Hanoi (VNA) – Over 15.29billion USD was channelled into 2,608 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projectsas of October 20, respectively up 54% and 66.1% year on year, statistics showed.

It added up to more than 25.76billion USD in total FDI during the period, rising 14.7%, reported the ForeignInvestment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment

Of the total, over 5.33 billionUSD was added to 1,051 existing projects. Though the additional capital fell39%, the project number still increased 19.4% from a year earlier, showinginvestors were confident in Vietnam’s investment climate so they decided toexpand their projects.

Meanwhile, foreign investors spentover 5.13 billion USD on contributing capital to and purchasing shares ofdomestic companies via 2,836 transactions, respectively rising 35.4% and dropping5.4%.

During the period, about 18 billionUSD was disbursed for FDI projects, up 2.4% year on year, according to FIA.

Up to 18 of the 21 economic sectorsreceived FDI during the first 10 months. Among them, the processing andmanufacturing industry took the lead with nearly 18.84 billion USD, accountingfor almost 73.1% of the total and rising 45.8% year on year. It was followed byreal estate (nearly 2.14 billion USD, down 44.8%), finance - banking (nearly1.54 billion USD, up 61.4-fold), and wholesale - retail (nearly 907 millionUSD, up 6.3%).

Processing and manufacturing alsoranked first in terms of new projects (32.8% of the total) and those withadditional capital (54.4%). Meanwhile, the wholesale and retail sector recordedthe biggest number of capital contribution and share purchasing transactions (41.6%).

During the 10 months, 108 countries and territories poured money into Vietnam. Singaporetopped the list with nearly 4.65 billion USD, making up over 18% of the total anddeclining 13%. It was followed by the Republic of Korea (RoK) with nearly 3.93billion USD (making up 15.2% and rising 0.5%), and Hong Kong (China) withnearly 3.54 billion USD (making up over 13.7% and rising almost 2.6-fold).
 
While China took the lead in thenumber of new projects (accounting for 21.7%), the RoK ranked first in terms ofthe projects with additional capital (25.7%) and capital contribution and sharepurchasing transactions (28.2%).

Asian investors still dominated FDI flowsinto Vietnam during the period, with Singapore, China, Japan, the RoK, HongKong, and Taiwan accounting for up to 81.7% of the total value.

Of the 55 provinces and citiesrecording FDI inflows, Quang Ninh attracted the most capital withnearly 3.09 billion USD, accounting for nearly 12% and increasing 41.3% from ayear earlier. Hai Phong city stood second with over 2.8 billion USD, accountingfor 10.9% and surging 2.14-fold, followed by Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and BacGiang province.

HCM City was the best performer inattracting new projects (38%), those with additional capital (25.3%), andcapital contribution and share purchasing transactions (66.6%), FIA noted./.