During the period, foreign investors also registered to pump nearly $5.67 billion into 587 projects, equal to 62.7 per cent of that invested in the same period last year. Of the investments, 455 were newly licensed projects with a total registered capital of $4.4 billion and the remaining 132 were existing projects accepting additional capital totalling $1.27 billion.

Processing and manufacturing topped the list of foreign direct investment targets, with 205 projects and $3.3 billion of registered capital, accounting for 58.8 per cent of the country's total FDI registered capital in the first six months. The construction industry followed with 54 projects totaling $474.8 million.

Among the 38 countries and territories invested in Vietnam in the first six months of the year, Singapore was Vietnam's largest investor with $1.33 billion, followed by South Korea and Hong Kong with $673.6 million and $631.8 million, respectively.

Attracting $1.47 billion of FDI registered capital in the first six months, HCM City was the country's biggest destination for foreign investors. The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Hanoi ranked the second and third with $550.1 million and $498.5 million, respectively.

The agency also reported foreign invested firms fetched $22.95 billion from exports in the first half of the year, up 31.1 per cent over the same period last year. The firms also spent $21.36 billion for imports during the period, up 29.5 per cent.