Among 62 cities and provinces having received foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2019, Hanoi has attracted the largest share of capital commitments with US$8.45 billion, accounting for 22.2% of total investment in the period, a report of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment has shown.

Illustrative photo.

The majority of investment capital in Hanoi is under the form of capital contribution and share acquisition with US$6.47 billion, or 76.6% of the total commitments. Beerco Limited (Hong Kong) poured US$3.85 billion into Vietnam Beverage for a beer project in Hanoi.

Ho Chi Minh City came second with US$8.3 billion or 21.8% of the total investment, followed by Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Bac Ninh. 

In 2019, actual FDI in Vietnam totaled US$20.38 billion, the highest ever, representing an increase of 6.7% year-on-year.  Meanwhile, FDI commitments this year totaled US$38.02 billion, up 7.2% year-on-year, marking a 10-year high. 

Year to December 20, 3,883 new projects have been approved with total commitments of US$16.75 billion, up 27.5% in number of projects and down 6.8% in capital year-on-year, while 1,381 existing projects have been injected an additional US$5.8 billion, up 18.1% in projects and down 23.6% in capital.  

During this period, 9,842 projects have had US$15.47 billion in capital contributed by foreign investors, up 56.4% year-on-year and accounting for 40.7% of total registered capital.

Investors have poured money into 19 fields and sectors, in which manufacturing and processing continued to attract substantial attention with investment capital of US$24.56 billion, or 64.6% of the total registered capital, followed by real estate with US$3.88 billion or 10.2% of the total, and retail and wholesale, science and technology.    

The data shows that out of 125 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in 2019, South Korea took the lead with US$7.92 billion, or 20.8% of the total investment capital. Hong Kong (China) came second with US$7.87 billion while the third place belonged to Singapore with US$4.5 billion, or 11.8%. 

Notably, investment capital from Hong Kong (China) and mainland China to Vietnam has been on an uptrend, mainly thanks to the impact from US – China trade war. FDI from China increased by 1.65-fold and from Hong Kong 2.4-fold year-on-year. 

Other big-ticket projects in 2019 include US$650 million in investment capital of Techtronic Tools (Hong Kong) for the construction of manufacturing plant and R&D center for smart electronic devices in Ho Chi Minh City; US$420-million racetrack complex from a South Korean investor in Hanoi; an injection of an additional US$410 million into LG Display Hai Phong; tire manufacturing plant worth US$280 million from a Chinese investor in Tay Ninh province and a similar project worth US$214.4 million financed by Guizhou Advance Type Investment (China) in Tien Giang province; and a solar power project worth US$216.7 million from Thailand’s investors in Phu Yen province.