Hanoi (VNA) – Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow saw a significant 54.8percent surge in the first half of this year against the same period last year,reaching 19.22 billion USD, statistics from the Foreign Investment Agencyrevealed.
The figureincluded 11.83 billion USD poured into new projects.
Theprocessing and manufacturing sector attracted the lion share of FDI at 9.48billion USD, accounting for 49.3 percent of total FDI registered in thecountry. Electricity production and distribution ranked second with 5.25billion USD or equivalent to 27 percent, while the mining sector came thirdwith 1.28 billion USD or 6.68 percent.
Japansurpassed the Republic of Korea to become Vietnam’s leading source ofFDI in the period, pumping 5.08 billion USD into the country, making up26.5 percent of the total FDI. Investors from the RoK invested 4.95 billion USD,or 25.8 percent, while those from Singapore poured 3.48 billion USD, or 18.1percent.
[VN targets parity between FDI, domestic firms]
FromJanuary to June, the central province of Thanh Hoa was the most attractivedestination for foreign investors as it attracted 3.06 billion USD in FDI, accountingfor 15.9 percent of the nation’s total FDI. It was followed by the northernprovinces of Bac Ninh and Nam Dinh with 2.85 billion USD or 14.83 percent and 2.19billion USD or 11.4 percent, respectively.
In thesame period, FDI disbursement experienced a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percentto 7.72 billion USD in the first half of this year.
Foreign-investedsector accounted for 71 percent of the country’s total six-month exportturnover. The sector also recorded trade surplus of 10.22 billion USD in theperiod.
As of June20, 2017, the country is home to more than 23,590 valid foreign-investedprojects with a total registered capital of 306.3 billion USD. Over half of thetotal has been disbursed, according to the agency. -VNA