The FDI sector’s exports, including crude oil, increased 8.2% year on year to US$8.49 billion, taking up 66.8% of the total turnover and US$290 million more than that excluding crude oil.
The sector imported US$7.8 billion worth of goods in January, up 41.4% against the same period last year and accounting for 57.8% of total import revenues, resulting in a trade surplus of US$690 million.
As of January 20, 44 new projects received investment licenses throughout the country with total registered capital of over US$392 million, up 85.5% over 2014, while 19 existing projects registered to increase capital with a total addition of US$271.26 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 45.8%.
During the period, foreign investors invested in Vietnam’s 11 areas, among which the manufacturing industry remained the largest FDI attraction seeing 18 newly registered projects with registered and added capital of about US$605.7 million, accounting for 91.3% of January’s FDI inflow. The retail, wholesale and repair sectors came in second with US$30.79 million, while the electricity and water production and distribution areas ranked third with US$10.44 million.
As many as 15 countries and territories invested in Vietnam in the first month of 2015. The British Virgin Islands took the lead with total registered and added capital of US$331.32 million, followed by the Republic of Korea (US$110.25 million) and Hong Kong (US$105.5 million).