(VEN) - The Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that 125 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered capital of US$2,477 million applied for investment licenses this August.
By August 20, Vietnam attracted US$11,577 million in new and supplementary FDI capital, down 12.3 percent from a year ago and just 50 percent of what was projected for this year (US$22-25 billion).
These include 62 processing and manufacture projects with over US$3,661 billion making up 31.6 percent of total new and supplementary capital. The processing and manufacture industry also received the largest amount of supplementary capital (almost US$640 million in the first eight months of this year), ahead of the power/air-conditioner production and distribution sector (attracting US$2,943 million and accounting for 25.4 percent of total registered capital), and the real estate sector (US$2,391 million and 20.7 percent).
The Foreign Investment Department also said that despite the decline in registered FDI capital in the first eight months of this year, invested FDI capital increased US$850 million this August rising the total FDI capital invested so far to US$7,250 million, a 3.6 percent increase against the same months last year. This is a good signal and it will partially make up for the trade deficit in these eight months, which amounted to more than US$8 billion, according to the General Statistical Office under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Among 47 FDI partners in Vietnam in these months, the Netherlands took first place with over US$2,220 million in registered capital, followed by the Republic of Korea with US$1,920 million, the US with US$1,870 million, Japan with US$1,550 million and Chinese Taipei with US$1,060 million.
Production and trade in the FDI sector also looked good in the first eight months of this year. Exports came to US$23,964 million, a 26.6 percent increase from the same time in 2009. Not including crude oil, the sector sold abroad US$20,651 million worth of products increasing 39.9 percent. Import purchases were US$22,370 million meaning that the trade deficit for the FDI sector was US$1,594 million in these months./.
Chu Huynh
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