Fresh FDI pledges drop sharply
Fresh FDI pledges drop sharply
New foreign investment approvals in Vietnam dropped in the first half of the year, mainly due to a staggering 37.2% decline in total foreign direct investment pledges from a year earlier.
According to statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency, under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, foreign capital pledges this month reached US$1.73 billion, taking the total in the first six months of the year to US$18.47 billion, down 9.2% year-on-year.
More than 1,700 fresh projects obtained investment certificates during the first half with total registered capital of only US$7.41 billion.
The additional capital injected into operational foreign-invested projects during the six-month period was also lower, equal to 66.2% of the capital in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, foreign investments through capital contributions and share acquisitions in the period rocketed 98% over the year-ago period and accounted for nearly 44% of the total foreign capital.
Foreign investors poured capital into 18 sectors, of which the manufacturing and processing sector attracted the most capital, at a total of US$13.15 billion, making up 71.2% of the fresh capital.
The real estate sector came in second, with US$1.32 billion, followed by the wholesale and retail sector with US$1.05 billion.
In the first half of the year, Hong Kong was Vietnam’s largest investor, with US$5.3 billion, accounting for 28.7% of the total. South Korea ranked second, with US$2.73 billion, and the third largest investor was China, with US$2.29 billion.
