Registered FDI capital in Vietnam tops $20 bln in 9 months

Registered foreign direct investment capital in Vietnam rose 7.7% year-on-year to $20.21 billion in the year to September 20, while disbursed capital hit $15.9 billion, up 2.2%.

Out of the $20.21 billion, $10.23 billion was registered capital for 2,254 new projects, up 43.6% and 66.3% year-on-year, respectively.

Over $5.15 billion was additional capital for 934 ongoing projects, down 37.3% and up 21.5%, respectively.

About $4.82 billion was capital contributions for 2,539 stake acquisition deals, up 47% and down 5.9%, respectively.

Registered FDI capital, which includes the three above-mentioned sources, continued to be on the rise, up 7.7% year-on-year, following an 8.2% rise in the first eight months, the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) said in a release.

The nine-month growth of disbursed FDI capital at 2.2% was higher than the 1.7% increase in the first eight months.

During January-September, manufacturing and processing received the largest amount of registered FDI with $14 billion, accounting for nearly 69.3% of Vietnam's total and up 15.5% year-on-year.

The real estate sector ranked second with $1.94 billion, or more than 9.6% of the total, down 45%, followed by the banking-finance sector with nearly $1.54 billion, 63.8 times higher year-on-year, and the wholesale and retail sector with nearly $734 million, up 18.7%.

Of the 100 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the nine-month period, Singapore led the pack with $3.98 billion, or over 19.7% of the total, down 15.2% year-on-year.

Mainland China ranked second with nearly $2.92 billion, accounting for 14.5% of the total, up 94.9%, followed by Japan with $2.9 billion (14.3% of the total, up 51%), South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

New projects are mostly located in cities and provinces with good infrastructure, stable human resource and efficient investment promotion like Hanoi, Hai Phong, Bac Giang (in the north), Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong (in the south).