According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency, Vietnam counted total FDI inflows of about $15.41 billion in the first seven months of the year, equivalent to 92.9 per cent of the previous year's total.

Of this, $5.72 billion were poured into 927 newly-licensed projects, a slight decrease of 7.9 per cent in the number of projects and a sharp reduction of 43.5 per cent in value.

Another $7.24 billion were added to 579 projects currently underway, a rise of 59.3 per cent in value and 3.2 per cent in number. Overseas investors also poured almost $2.58 billion into just over 2,072 share purchase deals, an increase of 25.7 per cent over the same period last year.

FDI disbursement climbed slightly by 10.2 per cent on-year, to around $11.57 billion.

Almost 35,370 valid foreign-invested projects were accumulated across the country with a total registered capital of more than $429 billion. Their disbursement was about $263 billion, equivalent to 61.3 per cent of the valid registered capital.

Among the 18 sectors receiving funds in the first seven months, processing and manufacturing took the lead with more than $10 billion, accounting for 64.3 per cent of total FDI, followed by real estate ($3.21 billion), science-technology, professional activities ($526.2 million), and ICT ($465 million).

Singapore led the 88 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the first seven months with a total investment capital of around $4.3 billion, followed by South Korea ($3.26 billion) and Denmark ($1.32 billion).

Binh Duong attracted the highest amount of FDI in these seven months with over $2.6 billion, followed by Ho Chi Minh City with $2.43 billion and Bac Ninh with $1.68 billion.

The export turnover of foreign-invested enterprises (FIE) continued increasing by 16.5 per cent on-year to about $160.36 billion (including crude oil) or $158.9 billion (excluding crude oil), making up about 73 per cent of the country's total export value.

Their import turnover was estimated at around $140.73 billion, up 14.7 per cent and accounting for 64.7 per cent of the total.

The trade surplus of FIEs was $19.64 billion (including crude oil) or $18.17 billion (excluding crude oil) in the first seven months, while local businesses reported a trade deficit of $19.4 billion.