By January 20, foreign businesses had invested US$392.18 million in 44 new projects and US$271.26 million in 19 existed ones, a year-on-year increase of 67.1%.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Development, 11 sectors attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in January. The processing and manufacturing industries lured much of the FDI capital into 18 projects, followed by wholesale and retail, electricity and water supply sectors.

Fifteen countries and territories invested in Vietnam in the reviewed period. British Virgin Islands topped the list with a total investment capital of US$331.32 million. Coming after were the Republic of Korea and Hong Kong.

HCM City took the lead among 13 provinces and cities having FDI, followed by Binh Duong and Haiphong provinces.

The FIA estimated that around US$505 million of FDI capital had been disbursed by January 20, a rise of 8.6% against the same period last year.

The FDI sector’s exports (including crude oil) hit US$8.49 billion in January, up 8.2% over the same period last year and accounting for 66.8% of the country’s total exports revenue.

The sector’s imports are estimated at US$7.8 billion, a year-on-year rise of 41.4%, making up 57.8% of the country’s total imports. Overall, the FDI sector enjoys trade surplus of US$690 million in January.