Vietnam’s FDI falls

Up to 262 new foreign-invested projects, capitalised at $3.2 billion, were licensed from January to April, an annual decrease of 54.9 percent.

FDI disbursement, an important factor to evaluate the efficiency of investment inflows, however, still increased nearly 1 percent, reaching $3.62 billion during the period.

In another bright spot, 88 existing projects registered an increase in their levels of capital by a total of $819 million during the four months, up 36.8 percent year-on-year.

Vietnam's leading sources of foreign investment include Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, with Japanese companies still registering 55 new projects in Viet Nam despite the devastating impact of the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

During the period, the processing and manufacturing sector remained the leader in attracting FDI, accounting for $2 billion of the first quarter total. In addition, 75 operating projects in the sector were allowed to raise capital by a total of $455.3 million.

With more than $1.1 billion coming to 58 new and seven expanded projects, HCM City continued to be the most attractive destination in the eyes of foreign investors. It was followed by Hanoi with 79 projects, worth a combined $430 million.

The foreign-invested sector saw an estimated four-month export turnover of $15.19 billion, up 37 percent year-on-year. The sector also posted an export surplus of $1.3 billion.

Earlier, the agency forecast new registered FDI would likely reach about $20 billion this year and over half of that sum would be implemented. Top priority would be given to projects in infrastructure construction, hi-tech and support industries.