Vietnamese enterprises invested nearly 184.7 million USD in overseas projects in the first five months of 2018, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. 

Some 144.7 million USD was pumped into 48 new projects, while the rest was earmarked for 14 existing ones.

During the period, finance and banking drew the greatest interest from the Vietnamese investors, accounting for 57.3 percent of total investment capital, or 105.8 million USD.

Major banks such as the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank), the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), the Military Bank (MB) and the Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) are seeking to make inroads in new foreign markets.

The finance and banking sector was followed by the manufacturing and processing, ago-forestry and aquaculture sectors.

From January to May, Vietnamese businesses invested in 24 countries and territories.  Among them, Laos lured the lion’s share of investments with 43.4 percent of total funds, the GSO said.

Apart from traditional markets such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, Vietnamese businesses are expanding to other markets like Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Haiti and Cameroon.

Cuba has emerged as the third biggest investment destination of Vietnamese enterprises after Laos and Cambodia.

 According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnamese firms registered to invest 19.9 million USD in Cuba in the first four months of 2018 despite geographical distance.-VNA