Vietnam posted a total foreign direct investment (FDI) capital of approximately US$8.47 billion by February 20, 2019, 2.5 times higher than the same period in 2018, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Illustration photo (source: Kinh te Do thi)

With US$4.3 billion investment in Vietnam, accounting for 51% of total FDI capital, Hong Kong (China) tops the list of foreign investors in Vietnam in early 2019. Singapore came in second with a total US$979.1 millioninvestment in Vietnam, making up 11.5% of the total investment. It was followed by the Republic of Korea (RoK) with a total registered capital of US$873 million, accounting for 10.3% of total FDI capital.

The agency said that FDI investment has increased sharply in both newly registered capital, supplemented capital and capital contribution, and in share purchase of foreign investors.

In the two-month period, Vietnam saw 514 newly licensed projects with total newly registered capital of US$2.44 billion, up 75.7% over the same period in 2018.

Meanwhile, 176 projects adjusted their investment capital to increase by US$854.8 million, up 22.1% over the corresponding period last year.

Capital contribution and share purchase of foreign investors were reported at US$5.17 billion, four times higher than the same period in 2018.

In the first two month of this year, roughly US$2.58 billion has been disbursed, up 9.8% year-on-year, the highest level in the past three years.