FDI commitments in the first month of the year totaled US$5.33 billion, 2.8-fold that of the same period of last year thanks to a mega energy project, a report of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment has shown.

Data: FIA. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

Meanwhile, disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Vietnam totaled US$1.6 billion in January, representing an increase of 3.2% year-on-year.

Year to January 20, 258 new projects have been approved with total commitments of US$4.46 billion, up 14.2% in number of projects and 5.5 fold increase in capital year-on-year. A surge in new registered FDI in January was thanks to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project worth US$4 billion in Bac Lieu, taking the average registered capital per new project from US$3.6 million in last January to US$17.3 million in the first month of 2020.

Additionally, 77 existing projects have been injected an additional US$334 million, down 1.9% in capital.  

During this period, 884 projects have had US$534.8 million in capital contributed by foreign investors, up 70.2% year-on-year.

Investors have poured money into 17 fields and sectors, in which electricity production and supply led the pack with investment capital of US$4.04 billion, accounting for 75.8% of total registered capital. Manufacturing and processing came second with US$856.3 million, or 16.1% of the total, followed by science and technologies with US$119 million and wholesale and retail with US$118.2 million.

The data shows that out of 59 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in January, Singapore took the lead with US$4.16 billion or 78.1% of total investment capital; South Korea came second with US$264.5 million while the third place belonged to Hong Kong (China) with US$212 million.

Data: FIA. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

Among 40 cities and provinces having received FDI in the first month this year, Bac Lieu has attracted the largest portion of capital commitments with US$4 billion billion, accounting for 75.1% of total investment in the period.

Ho Chi Minh City came second with US$310.8 million or 5.8% of the total investment, followed by Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Hanoi. 

Besides the US$4-billion LNG plant project financed by Singaporean investor, some of the big-ticket projects in January include an injection of an addition 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 at Bac Giang for electronic parts and products.