Attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) of whole country reached a record

According to the Report of Foreign InvestmentDepartment, Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of December 20, 2019, thetotal newly registered capital, adjusted and contributed capital to buy sharesof foreign investors reached 38,02 billion USD, the highest in10 years,increased by 7.2% compared to the same period in 2018. Foreign directinvestment (FDI) disbursement also reached 20.38 billion USD, setting a newrecord, the highest ever.

Specifically, in terms of newly registered capital,the whole country had 3,883 projects granted investment registrationcertificates, an increase of 27.5% of the projects compared to the same periodin 2018. The total newly registered capital was 16.75 billion USD, equaling93.2% over the same period in 2018. The average registered capital of theproject decreased from US $ 5.9 million in 2018 to US $ 4.3 million in 2019.

Regarding adjusted capital, there were 1,381 projectsregistered to adjust investment capital, raised to 18.1% compared to the sameperiod in 2018. Total adjusted registered capital was US $ 5.8 billion,equaling 76.4% over the same period in 2018. In 2019, the scale of adjustmentto expand capital of small projects (an average of US $ 4.2 million /adjustment, smaller than the average of 2018 is US $ 6.5 million / adjustment)and no major capital raise projects as in the same period in 2018.

Regarding capital contribution, share purchase, therewere 9,842 times of capital contribution and share purchase by foreigninvestors with a total value of contributed capital of US $ 15.47 billion, up56.4% over the same period in 2018 and accounting for 40, 7% of totalregistered capital.

Foreign Investment Agency said that investment in theform of capital contribution, share purchase has tended to increase sharply inrecent years and accounts for an increasing proportion of the total foreigninvestment. Specifically, in 2017, investment in the form of capitalcontribution, share purchase accounted for 17.2% of total registered capital,in 2018 accounted for 27.9% of total registered capital, in 2019 accounted for40.7% of total registered capital. Foreign investors contribute capital todomestic enterprises mainly in the field of processing and manufacturingindustries with 45.8% of the total value and real estate business with 17.8% ofthe total value.

In 2019, foreign direct investment projects wereestimated to disburse 20.38 billion USD, up 6.7% as compared to the same periodin 2018. In the context of the general downturn of global FDI inflows, maintainingthe capital growth rate is an encouraging achievement

Although the realized capital of foreign investmentsector in 2019 increased over the same period, it can be seen that the increasehas decreased compared to 2017 and 2018 (in 2017 realized capital increased by10.7% compared to the year. In 2016, the implemented capital increased by 9.1%compared to 2017).

Exports of foreign invested sector, including crude oilreached $ 181.35 billion USD, increased about 4.2% over the same period in 2018and accounting for 68.8% of export turnover. Export excluding crude oil was179.33 billion USD, up 4.4% as compared to the same period in 2018 andaccounting for 68.1% of export turnover.

Imports of foreign invested sector reached nearly145.5 billion USD, up 2.5% over the same period in 2018 and accounting for57.4% of import turnover

In 2019, the foreign invested sector had a tradesurplus of nearly 35.86 billion USD including crude oil and a trade surplus of33.8 billion USD excluding crude oil. Thus, the trade surplus from the foreigninvestment sector was a source of offsetting of the US $ 25.9 billion tradedeficit of the domestic enterprise sector, resulting in a trade surplus of US $9.9 billion.

By investment field, foreign investors have investedin 19 sectors; in which, investment focuses on processing and manufacturingindustry with a total capital of 24.56 billion USD, accounting for 64.6% oftotal registered investment capital. This is also a field that accounts for alarge proportion of the registered capital in terms of registration for newinvestment projects, expansion investment projects, capital contribution andshare purchase.

Real estate business ranked second with totalinvestment capital of 3.88 billion USD, accounting for 10.2% of total registeredinvestment capital. Next are the fields of wholesale and retail, professionalactivities of science and technology,...

According to investment partners, there have been 125countries and territories investing in Vietnam, of which South Korea leads witha total investment of 7.92 billion USD, accounting for 20.8% of totalinvestment capital. Hong Kong (China) ranked second with a total investment ofUS $ 7.87 billion (of which, US $ 3.85 billion bought shares in VietnamBeverage Company Limited in Hanoi, accounting for 48.9%) Total investmentcapital of Hong Kong). Singapore ranked third with a total registeredinvestment capital of 4.5 billion USD, accounting for 11.8% of total investmentcapital. Next is Japan, China, ... In particular, investment from China tendsto increase over the same period due to the impact of the US-China trade war.Specifically, investment from China increased by nearly 1.65 times over thesame period in 2018.

By investment area, foreign investors invested in 62provinces and cities, of which Hanoi attracted the most foreign investment witha total registered capital of US $ 8.45 billion, accounting for 22.2 % totalinvestment. Investment capital in Hanoi is mainly based on the method ofcapital contribution, share purchase with 6.47 billion USD, accounting for76.6% of total registered investment capital of Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh City rankedsecond with a total registered capital of nearly 8.3 billion USD, accountingfor 21.8% of total investment capital. Next are Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Bac Ninh,...

In 2019, the number of delegations working forinvestment opportunities increased sharply, up about 30% over the same periodin 2018. The partners are mainly from Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong,Singapore. Ministry of Planning and Investment has organized many policydialogues, talks with businesses of Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand,Germany, Netherlands, India,...