HANOI: Vietnam saw a decrease in foreign direct investment (FDI) registration in the first five months of 2015, said Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment on Tuesday.
Specifically, as of May 20, some 4.29 billion U.S. dollars of FDI were registered during the five-month period, down 22 percent year-on-year, the FIA said on its website on Tuesday.
Among the total figure, as many as 592 FDI projects with registered capital of nearly 2.96 billion U.S. dollars were newly licensed in Vietnam, down 19.4 percent year-on-year.Meanwhile, some 1.34 billion U.S. dollars were added to 201 existing projects, down 27.1 percent year-on-year.
Manufacturing and processing industry attracted the most FDI in five-month period with 3.15 billion U.S. dollars in newly capital registration and addition investment, accounting for 73.4 percent of the total investment.Real estate business ranked the second among investment fields with 461.5 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 10.7 percent of total investment, said the FIA.
South Korea was the biggest among the 47 foreign investors to Vietnam during the period with 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 25.7 percent of the total investment.British Virgin Islands ranked the second with 663.24 million U. S. dollars, accounting for 15.4 percent of the total investment.
Since the beginning of the year to May 20, foreign investors poured their investment into 40 localities across Vietnam. Southern economic hub Ho Chi Minh City was the most attractive destination, receiving 983.5 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 22.9 percent of the total investment.
Southern Dong Nai province ranked the second among FDI recipients with 948.7 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 21.1 percent of the total investment.Exports of the FDI sector, including crude oil, reached some 44. 37 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 12.2 percent year-on- year, accounting for around 70 percent of Vietnam’s total export revenue.
Meanwhile, during the period, the FDI sector spent some 39.67 billion U.S. dollars for imports, up 23.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 67 percent of Vietnam’s total export revenue.The FDI sector posted trade surplus of around 4.69 billion U.S. dollars during the period, according to the FIA
