Disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam in May is estimated at US$1.55 billion, the highest monthly figure since February, a report of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment has shown.

The data indicates a positive sign that foreign investors are accelerating their projects’ progress as the Covid-19 pandemic has been initially contained in Vietnam.

Data: MPI. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

Notably, this month also marked the actual FDI significantly higher than the combined of US$1.04 billion in new FDI commitments and additions to existing projects.

Overall, disbursement of FDI projects in Vietnam totaled US$6.7 billion in the first five months of 2020, representing a decline of 8.2% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, FDI approvals in the January – May period fell 17% year-on-year to US$13.9 billion. The figure, however, is higher than that of the same five-month period from 2016 to 2018, posting increases of 37.6%, 14.8% and 40.4% compared to the corresponding period of 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Data: MPI. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

Year to May 20, 1,212 new projects were approved with a total committed amount of US$7.44 billion, up 15.1% in capital but down 11% in the number of projects year-on-year. Meanwhile, 436 existing projects have been injected an additional US$3.45 billion, up 31.1% in capital and down 13.6% in the number of projects.   

A surge in newly registered FDI in the five-month period was thanks to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project worth US$4 billion in the southern province of Bac Lieu.

During this period, 3,528 projects have had nearly US$2.99 billion in capital contributed by foreign investors, up 11.6% in the number of projects but down 60.9% in value year-on-year.

Investors have poured money into 18 fields and sectors, in which manufacturing and processing led the pack with capital exceeding US$6.87 billion, accounting for 49.4% of the registered tally.

Electricity production and supply came second with US$3.9 billion, or 28% of the total, followed by wholesale and retail with US$945 million, and real estate with US$801.2 million.

The data shows that out of 96 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the first five months of 2020, Singapore took the lead with US$5.3 billion. Thailand came second with US$1.46 billion, while the third place belonged to China with US$1.27 billion.

Among cities and provinces having received FDI in the five-month period, Bac Lieu has attracted the largest portion of capital commitments with US$4 billion. It is followed by Ba Ria – Vung Tau with US$1.93 billion, and Ho Chi Minh City with US$1.6 billion.

Besides the US$4-billion LNG plant project financed by a Singaporean investor, some other big-ticket projects in January – May include a tire manufacturing plant worth US$300 million from a Chinese investor in Tay Ninh province; an additional injection of US$138 million into a Chinese-invested radian tire production facility; an additiona of US$75.2 million to Japan's Sews-components Vietnam manufacturing plant for electronic and auto parts; Hong Kong's Ce Link Vietnam 2 plant worth US$49.8 million in Bac Giang for electronic parts and products.