Singapore, S Korea, China Vietnam's biggest investors in Jan-Nov

Singapore was the largest foreign investor in Vietnam in terms of registered capital in January-November, while China led the pact regarding new projects.

The island state’s registered capital reached $9.14 billion in the 11-month period, accounting for 29.1% of the country’s total registered FDI capital and rising 53.7% year-on-year

Capital of newly-licensed projects and additional capital of operational projects made up 63.3% and 27.3% of Singapore’s total registered capital, respectively.

The second position belonged to South Korea with $3.89 billion, accounting for 12.4% and dropping 9%, followed by mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan.

Singapore, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan, all from Asia, made up 77% of Vietnam’s registered FDI capital and 73% of new projects in the 11-month period.

In terms of new projects licensed from January-November, China ranked first, accounting for 28.3% of the total.

South Korea was the champion in terms of the number of capital adjustments for operational projects (22.4%) and the number of capital contributions/stake acquisitions (25%).

The country’s total registered FDI hit $31.4 billion in the past 11 months, up 1% year-on-year. Of this, $17.39 billion (up 0.7%) was newly-registered capital for 3,035 projects (up 1.6%).

About $9.93 billion (up 40.7%) was additional capital of 1,350 operational projects (up 12.9%), and $4.06 billion (down 39.7%) came from 3,029 capital contributions/capital acquisitions (down 7%).

At the Foreign Investment Agency’s (FIA) calcuation, registered capital includes newly registered capital, additional capital of operational projects, and capital contributions/capital for stake acquisitions.

The FIA said many large projects in the fields of semiconductors, energy (batteries, photovoltaic cells, silicon bars), components, electronic items, and high value-added products were licensed or had their capital expanded in the period.

Manufacturing and processing received the largest amount of registered FDI with $20.2 billion (down 8.7% year-on-year), or 64.4% of the country’s total; followed by real estate with $5.63 billion (up 89.1%), or 17.9% of the total.

The figures for wholesale-retail and production-distribution of electricity were $1.37 billion and $1.12 billion, respectively.

Bac Ninh province in the northern region was the largest recipient in terms of registered FDI with nearly $5.04 billion, making up 16% of the country's total and rising three times year-on-year thanks to some large-scale high-tech projects.

Quang Ninh province, also in the north, ranked second with $2.29 billion, accounting for 7.3%, down 26.3% year-on-year.

The figure for Ho Chi Minh City, which ranked third, was $2.28 billion. The next positions belonged to Hai Phong, Hanoi and Binh Duong.

One of the FDI highlights in the period was the case of Amkor Technology Inc. Bac Ninh province in July granted an investment registration certificate to the South Korean subsidiary of U.S.-headquartered semiconductor giant Amkor Technology Inc. to increase its investment by $1.07 billion to $1.6 billion.

In November, LG Display LG Display, under South Korea’s chaebol LG, received an investment certificate from the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority (HEZA) to invest $1 billion more in the northern coastal city, scaling up its investment in the locality to $5.65 billion.

Disbursed FDI in Vietnam was estimated to reach about $21.68 billion in the 11 months, an increase of 7.1% year-on-year.

As of November 30, 2024, the country has 41,720 valid FDI projects with total registered capital of $496.7 billion.

The accumulated disbused FDI as of this date was nearly $318.9 billion, equivalent to 64.2% of the total registered capital.