According to the Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance, citing data from the Foreign Investment Agency, total registered FDI as of June 30 included newly licensed projects, additional capital for existing projects, and foreign investors' capital contributions and share purchases.

New investment surges

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Vietnam attracted US$34.65 billion in foreign direct investment during the first half of 2026, with Thai Nguyen leading the country in newly registered capital. Photo: Hoang Ha.

During the first six months of the year, 2,013 new projects received investment licenses with total registered capital of US$17.39 billion, up 1.3% in project numbers and 87.2% in registered capital compared with the same period last year.

The manufacturing and processing sector remained the largest recipient of newly registered FDI, attracting US$10.76 billion, accounting for 61.9% of total new registered capital.

Electricity, gas, water supply and air conditioning projects attracted US$3.08 billion, or 17.7%, while all other sectors accounted for the remaining US$3.55 billion, equivalent to 20.4%.

Singapore remains the largest investor

Among 63 countries and territories with newly licensed investment projects in Vietnam during the period, Singapore ranked first with US$7.31 billion, representing 42.1% of newly registered capital.

It was followed by:

South Korea: US$5.45 billion (31.4%)
Japan: US$1.2 billion (6.9%)
China: US$977 million (5.6%)
Hong Kong (China): US$665.6 million (3.8%)
The Netherlands: US$420.4 million (2.4%)

Thai Nguyen tops provincial rankings

Thai Nguyen recorded the highest volume of newly registered FDI nationwide during the first half of the year, attracting more than US$5.7 billion.

Nghe An Province ranked second with more than US$2.2 billion, followed by Hai Phong with over US$1.7 billion.

Ho Chi Minh City licensed 1,044 new projects with total registered capital exceeding US$1.4 billion, while Bac Ninh attracted more than US$794 million and Dong Nai received over US$726 million in newly registered investment.

Implemented FDI reaches five-year high

The report also showed that 541 existing projects increased their registered investment by a combined US$11.04 billion, up 23.5% from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, implemented FDI - the amount of investment actually disbursed - was estimated at US$13.03 billion during the first half of 2026, an 11.2% increase year on year and the highest six-month figure recorded in the past five years.

Manufacturing and processing accounted for US$10.76 billion, representing 82.6% of total implemented FDI.

Real estate ranked second with US$965.2 million (7.4%), followed by electricity, gas, hot water, steam and air conditioning supply at US$479.2 million, or 3.7%.

Nguyen Le