Vietnam records $6.9 bln in Jan-Feb registered FDI, 21.7% from S Korea

Registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam continued its upward trend in the first two months of the year, reaching $6.9 billion, while disbursed capital hit $2.95 billion, up 35.5% and 5.4%, respectively.

South Korea led the pack in terms of registered capital (more than $1.5 billion), accounting for more than 21.7% of the country's total and 5.4 times higher than the same period last year. Of this, the additional investment capital of Samsung Display was $1.2 billion, the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Finance reported.

Singapore ranked second with more than $1.48 billion, or 21.4%, down 32.9%. Next were mainland China, Japan and Thailand.

Mainland China continued to rank first in terms of newly-registered projects (accounting for 31%) and projects with capital additions (18.8%), while South Korea led in terms of stake acquisittions (27.1%).

The manufacturing-processing sector received the biggest share of registered capital with $4.72 billion, up 50.6% year-on-year and accounting for 68.3% of the total, followed by real estate with nearly $1.5 billion (21.4%), down 3.4%.

At the FIA's calculations, registered capital comprises capital for newly-registered projects, additional capital for existing projects, and capital for stake acquisitions.

Of the total registered capital, about $2.19 billion (down 48.4% year-on-year) was pledged for 516 newly-registered projects (up 10%).

Over $4.18 billion, a 7.4-fold increase, was additional capital for 256 existing projects (up 42.2%). Capital contributions/stake acquisitions reached $529.8 million (up 88.8%) with 553 deals (down 26.3%).

According to the FIA, newly registered capital decreased by 48.4% because there were not many large projects in the two months compared to the same period last year.

In Jan-Feb, there were only four projects with registered capital of over $100 million each ($502 million in total), while in the same period last year, there were eight such projects, totaling over $2.38 billion.

However, the FIA noted that the increase in the numbers of newly-registered projects (up 10%) and projects with adjusted capital (up 42.2%) continued to reflect foreign investors' confidence in Vietnam as an investment destination.

Registered FDI in Vietnam hit $38.23 billion in 2024, down 3% year-on-year, while disbursed FDI capital reached $25.35 billion, an all-time high.