The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam in the first quarter of 2018 witnessed a significant yearly decline of 25 percent to 5.8 billion USD, but disbursement rose by 7.2 percent year-on-year to 3.88 billion USD.

The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam in the first quarter of 2018 ​experiences a significant yearly decline of 25 percent.

The Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) reported that processing and manufacturing remained the most attractive sector to foreign investors, receiving commitments of 3.44 billion and accounting for 59.4 percent of the total commitments.

The retail and wholesale sectors received the second largest chunk of FDI with 531 million USD or 9.2 percent, followed by the real estate sector with 486 million USD or 8.4 percent.

The Republic of Korea (RoK) has remained the biggest foreign investor among 76 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2018, with a total registered capital of 1.84 billion USD, accounting for 31.6 percent of the total capital.

Of the RoK investment, 501 million USD was invested by LG Innotek Co in a project in the northern port city of Hai Phong.

Businesses from Hong Kong registered to pour 689 million into Vietnam, making up 11.9 percent of the country’s total FDI, while those from Singapore injected 649 million USD, equivalent to 11.2 percent of the total FDI.

The southern largest economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City continued to be the largest recipient of FDI during the period with 1.7 billion USD, while the northern port city of Hai Phong received 925 million USD to take the second place.

The third largest recipient of FDI was the southern province of Binh Duong with investment worth 565 million USD.

To fully capitalise on the FDI capital source in the new stage, the MoPI is drafting a FDI strategy for 2018-2023. With assistance from the World Bank, the FDI strategy underlines that Vietnam at this stage should focus on sectors having advantages and those that foreign firms could bring more benefits to rather than domestic firms.

The draft strategy stipulates Vietnam to set out priority sectors for attracting FDI, such as those that need increased value and competitiveness, including manufacturing, services, agriculture and travel.-VNA