Hanoi (VNA) – Hong Kong (China) topped the list of 66 countries andterritories investing in Vietnam in January-February with a total investment of4.3 billion USD, making up 51 percent of the new FDI inflow into the country.

It was followed by Singapore with 979 million USD and the Republic of Koreawith 873 million USD.

Hong Kong secured the position aftermany years thanks to a 3.85 billion USD beer production project in Hanoi andanother project worth 260 million USD producing electronic and internetequipment and multimedia audio products.

As of February 20, foreign investors have poured 8.47 billion USD into Vietnam,2.5 times higher than the same period last year, according to the ForeignInvestment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

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

The country granted 514 newinvestment licences to projects with a total registered capital of 2.44 billionUSD, up 75.7 percent over the same period of 2018.

As many as 176 projects registered toadjust their capital with a combined additional capital of 854.8 million USD,up 22.1 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, the value of capitalcontribution and share purchases by foreign investors reached 5.17 billion USD,four times higher than the same period in 2018 and accounting for 61 percent oftotal registered capital.

Foreign direct investment (FDI)projects were estimated to have disbursed 2.58 billion USD in the first twomonths of this year, up 9.8 percent. This is the highest level of two-monthgrowth in the last three years.

Foreign investors pumped their moneyinto 18 sectors, of which the manufacturing and processing industry remainedthe hottest with a total pledged capital reaching 6.93 billion USD, equivalentto 81.8 percent of the total registered value.

The real estate and science andtechnology sectors were ranked second and third with respective values of 478million USD and 306.7 million USD.

Hanoi was the most attractive among44 provinces and cities receiving FDI with 4 billion USD, or 47.3 percent ofthe total. Ho Chi Minh City came second with more than 1 billion USD, followedby Bac Ninh province with 541.7 million USD.

The foreign investment sectorremained the major exporter with a total export value of all goods (including crudeoil) reaching 25.95 billion USD, up 3.7 percent year on year and making up 70.7percent of Vietnam’s total export turnover.

Its import value also increased 5.1percent during the reviewed period to 21.47 billion USD.

To sum up, the FDI sector recorded atrade surplus of 4.48 billion USD.-VNA