HÀ NỘI — Foreign investors have poured US$8.47 billion into Việt Nam this year as of February 20, 2.5 times higher than the same period of last year, data from the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment revealed.

This number included newly registered capital, capital contributed and shares purchased by foreign investors.

The country granted 514 new investment licences to projects with total registered capital of $2.44 billion, up 75.7 per cent over the same period in 2018.

As many as 176 projects registered to adjust their capital with total additional capital of $854.8 million, up 22.1 per cent year on year. Meanwhile, the value of capital contribution and share purchases by foreign investors reached $5.17 billion, four times more than the same period in 2018 and accounting for 61 per cent of total registered capital.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) projects were estimated to have disbursed $2.58 billion in the first two months of this year, up 9.8 per cent. This is the highest level of two-month growth in the last three years.

Foreign investors pumped cash into 18 sectors, of which the manufacturing and processing industry remained the hottest sector with total pledged capital reaching $6.93 billion, equivalent to 81.8 per cent of the total registered value.

The real estate and science and technology sectors ranked second and third with respective values of $478 million and $306.7 million.

Hong Kong topped the list of 66 countries and territories investing in Việt Nam in the first two months of the year with a total investment value of $4.3 billion, making up 51 per cent of the country’s FDI. It was followed by Singapore with $979 million and the Republic of Korea with $873 million.

Hà Nội attracted the lion’s share among 44 provinces and cities receiving FDI with $4 billion, or 47.3 per cent of the total. HCM City ranked second with total registered capital of more than $1 billion, followed by Bắc Ninh Province with $541.7 million.

The foreign investment sector remained the major exporter with total export value of all goods (including crude oil) reaching $25.95 billion, up 3.7 per cent year on year and making up 70.7 per cent of Việt Nam’s total export turnover.

Import value of the sector also increased 5.1 per cent during the reviewed period to $21.47 billion. The FDI sector recorded a trade surplus of $4.48 billion. — VNS