Workers at a FDI firm in HCM City. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in HCM City, the country’s major economic hub, has fallen 38 per cent year-on-year since the beginning of this year. — Photo bnews.vn

HCM CITY – Foreign direct investment (FDI) in HCM City, the country’s major economic hub, has fallen 38 per cent year-on-year since the beginning of this year, according to the city’s Statistics Office.

As of the middle of May, the office reported total FDI of approximately US$650 million.

Nearly 280 FDI projects were awarded investment certificates, worth a total of $482 million. Some 48 projects had value added with a capital of $166 million.

According to the office, total FDI flow significantly dropped by $408 million over the same period last year.

Of the total, 47.9 per cent was from the Cayman Islands with four projects worth over $230 million.

The following were Japan with 42 projects, Singapore with 38 projects, South Korea with 50 projects, and Malaysia with nine projects.

Trần Việt Hà, head of the investment department of the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza), said the city had no new big projects in the garment and textile sector, which had caused FDI figures to fall.

In other sectors, no new projects worth $50 million or more have begun this year, Hà was quoted as saying in Đầu Tư (Investment Review).

The city’s Statistics Office said that most of the projects were in the sectors of real estate, finance and telecommunications.

FDI poured into HCM City, however, was expected to increase at the end of this year.

According to Vietnam Investment Review, at a recent press conference, Hepza announced that there could be a number of projects this year, including one worth $500 million to develop solar energy.

In addition, investors from the US have asked the city’s authority to permit them to invest in Thủ Thiêm New Urban Area with total capital of $4 billion.

The FDI trend in HCM City was opposite that of the entire country, which attracted $10.16 billion including new and added capital, up by over 136 per cent year-on-year. — VNS