As per the data, foreign-invested enterprises gained a trade surplus of USD 32.8 billion this year as they exported USD 175.5 billion worth of goods, up 13 percent while their imports hit USD 142.7 billion, up 12 percent.
The manufacturing and processing sector garnered the most interest from foreign investors in the period, accounting for USD 16.58 billion, or 47 percent of the registered capital.
The real estate sector ranked second with USD 6.6 billion, or 18.5 percent and the retail sector came third with USD 3.67 billion, or 10.3 percent.
The capital city of Hanoi lured the lion share of FDI with USD 7.5 billion or 21.2 percent of the total capital pledged for the country. It was followed by the southern economic hub of HCM City with 5.9 billion USD or 17 percent, and the northern port city of Hai Phong with USD 3.1 billion, or 8.7 percent.
In a wider scope, there were more than 27,350 valid foreign-invested projects in Vietnam so far with a total registered capital of USD 340 billion. Over half of the FDI has been disbursed thus far, according to the above-mentioned report.
The Republic of Korea was the leading source of FDI with USD 62.5 billion and Japan came next with USD 57 billion. Several others included Singapore, Taiwan (China), British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong (China).
Source: VNA