Hanoi has become the leading locality nationwide in foreign direct investment (FDI) with total investment during the first four months of this year accounting for 30.6 percent of the total capital poured into the Vietnamese economy.

Nearly 518 trillion VND (22.23 billion USD) was collected towards the state budget in this year’s first four months, completing 36.7 percent of the yearly target and representing a year-on-year rise of 13.9 percent, reported the Ministry of Finance.

The Foreign Investment Agency said in the first four months of the year, Vietnamese firms invested nearly 150 million USD in foreign markets.

Vietnam’s tra fish (pangasius) exports to China continued to record year-on-year strong growth of 43% to US$145 million in the first four months of 2018.

Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park granted investment certificates to four projects worth nearly VND11 trillion (US$484 million) combined in the first four months of this year, the park’s management board said on May 22.

The Republic of Korea (RoK) poured US$2.32 billion in Vietnam in the first four months of 2018, making up nearly 30% of the inflow of investment in the Southeast Asian country.

Vietnam enjoyed a US$1.5 billion trade surplus with the UK for the first four months of 2018 as the country exported US$1.75 billion worth of goods to the market and imported US$238 million.

Vietnam imported around US$451 million worth of fruit and vegetable in the first four months of this year, with US$107 million spent in April alone.

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) pumped 4.8 million tonnes of crude oil in the first four months of 2018, exceeding the target by 1.7% and accounting for 36.2% of its goal for the whole year.

Vietnam exported nearly 690,000 tonnes of coffee for US$1.3 million in the first four months of 2018, up 17.2% in volume and down 0.1% in value from a year ago.

Foreign direct investment in Hanoi amounted to US$744 million in the first four months of 2018.

Electricity losses in the northern region have continued to drop, standing at 5.21% in the first four months of 2018, down 0.34% year on year, according to the Northern Power Corporation (NPC).

Vietnam earned US$1.1 billion from exporting 2.16 million tonnes of rice in the first four months of 2018, up 35.7% in value and 21.7 percent in volume.

The rice export of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang rose both in volume and value in the first four months this year, said Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Vo Nguyen Nam.

In first four months of 2018, export turnover rose by 19% while import value increased by 10.1% year-on-year. The country's trade surplus reached US$3.39 billion.

Vietnam’s industrial production index (IPI) was estimated to rise 9.4% year-on-year in April, pushing the four-month index growth by 11.4%, higher than a 6.6% increase in the same period last year.

As many as 14,510 businesses were formed in April nationwide, representing a rise of 80 percent month-on-month, reported the General Statistics Office.

Vietnam attracted US$8.06 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first four months of 2018, equivalent to 76.1% of the figure in the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Office.

Vietnam earned some US$2.4 billion from exporting aquatic products in the first four months of 2018, representing a year-on-year rise of 13%.

Vietnam earned an estimated US$604 million from the export of aquatic products in April, bringing the total figure of the year’s first four months to about US$2.1 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.2%.