As many as 126 foreign projects were granted investment licenses with total registered capital of $3.31 billion, a year-on-year fall of 33.9 percent. Meanwhile, 115 existing projects adjusted their investment capital with a total additional sum of $1.61 billion, or 2.5 times higher than the same time last year. Capital contributions and shares purchases by foreign investors stood at $543.1 million, down 34.4 percent. Foreign investors pumped capital in 17 sectors, with processing and manufacturing holding the lead with over $3 billion or 55.7 percent, followed by power production and distribution with $1.44 billion (26.5 percent), real estate $485 million, and science-technology nearly $153 million. Japan topped the list of 46 countries and territories landing investment in Vietnam, with $1.64 billion, equivalent to nearly 30 percent of the total. Singapore came second with $1.07 billion (19.6 percent), and the Republic of Korea third with $1.05 billion (19.3 percent). The ministry said the southern province of Can Tho lured the lion’s share of FDI with $1.31 billion, accounting for 24.2 percent of the total. Hai Phong city was the runner-up since it attracted nearly $918 million, or 16.8 percent. Bac Giang came third with nearly $573 million (10.5 percent). So far this year, the foreign-invested sector has earned $38.07 billion from exports, up 34 percent year-on-year, and making up 76.1 percent of the nation’s total export turnover. At the same time, it spent $31.6 billion on imports, up 31.2 percent year-on-year, and accounting for 66.6 percent of the country’s total import value. That resulted in a trade surplus of nearly $6.5 billion. VNA …
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