Foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments to Vietnam in the January – April period stood at US$15.67 billion, down 15.1% year-on-year, a report of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment has shown.

Data: FIA. Chart: Ngoc Thuy.

Year to June 20, 1,418 new projects have been approved with committed capital of a combined US$8.44 billion, down 17.7% in the number of projects but up 13.9% in capital year-on-year. In addition, 526 existing projects have been injected an additional US$3.7 billion, up 26.8% in capital.   

A surge in newly registered FDI in the six-month period was thanks to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project worth US$4 billion in the southern province of Bac Lieu, accounting for 47.4% of fresh FDI commitments

In the fist half of this year, 4,125 projects have had nearly US$3.51 billion in capital contributed by foreign investors, up 2.6% in the number of projects but down 56.8% in value year-on-year.

Investors have poured money into 18 fields and sectors, in which manufacturing and processing led the pack with over US$8 billion, accounting for 51.1% of the registered tally. Electricity production and supply came second with US$3.95 billion, or 25.2% of the total, followed by wholesale and retail with US$1.08 billion, real estate with US$850 million.

The data shows that out of 98 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the first six months of 2020, Singapore took the lead with US$5.44 billion, or 34.7% of the total FDI to Vietnam. Thailand came second with US$1.58 billion, while the third place belonged to China with nearly US$1.58 billion.

Among 57 cities and provinces having received FDI in the first half of the year, Bac Lieu has attracted the largest share of capital commitments with US$4 billion, or 25.5% of the total. Ho Chi Minh City came second with over US$2 billion, or 12.9% of the total, followed by Ba Ria – Vung Tau with US$1.95 billion, or 12.4%.

Besides the US$4-billion LNG plant project financed by a Singaporean investor, some other big-ticket projects in January – June 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 increase 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.