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 turnover is more than US$29.7 billion, up 25.8% and representing 60% of the nation’s total.

Meanwhile, FIEs have imported some US$28.6 billion worth of goods, an increase of 25.4% over the same period in 2012, making up 55.29% of total imports of the country.

In the year to date, 40 nations and territories have invested in Vietnam. Japan is the largest investor with nearly US$3.7 billion of newly-pledged and additional FDI, making up 43.4% of the total in Vietnam.

Singapore takes the second place with nearly US$2.36 billion, or 27.7% of the total in the first five months, followed by Russia with some US$1.01 billion, 11.9%.

Foreign investors have invested in 44 cities and provinces. The US$2.8-billion capital increase of the Nghi Son oil refinery project has brought Thanh Hoa to the top place in terms of FDI attraction, accounting for 32.9% of total capital investment.

Thai Nguyen with the US$2-billion project of Samsung ranks second, followed by Binh Dinh with over US$1 billion.