FDI VALUE HITS NEARLY US$31.8 BILLION IN JAN-NOV

Foreign investors registered to invest roughly US$31.8 billion in Vietnam from January to November, up 3.1% from a year earlier. They disbursed US$17.62 billion of their pledged fund, 6.8% higher than the same period of 2018.

Vietnam had a total of 30,477 valid FDI projects with a total registered capital of US$360.69 billion as of November 20, 2019. The disbursed value of FDI projects reached US$209.48 billion, or 58% of the total valid pledged capital.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) projects were estimated to spend US$17.69 billion in the year to date, 7.2% higher than the same period on year. The export value of the FDI sector (including crude oil) rose 3.8% year on year to nearly US$166.7 billion, which accounted for 69.1% of the nation’s export value. If crude oil was not counted, the sector earned US$164.83 billion from exports, up 3.9% year on year and equal to 68.3% of the country’s total exports in the reviewed period. The sector expended US$134.1 billion on imports in the period, up 3.1% year on year and equal to 57.7% of the country’s total import value.

Generally, in the first 11 months of 2019, the FDI sector had a trade surplus of nearly US$32.6 billion with crude oil value or US$30.7 billion without crude oil. Although the domestic economic sector suffered a trade deficit of US$23.48 billion, the surplus of the foreign invested sector more than offset it. As a result, the country ran a trade surplus of US$9.1 billion in the first 11 months of 2019.

Foreign investors registered to invest roughly US$31.8 billion in Vietnam as of November 20, up 3.1% from a year earlier, to do business and to buy equity assets. Specifically, the new capital accounted for US$14.68 billion, down 7% year on year, invested in 3,478 projects, 28.2% more of projects than the same period of 2018. The slowing pace narrowed towards the end of the year.

Foreign investors invested in 19 industries. The manufacturing and processing industry claimed the most funds from foreign investors with US$21.56 billion in the reviewed period, accounting for 67.8% of the total. The real estate sector ranked second with US$3.31 billion, accounting for 10.4%, followed by the wholesaling and retailing sector, and scientific and technological expertise.

From January to November of 2019, as many as 117 countries and territories had investment projects in Vietnam. Hong Kong (China) took the lead with US$6.69 billion (US$3.83 billion to buy shares in Vietnam Beverage Co., Ltd in Hanoi, accounting for 57.5% of the total investment capital of Hong Kong). South Korea was the runner-up with US$5.73 billion, accounting for 18%. Singapore ranked third with US$4.47 billion, accounting for 14%, followed by China and Japan. Notably, investment flows from China and Hong Kong tended to go up as the result of U.S.-China trade war. Notably, investment from China jumped nearly 2 times and from Hong Kong 3.9 times, compared to the same period in 2018.

Foreign investors have invested in 60 provinces and cities, with Hanoi being the biggest recipient at US$6.82 billion, accounting for 21.5% of their investment value in the country. Ho Chi Minh City ranked second with US$5.48 billion, accounting for 17.2%, followed by Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Bac Ninh.

Source: VCCI