A total of 448 new foreign-invested projects, worth more than 2.67 billion USD, were licensed during the January-April period, a yearly decrease of 17.1 percent.
A total of 448 new foreign-invested projects, worth more than 2.67 billion USD, were licensed during the January-April period, a yearly decrease of 17.1 percent.
Meanwhile, 167 operating projects were also given approval to add 1.04 billion USD to their investments, a fall of 35.7 percent over the corresponding period last year.
According to the latest report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency, total FDI registered in the country topped more than 3.72 billion USD in the reviewed period, equivalent to 76.7 percent of the figures for the same period last year.
Foreign investors placed their investments in 14 sectors during the period. Of these, the manufacturing and processing sector attracted the largest share of FDI with 2.83 billion USD or 76 percent of the nation's total FDI.
Estate trading came next with 327 million USD, while wholesale and retail ranked third with 198.6 million USD.
The Republic of Korea remained Vietnam's biggest foreign investor with more than 9.08 million USD, making up 24.4 percent of the total FDI registered.
This was followed by Turkey (660 million USD or 17.7 percent), British Virgin Islands (509.6 million USD or 13.7 percent) and Japan (374.3 million USD or 10.1 percent).
Dong Nai was the most attractive destination for foreign investors with 916.7 million USD in FDI investment, accounting for 24.6 percent of the nation's total.
HCM City and the northern port city of Hai Phong came second and third, with 784.9 million USD, or 21.1 percent, and 292.1 million USD, or 7.8 percent, respectively.
The report noted that the foreign-invested sector created a trade surplus of more than 2.71 billion USD in four months as it earned 35.07 billion USD from exports, up 12.6 percent or equivalent to 70 percent of the country's total export turnover. The FDI businesses imported 32.35 billion USD worth of goods, up 27.8 percent.
Since the Law on Foreign Investment was issued in 1987, FDI capital has had great impact on Vietnam's economy.
It had mobilised capital for development and promote economic development, said the Director of the National Centre of Socio-economic Information and Forecasting, Mai Thi Thu.
FDI also helped create conditions for the transfer of technology, generated jobs and accelerated the country's global integration, she said during a conference in Hanoi early this month.
Several products produced by foreign-invested businesses in Vietnam had established themselves firmly in international markets, such as telephones, electronic components and garments and textiles, she said.
Director of the Foreign Investment Agency, Do Nhat Hoang, said FDI helped to strengthen the linkage between foreign and domestic businesses, and assisted Vietnam's economy to integrate deeper into the global economy.
(Source: VNA)
