Disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam rose by 6.7% year-on-year in the first five months of this year to US$7.15 billion, a report of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment has shown.

Production at General Electric in Haiphong. Photo: Le Sang

Meanwhile, FDI commitments to the country returned to a positive trend by an expansion of 0.8% year-on-year to US$14 billion.

“Vietnam’s outlook for FDI attraction this year remains bright as investors from developing countries are shifting their investment activities here,” noted the General Statistics Office (GSO).

“Thanks to Vietnam’s effective containment of the pandemic and social-political stability, high-quality FDI inflows from the US, Japan, or South Korea have turned to Vietnam as a way to diversify their supply chains and reduce dependence on the Chinese market,” it noted.

To grasp new opportunities from the new investment wave, the GSO said Vietnam is offering incentives and support for quality FDI projects, especially those with high spillover effects to socio-economic development.

Meanwhile, the GSO expects the government to continue perfecting the legal frameworks to create a fair and convenient investment/business environment for all investors.

Singapore remains the largest investor in Vietnam

Year to May 20, Vietnamese authorities approved 613 new projects with total registered capital of US$8.83 billion, down 49.4% in the number of projects but up 18.6% in capital year-on-year, while 342 existing projects have been injected an additional US$3.86 billion, down 21.6% in number but up 11.7% in the capital. 

During this period, 1,422 projects had over US$1.3 billion in capital contributed by foreign investors, down 59.7% in the number of projects and 56.3% in value year-on-year.

Investors have poured money into 18 fields and sectors, in which manufacturing and processing led the pack with investment capital of nearly US$6.14 billion, accounting for 43.9% of total registered capital. Electricity production and distribution came second with US$5.43 billion, or 38.8%, followed by real estate with US$1.05 billion.

FIA’s report added that out of 70 countries and territories having projects in Vietnam in the first five months of the year, Singapore took the lead with US$5.26 billion, or 37.6% of the total registered FDI for new projects, followed by Japan with US$2.59 billion, or 18.5% and South Korea with US$1.83 billion or 13.1%.

Among 56 cities and provinces having received FDI in the January-May period, the southern province Long An has attracted the largest portion of capital commitments with US$3.35 billion, or 23.9% of the total. Ho Chi Minh City came second with nearly US$1.34 billion (9.6%), followed by the southern city of Cantho with US$1.32 billion (9.4%).

As of present, Vietnam is home to 33,615 valid foreign investment projects with a combined registered capital of US$396.86 billion, while the disbursed amount stood at US$240 billion, or 60.5% of the committed amount.