Q1 FDI up 91% y-o-y

Strong March result puts FDI at $7.71 billion in first quarter.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) stood at $7.71 billion in the first quarter of this year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), more than double the $3.4 billion received in the first two months and up 91.5 per cent year-on-year.

As at March 20, 493 new foreign-invested projects with capital of more than $2.9 billion had been licensed, an increase of 6.5 per cent year-on-year. Additional capital of $3.94 billion also came from 223 existing projects, up 206.4 per cent year-on-year.

Foreign investors also outlaid $852.86 million in buying stock market shares, up 171.5 per cent year-on-year.

There was also a slight increase in FDI disbursement in the first quarter, at $3.62 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.4 per cent.

Samsung Display Vietnam added $2.5 billion to its ongoing project in the northern province of Bac Ninh, Taiwan's Polytex Far Eastern Company added $485.8 million to its investment in the Bau Bang Industrial Zone in southern Binh Duong province, and Coca-Cola Vietnam added $319.8 million to a project in Hanoi.

Newly-licensed projects included the $284.75 million Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park III (VSIP 3) in Binh Duong, the $269.54 million Tole Panel Plant in southern Binh Phuoc province, and the $220 million KVT-1 tire fiber project of Kolon Industries Inc. in Binh Duong.

Thanks to the giant Samsung project, South Korea was the largest source of FDI to Vietnam in the first quarter, with $3.74 billion, accounting for 48.61 per cent of the total, followed by Singapore with $910.8 million and 11.81 per cent and China with $823.6 million and 10.68 per cent.

FDI was poured into 18 industries and sectors. The manufacturing and processing sector remained the most attractive, receiving $6.54 billion and accounting for 84.9 per cent of the total. Real estate sector was second, with $343.69 million and 4.4 per cent, followed by wholesale and retail with $296.8 million and 3.85 per cent.

Among 52 localities nationwide that received FDI in the first quarter, Bac Ninh province took the lead, with registered capital of $2.61 billion, or 33.86 per cent, followed by Binh Duong with $1.39 billion, or 18.01 per cent and Ho Chi Minh City with $600 million, or 7.78 per cent.

by Ngoc Lan / VET