Vietnam attracted a total of US$23.48 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the opening ten months of the year with Singapore leading the way at US$7.51 billion, making up 31.9% of overall investment in the country, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The processing and manufacturing sector takes the lead in
attracting FDI during the ten-month period

Among the 109 territories and countries currently investing in the nation, the Republic of Korea ranked second with US$3.42 billion, with China in third place with US$2.17 billion, followed by Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan (China).

Of the total FDI, 2,100 projects were successfully granted investment registration certificates, representing an annual decline of 32.1%, while total registered capital fell by 9.1% to US$11.66 billion.

Total newly-registered and adjusted capital, along with capital contribution and share purchases from foreign investors reached US$23.48 billion as of October 20, equivalent to 80.6% in comparison with the same period from last year. In addition, the disbursement of FDI capital was estimated to stand at US$15.8 billion, equal to 97.5% from last year’s corresponding period.

Most notably, FDI enterprises have made investments across 18 industries, of which the processing and manufacturing sector took the lead with total investment capital of US$10.7 billion, accounting for 45.7% of total registered capital.

This was trailed by the electricity production and distribution sector with over US$4.8 billion, real estate with approximately US$3.5 billion, and the wholesale and retail sector with US$1.4 billion.

The figures indicate that the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu province continues to top the list of the country’s 59 localities in terms of FDI attraction at US$4 billion, Ho Chi Minh City at US$3.4 billion, Hanoi at US$3.13 billion, followed by Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong, and Hai Phong.