Singapore has been the largest foreign investor in Việt Nam this year. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY – Singapore is Việt Nam’s leading investor this year with more than US$6.54 billion or 33.5 per cent of total investment in the first eight months, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

South Korea was the second with $2.97 billion and China was third with $1.75 billion.

Total FDI in the period was $19.54 billion, or 86.3 per cent of the amount in the same period last year.

New projects accounted for $9.46 billion, including $4 billion by a Singaporean company, Singapore’s Delta Offshore Energy Pte Ltd Co, in the Bạc Liêu LNG power plant.

Việt Nam - Singapore investment co-operation is complementary to each other, and high technology is an area identified for attracting Singaporean investment in the near future, the ministry said.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Trần Quốc Phương  told an online Việt Nam-Singapore investment promotion conference held on September 17 that Việt Nam has persisted with proactive and effective solutions to simultaneously contain the COVID-19 outbreak and keep the economy ticking over.

He said foreign investors, including Singaporean, have growing opportunities to invest and do business successfully in Việt Nam since the country’s legal framework is constantly being improved and channels connecting the domestic and foreign markets are being expanded, and the Government and provinces are determined to improve the business environment.

The Government encourages Singaporean firms to, among other things, invest in the hi-tech industry, set up innovation and R&D centres, develop industrial park infrastructure, and take part in the equitisation of State-owned enterprises, he added.

The event was attended by executives from 500 enterprises -- that are members of more than 80 Singaporean business groups around the world -- who shared their views on Việt Nam's growing role in the international community and described it is a safe and attractive investment destination for Singaporean businesses in the post-pandemic period.

The event was organised by the Ministry of Planning and Investment in co-ordination with the Singapore Manufacturing Federation and the Singapore Business Federation amid a global restructuring of production and supply chains to avoid overdependence on a single country.– VNS