Registered FDI capital in Vietnam up 8% to $18 bln in 8 months

Registered foreign direct investment capital in Vietnam rose 8.2% year-on-year to nearly $18.15 billion in the year to August 20.

Out of the $18.15 billion, $8.87 billion was registered capital for 1,924 new projects, up 39.7% and 69.5% year-on-year, respectively.

Over $4.53 billion was additional capital for 830 ongoing projects, down 39.7% and up 22.8%, respectively.

$4.47 billion was capital contributions for 2,268 stake acquisition deals, up 62.8% and down 6.5%, respectively.

Newly-registered capital continued to be on the rise, up 39.7% year-on-year, following a 38.6% rise in the first seven months, the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) said in a release.

Additional capital for ongoing projects declined but improved month after month. The eight-month decline was 39.7%, while the seven-month, six-month and five-month figures were 42.5%, 57.1% and 59.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, capital contributions for stake acquisitions increased sharply.

"The 22.8% hike in ongoing projects having capital expansion shows foreign investors continued to have confidence in Vietnam's business environment," the FIA added.

Disbursed FDI capital inched up 1.3% to $13.1 billion in the year to August 20.

In the eight-month period, manufacturing and processing received the largest amount of registered FDI with $13 billion, accounting for 67.8% of Vietnam's total and up 14.7% year-on-year.

The real estate sector ranked second with $1.76 billion, or more than 9.7% of the total, down 47.2%, followed by the banking-finance sector with nearly $1.54 billion, 63.7 times higher year-on-year.

Of the 100 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the eight-month period, Singapore led the pack with $3.83 billion, or over 21.2% of the total, down 15.4% year-on-year.

Mainland China ranked second with nearly $2.69 billion, accounting for 14.8% of the total, up 90.8%, followed by Japan with $2.58 billion (accounting for 14.1% of the total, up 73.1%), South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

In terms of new projects, mainland China topped the list, accounting for 20.7% of the total. South Korea led the pack in terms of projects having additional capital (27.6%) and number of capital contributions for stake acquisitions (28.7%).

A survey conducted by EuroCham for the second quarter of this year found that 48% of European businesses expect to increase their investments in Vietnam by the end of the third quarter.

Out of the 48% of businesses that expect to increase their investments, 3% are looking to invest significantly, 13% moderately, 16% slightly, and 16% marginally. Meanwhile, 40% responded with “not at all”, up by four percentage points versus Q1/2023.