Korea-invested ITM Semiconductor Việt Nam in the Việt Nam - Singapore Industrial Park, Bắc Ninh Province. From January to July 20, Việt Nam attracted a total of $18.82 billion in foreign investment. — VNA/VNS Photo Thái Hùng

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam attracted US$3.15 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) and capital for share purchases from July 1 to July 20, representing a rise of 79.8 per cent against the same period last year and 76.2 per cent against June, the latest updates of the Foreign Investment Agency showed.

Of the figure, $1.02 billion was registered to be poured into 202 new projects, up 2.8 per cent and 19.1 per cent over June and the same period last year, respectively. Some 93 existing projects increased their registered capital by a total of $992 million, more than two times higher than the same month of 2019. Foreign investors spent nearly $1.13 billion to buy stakes at 334 projects, 2.8 times higher than July 2019.

From January to July 20, Việt Nam attracted a total sum of $18.82 billion foreign investment, equivalent to 93.1 per cent of the same period last year. A sum worth $10.12 billion was disbursed in the seven-month period, equivalent to 95.9 per cent.

There were 1,620 new FDI projects in the period with a total registered capital of $9.46 billion, $4 billion of which was registered to flow into the Bạc Liêu LNG power plan. Average registered capital per project was $5.8 million compared to $4.3 million in 2019’s same period.

About 619 projects had their registered capital increased in the period by more than $4.7 billion altogether, up 37.7 per cent.

However, capital construction for share purchases dropped by around 50 per cent to $4.64 billion.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, FDI flowed into 18 sectors in January-July, led by the manufacturing and processing industry with total registered capital of more than $8.96 billion. Power production and distribution ranked second with a total registered capital of $3.95 billion.

Việt Nam saw the FDI inflow coming from 104 countries and territories from the beginning of this year. Singapore was the largest investor in the period which registered to pour $6.44 billion in Việt Nam, followed by the Republic of Korea with $2.8 billion, and China with $1.7 billion. In terms of new projects, the Republic of Korea ranked first with 421 projects, China came second with 237 projects and Japan came third with 175 projects.

Foreign players invested in 59 out of 63 provinces and cities in the January-July period, with Bạc Liêu Province the top destination thanks to the $4-billion LNG power project. Hà Nội ranked second with $2.82 billion registered FDI and HCM City third with $2.4 billion.

As of July 20, there were 32,391 valid FDI projects in Việt Nam with total registered capital of $380.6 billion, $221.8 billion was disbursed.

The agency said that the COVID-19 pandemic was weighing on FDI attraction in the period but also created significant opportunities for Việt Nam to capture the capital flow spurred by the global shift of value chains, given the country’s improved investment climate and infrastructure system.

The recent European Chamber of Commerce in Việt Nam’s Business Climate Index survey found that European business leaders were positive about the country’s business and investment environment with around half predicting that Việt Nam’s macro-economic climate would “stabilise and improve” in the next quarter.

According to Japan External Trade Organisation, fifteen out of 30 Japanese firms chose Việt Nam as the destination for production expansion within the Japanese government’s programme to support Japanese firms to diversify their value chains in foreign countries.

Việt Nam set the target of attracting $35-36 billion FDI this year.

The country attracted $38.02 billion FDI last year, up 7.2 per cent against 2018 with $20.38 billion disbursed. — VNS