Hanoi lured more than USD 6.17 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first seven months of 2018, making it the leading FDI attractor of the country, accounting for 26.9 percent of total FDI commitments in the period.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Hanoi was followed by Ho Chi Minh City with USD 4.69 billion and the Southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau with USD 2.15 billion in FDI, which make up 17.9 percent and 9.4 percent of the country’s total FDI attraction, respectively.

The USD-4.1-billion smart-city project invested by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation in Dong Anh district. Photo: baodautu.vn

Several large projects helped lift Hanoi to the top position.

Among them are the USD-4.1-billion smart-city project invested by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation in Dong Anh district and Lotte Mall Hanoi with a total registered capital of USD 600 million invested by the giant Lotte Group of the Republic of Korea (RoK) which aims to build a complex comprising of a shopping mall, hotel, offices and apartments.

At the conference “Hanoi 2018 - Investment cooperation and Development,” municipal authorities also handed over investment licenses to 71 projects worth a total VND 400 trillion (nearly USD 20 billion), including 11 FDI projects worth VND 130 trillion (USD 5.43 billion).

The municipal Statistics Department said during the period, the foreign invested sector maintained its growth momentum with revenues hitting nearly VND 14.8 trillion, or 48.3 percent of the yearly target, up 3.6 percent year-on-year.

Statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency said foreign investors poured capital into 17 sectors during the last seven months, with the processing and manufacturing industry attracting the most at USD 9.63 billion, 41.95 percent of total registered capital.

Real estate was the second largest attractor with USD 5.6 billion, or 24.4 percent of the total investment, followed by the retail and wholesale sector with USD 1.69 billion, 7.4 percent of the total.

As many as 96 countries and territories had investment projects in Vietnam in the period. Japan led with USD 6.88 billion worth of investment, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total investment poured into the country.

The RoK came second with total registered capital of USD 5.46 billion and third was Singapore with USD 2.73 billion, making up 23.8 percent and 11.9 percent of total investment, respectively.

( VNF/VNA )