Workers at a Japanese-invested firm in Vietnam (Photo: VNA) Up to 4.06 billion USD of capital was added by foreign businessesto 228 operating projects in the period, up 93.3 percent year-on-year,according to the General Statistic Office (GSO).
According to the GSO, 322 new foreign projects, capitalised at 3.21 billion USD, werelicensed in the first three months, up 37.6 percent in the number of projectsbut down 55.5 percent in capital year-on-year.
The Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) attributed the substantial declinein newly-registered capital to fact that some large-scaled projectsworth over 100 million USD were already registered in the first quarter of2021. Capital pledged to such projects accounted for 75.3 percentof the country's total registered capital in the reviewed period.
For example, among these projects were the Long An I and II LNGpower project, being invested by Singaporean investors in Long AnProvince with a total registered capital of over 3.1 billion USDand the 1.31 billion USD O Mon II thermal power plant being financedby Japanese investors in Can Tho city.
Meanwhile, the first quarter of this year saw only one foreign-invested projectworth over 1 billion USD. That was a LEGO Manufacturing Vietnam plant, valuedat 1.32 billion USD, in Binh Duong province, the FIA said.
In another bright spot, foreign investor capital contributions and sharepurchases doubled over the same period last year to 1.63 billion USD,which brought the total foreign investments into the country in Q1 to 8.9billion USD, equivalent to 87.9 percent of the last year's sameperiod.
The agency said many projects on manufacturing electronic andhigh-tech products have raised their level of capital in the first threemonths of the year.
The processing and manufacturing sector lured the largest share of FDI withover 5.3 billion USD, accounting for 59.5 percent of the country's totalcapital.
From January to March, Singapore was Vietnam’s leading foreigninvestor with nearly 2.29 billion USD, making up almost25.7 percent of the total FDI registered in the country. The Republic of Koreafollowed with more than 1.61 billion USD or 18 percent, andDenmark with 1.32 billion USD or 15 percent.
At the same time, Vietnamese firms invested 211.5 million USD overseas inQ1, down 63 percent year-on-year, according to the FIA.
Of the sum, over 180 million USD came from 24 newly-licensed projects, up 28.5 percent,while the remaining 31.2 million USD came from three capital-addedprojects, a yearly decline of 93 percent.
Earlier, economic experts said Vietnam remained an attractivedestination for foreign investment, which was likely to experience asurge in 2022 after a long hiatus due to the pandemic.
An increase in the number of new projects and investments in existing projectsshowed the strong confidence of foreign firms in the country'sinvestment environment, they said.
Do Nhat Hoang, head of the FIA, said the country had been working with foreignpartners looking to relocate their production centres. "Bringingtheir investment home was an effective way to support Vietnamese firms inintegrating into the global supply chain," he said.
He said foreign investment was likely to pick up in 2022 as countriesworldwide reopened and learned to adapt to the new normal post-pandemic.
Takeo Nakajima, head representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation,said Vietnam would continue to be one of the most attractive investmentdestinations for Japanese firms, especially after the visit to Japan byPrime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who oversaw 25 cooperation agreements worth upto 12 billion USD.
The agreements have set up a strong foundation for Japanese investment to flowinto Vietnam in 2022 and the near future, said Nakajima.
European firms have also been showing stronger confidence in the SoutheastAsian economy./.
VNA
