Vietnam expects big FDI wave in 2025. This year Goertek will invest in a new project and bring more experts and new technology equipment to Vietnam. (Source: Goertek)

Vietnam's foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction has shown a positive start in the first month of 2025, sparking hopes for a significant influx of investment in the coming time.

According to recent data released by the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, more than 4.33 billion USD in foreign investment was registered in Vietnam in January, an increase of 48.6% compared to the same period last year.

This figure is substantial for a monthly tally, as typically, without billion-dollar projects, the total registered foreign investment hovers around 2-3 billion USD each month.

Moreover, January also saw the first billion-dollar project of the year – a 1.2 billion USD project by Samsung Displays, which received its investment registration certificate from the northern province of Bac Ninh on February 3 - the first working day after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

On the same day, Bac Ninh also awarded investment certificates to several other projects with a total investment of 1.67 billion USD.

Meanwhile, the southern province of Binh Duong, in early February, granted investment certificates and in-principle approvals to seven FDI projects, with a total investment of nearly 1 billion USD. Among these, two projects from Vietnam-Singapore Industral Park (VSIP) JV, including an industrial park and a new urban area, amount to over 812 million USD in investment. Additionally, two other projects had their capital raised from Cheng Loong Paper, Deneast Vietnam, and Dongil Rubber Belt Vietnam.

Notably, in January, there was a strong increase in additional capital and investments through capital contributions and share purchases, reaching 2.73 billion USD and 322.9 million USD, up 509.6% and 70.4% year-on-year respectively. Despite new registered capital in January being only 1.29 billion USD - a decrease of 43.6% from the previous year, overall foreign investment registered in the month still surged 48.6%.

According to the FIA, this was a relatively large rise, especially when January had six days off for the Tet holiday. Moreover, despite the holiday, foreign investors remained active in production and business, disbursing a total of about 1.51 billion USD, a slight increase of 2% year-on-year.

These figures further affirm that Vietnam’s foreign investment attraction has had a smooth start in 2025, it said.

Big wave expected

In 2024, Vietnam attracted 38.23 billion USD in foreign investment, failing to meet the 39-40 billion USD goal, but it was still an encouraging result. Furthermore, disbursement reached a record high of 25.35 billion USD. Importantly, the general trend shows that foreign investors continue to see Vietnam as an investment destination.

Just before the Tet holiday, during the Prime Minister's trip to Europe, leaders from major corporations such as Visa, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Trip.com, and especially tech giants like Google, Siemens, Qualcomm, and Ericsson, shared their intentions to invest and expand activities in Vietnam, particularly in technology, semiconductors, and AI. These are key sectors where Vietnam hopes to accelerate investment attraction in the coming period.

Besides semiconductor projects, sectors like electronics are expected to continue attracting significant investment, as manufacturers such as Foxconn and Goertek plan to expand their investments in Vietnam.

Goertek's leadership shared during a New Year meeting with leaders of Bac Ninh province that in 2025, Goertek will invest in a new project and bring more experts and new technology equipment to Vietnam.

The firm has so far invested over 1.3 billion USD in Bac Ninh to build four factories specialising in electronics and drone equipment. Goertek said in late 2024 that it plans to double its drone production capacity from 30,000 to 60,000 units per year in 2025.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s WHA Group has just received an investment certification to develop a second industrial park in the central province of Nghe An. The WHA Industiral Zone 1 has seen 37 secondary investment projects, including 32 foreign investment projects, with a total capity of 1.26 billion USD.

Both WHA and VSIP are accelerating the construction of infrastructure for new industrial parks. All efforts are aimed at anticipating a significant investment wave to Vietnam.