Five-month FDI totals US$8.5 billion

Quoc Hung FIA’s latest report shows that FDI has dropped sharply this May with registered capital of only some US$300 million, down 85% from April and a hefty 94% from March. However, thanks to the strong increase in new FDI commitments in the previous months, five-month FDI has grown 8.9% year-on-year. In the year to date, nearly 400 new projects have been granted investment certificates with total pledged capital of more than US$5.09 billion, up 5.8% over the same period in 2012. Meanwhile, 160 ongoing projects have raised their capital by an additional US$3.4 billion, up 14% year-on-year, said FIA. Foreign investors have poured money into 18 sectors. Industrial processing and manufacturing is the strongest magnet, luring 191 fresh and existing projects worth nearly US$7.6 billion, accounting for 89.2% of total FDI in January-May. The second place goes to the troubled real estate market with total capital of US$387.37 million, or 4.5% of the nation’s total. Wholesale, retail and repair come in third when attracting 57 projects worth US$141 million. Although FDI has fallen considerably this month, FDI disbursement has amounted to US$830 million. Overall, FDI disbursement in January-May is estimated at US$4.58 billion, a rise of 1.6% against the same period last year, said FIA. Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the year to date have achieved good export growth. Since the year’s beginning, they have exported over US$32.7 billion worth of goods, including crude oil, up 23.3% year-on-year, accounting for 65.56% of Vietnam’s total exports. Excluding crude oil, their export…