Illustrative image. (Source: VNA)
It was followed by Singapore with 979 million USD and the Republic of Korea with 873 million USD.
Hong Kong secured the position after many years thanks to a 3.85 billion USD beer production project in Hanoi and another project worth 260 million USD producing electronic and internet equipment and multimedia audio products.
As of February 20, foreign investors have poured 8.47 billion USD into Vietnam, 2.5 times higher than the same period last year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
This number included newly registered capital, capital contributed and shares purchased by foreign investors.
The country granted 514 new investment licences to projects with a total registered capital of 2.44 billion USD, up 75.7 percent over the same period of 2018.
As many as 176 projects registered to adjust their capital with a combined additional capital of 854.8 million USD, up 22.1 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, the value of capital contribution and share purchases by foreign investors reached 5.17 billion USD, four times higher than the same period in 2018 and accounting for 61 percent of total registered capital.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) projects were estimated to have disbursed 2.58 billion USD in the first two months of this year, up 9.8 percent. This is the highest level of two-month growth in the last three years.
Foreign investors pumped their money into 18 sectors, of which the manufacturing and processing industry remained the hottest with a total pledged capital reaching 6.93 billion USD, equivalent to 81.8 percent of the total registered value.
The real estate and science and technology sectors were ranked second and third with respective values of 478 million USD and 306.7 million USD.
Hanoi was the most attractive among 44 provinces and cities receiving FDI with 4 billion USD, or 47.3 percent of the total. Ho Chi Minh City came second with more than 1 billion USD, followed by Bac Ninh province with 541.7 million USD.
The foreign investment sector remained the major exporter with a total export value of all goods (including crude oil) reaching 25.95 billion USD, up 3.7 percent year on year and making up 70.7 percent of Vietnam’s total export turnover.
Its import value also increased 5.1 percent during the reviewed period to 21.47 billion USD.
To sum up, the FDI sector recorded a trade surplus of 4.48 billion USD.
