FDI capital sees sharp rise in March
(VOV) - Vietnam attracted US$5.4 billion in foreign direct investment between February 20-March 20, a monthly record figure.
Of the total, US$2.93 billion came from newly-licensed projects, a year-on-year increase of 2.2 percent, and the remaining US$3.10 billion was additional capital from operational FDI projects, up 277 percent.
The March figure helped bring the total FDI capital of the past three months to US$6.034 billion, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Processing and manufacturing attracted most investment with 84 new projects, capitalized at US$5.539 billion, accounting for 91.8 percent of the total.
Real estate came in second, recording newly registered and added capital of US$249.84 million, or 4.1 percent of the total.
It was followed by wholesale, retail and repairs with 29 new projects valued at US$85.2 million.
Japan was the largest investor in Vietnam during the first quarter of this year, pouring US$3.16 billion into the country. Singapore and the Republic of Korea were the second and third biggest investors, respectively.
Thanh Hoa province has attracted the most foreign investment thanks to the added US$2.8 billion from the Nghi Son oil refinery project, followed by Thai Nguyen, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Haiphong.
As of March 22, US$2.7 billion in FDI has been disbursed, an increase of 7.1 percent from a year earlier.