FDI inflows see on-quarter peak

VOV

Inflows of registered foreign direct investment surpassed USD 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).

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 USD 10.8 billion, up 86.2% on year. Previously, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows during the first quarter of previous years stood at lower levels, with only USD 4.03 billion in 2016, USD 7.71 billion in 2017, and USD 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 USD 1.3 billion to their total registered capital, or 72.5% of the figure seen over the corresponding period last year. One project recorded the largest single injection of registered capital with an additional USD 110 million.

FDI disbursement was estimated at USD 4.12 billion in the first quarter of 2019, up 6.2% on year.

The FDI sector earned a total of USD 41.45 billion from exports, including crude oil, representing 70.8% of the country’s total export turnover. The figure edged up 2.7% on year.

Manufacturing and processing industries topped the attraction of FDI with USD 8.4 billion in the three-month period, or 77.7% of the total FDI registered.

They were followed by the real estate sector with USD 778.2 million, equal to 7.2% of the total FDI in the reviewed period. Meanwhile, USD 383.2 million was registered in the science and technology sector.

Hong Kong tops the list

Hong Kong (China), with USD 4.4 billion in FDI, was ranked first among foreign investors in Vietnam in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 40.7% of the total.

Following Hong Kong (China) were Singapore with USD 1.46 billion (13.5% of the total) and the Republic of Korea, with USD 1.3 billion (12.2%).

Hanoi was the largest FDI receiver across the country, with an influx of USD 4.15 billion in the first three months of this year, or 38.4% of the total.

The capital city was followed by Ho Chi Minh City which lured USD 1.57 billion in registered FDI or 14.5% of the total, and Binh Duong with USD 625 million or 5.8% of the total.