Vietnam is ramping up investment attraction in high-tech areas, such as microchip production and AI, photo Le Toan

According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, (MPI) in the first nine months, total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) reached more than $24.78 billion, an on-year increase of 11.6 per cent.

In September alone, the inflow was more than $4.26 billion, accounting for 17.2 per cent of the total registered FDI in the first nine months.

Many localities, such as Bac Ninh, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai, announced provincial planning towards 2030 and carried out investment promotion activities. At these events, many projects were granted new and expanded certificates. The total registered FDI, and additional capital, has accordingly reported the highest level since the beginning of the year.

There were three large capital adjustment initiatives in September, contributing to the total additional capital in January-September to more than $7.64 billion, an increase of 48.1 per cent on year.

The largest in Bac Ninh province, which added almost $1 billion, is in real estate and is the second billion-dollar project this year registered in Vietnam, following the $1.07 billion capital increase from semiconductor manufacturer Amkor.

Also in September, Luxcase Precision Technology was approved to increase its capital by an additional $299 million to $473 million. Meanwhile, Advance Tire Vietnam in Tien Giang province also increased its capital by more than $227 million, to over $615 million in total.

Luxcase initially had funding approved at the beginning of the year at $24 million, but has already increased its capital twice to reach nearly half a billion US dollars.

A government report sent to the National Assembly Standing Committee also highlighted the performance of FDI mobilisation. So far this year, disbursed FDI reached $17.3 billion, up 8.9 per cent on-year.

Bright spots in attracting such funding include ventures in pioneering industrial sectors, with the quality of FDI inflows improving significantly.

Many large projects in the sectors of semiconductor, energy (production of batteries, photovoltaic cells, and silicon bars), production of components, electronic products, and high added-value products have also received new funding and capital expansion.

In addition to Amkor’s capital increase, the Foxconn Bac Ninh FCPV factory is pumping in over $380 million; Goertek’s Nam Son-Hap Linh electronic and audio manufacturing factory has added $280 million; and Victory Giant Vietnam’s high precision printed circuit board venture has poured in an extra $260 million.

Amkor exported its first shipment recently, just months after going into operation, while Foxconn is also accelerating the production of iPads and Macbooks at its factory in Bac Giang province.

Numerous technology corporations are also interested in Vietnam, as made evident by the participation of Nvidia, Qualcomm, Intel, AMD, Samsung, and Meta at the Innovate Vietnam event on October 1.

At the event, tech leaders pledged to support Vietnam in developing semiconductors, AI, and innovation. Meta’s Global Affairs president Nick Clegg said, “Beginning 2025, Meta will expand manufacturing of its latest mixed reality device, Quest 3S, to Vietnam. This decision underscores Vietnam’s growing importance in Meta’s manufacturing ecosystem. The expansion is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs and contribute millions of US dollars to the Vietnamese economy.”

Previously, Samsung Group also planned to put another $1.8 billion in an LED screen factory in Bac Ninh.

The MPI reported that the total registered FDI in Vietnam should reach the same amount as last year, at about $39-40 billion. “Both the quantity and quality of capital flows will be improved, contributing to enhancing the quality of the economy,” the ministry highlighted.