Vietnam attracted US$12.33 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first four months of 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 15.5% due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).

The Bac Lieu Wind Power Plant in the southern province of Bac Lieu (Photo: VNA)

The figure, however, was much higher than that of the same period of 2018 and 2017 with US$5.8 billion and US$9.2 billion, respectively, the FIA said.

The four-month period saw 984 new foreign-invested projects licensed with a total registered capital of US$6.78 billion, down 9.1% in term of number of projects but up 26.9% in value year-on-year.

Of them, the Bac Lieu LNG-to-power project marked the first billion-dollar project in 2020 with investment capital of US$4 billion, accounting for 59% of the total registered FDI.

Meanwhile, 335 existing projects were allowed to raise their investments by more than US$3.07 billion, surging 45.6% over the same period last year.

From January to April, foreign investors spent US$2.48 billion buying shares or contributing capital to Vietnamese firms, down 65.3% year-on-year.

According to the agency, FDI disbursement reached US$5.15 billion in the four months or equivalent to 90.4% of the last year’s corresponding period.

Foreign investors pledged to pour capital in 18 sectors, in which manufacturing and processing took the lead with nearly US$6 billion, accounting for 48.4% of the total capital. It was followed by power production and distribution (US$3.9 billion); wholesale and retail (US$776 million); and real estate (US$665 million), the FIA said.

Singapore was the country’s largest source of FDI as the committed volume accounted for 41% or US$5.07 billion. Thailand and Japan were the runners-up with US$1.46 billion and US$1.16 billion, respectively, followed by mainland China, Taiwan (China) and the Republic of Korea.

Among 54 localities receiving FDI in the four-month period, the southern province of Bac Lieu ranked top with US$4 billion. Southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province came next with US$1.9 billion and HCM City placed third with US$1.31 billion, followed by Hanoi capital city and Ha Nam and Binh Duong provinces.  

Foreign-invested sector’s exports rose by 1.5% against last year to US$55.75 billion, making up 69.3% of the nation’s four-month export value. Meanwhile, the sector’s import value also picked up 3% to US$46.32 billion, accounting for 58% of the nation’s import volume.