According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam recorded nearly 16.24 billion USD of FDI in the first seven months of this year, up 4.5% over the same period last year. In addition, disbursed capital of foreign investment projects is estimated at 11.58 billion USD, a slight expansion of 0.8%.
Notably, total registered FDI capital has bounced back (up 4.5%) for the first time, after continuous reduction in the first six months of this year. New investment capital has continued to surge strongly compared to the first months of the year. The number of new investment projects has also rocketed over the corresponding period in 2022. The growth rate of the number of new projects was nearly twice the growth rate of total investment capital.
This shows that small and medium-sized investors continue to trust Vietnam’s investment environment, while large corporations are now cautious and carefully considering large investments in Vietnam, in the context of the impact of the global minimum tax policy.
Projects with investment capital of less than 1 million USD accounted for 69.4% of new projects, but total investment capital only accounted for 2.7% of total newly registered capital, in the first seven months.
The amount of adjusted capital still fell over the same period last year (down 42.5%) but the decreases tended to go down month by month. The number of projects with capital expansion also rose against the same period in 2022, confirming investors’ confidence in Vietnam’s investment environment, to expand their existing projects.
Specifically, during the seven months, 1,627 new projects were granted investment certificates, with a total registered capital of nearly 7.94 billion USD, an increase of 75.5% and 38.6% respectively, over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, 736 projects were registered to supplement investment capital, with a total expanded capital of nearly 4.16 billion USD, up 27.1% in the number of projects but down 42.5% in terms of additional capital.
In the January-July period, there were 1,627 transactions of capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors, down 10.6% over the same period last year, while the total value of capital contribution and share purchase reached more than 4.14 billion USD, up 60.7% over the same period last year.
According to the Foreign Investment Agency, the export value of the FDI sector (including crude oil) was estimated at nearly 143.83 billion USD (down 10.4% over the same period), accounting for 73.7% of the total export turnover of the country. The import value of the FDI sector was posted at more than 117.1 billion USD (down 16.5%), accounting for 64.3% of the country’s total import turnover.
Despite a drop in export turnover, the FDI sector still enjoyed a trade surplus of more than 26.7 billion USD, including crude oil and a trade surplus of nearly 25.6 billion USD, excluding crude oil.
