Vietnam to lure $17.33bn of foreign direct investment in 11 months

Vietnam is expected to lure some 17. 33 billion U.S. dollars from foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eleven months of 2014, down 16.7 percent year-on-year, the government said on Monday.
In the 11 months, said the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, a total of 11.2 billion U.S. dollars is estimated to be disbursed, up 6.2 percent year-on-year.
As of Nov. 20, Vietnam had 1,427 newly licensed projects with a total registered capital of 13.41 billion U.S. dollars while some 3.92 billion U.S. dollars is added to 515 projects.
Manufacturing and processing are likely to remain the top attractive sectors to foreign investors with 689 projects and 13. 15 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 75.9 percent of the total FDI during the 11-month period.
Real estate business is forecast to rank second with 32 newly registered projects and 1.27 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 7.3 percent of the eleven-month FDI.
The construction sector followed with a total registered and added capital of 1.02 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 5.9 percent of the total FDI.
So far this year, some 60 countries and regions have had projects in Vietnam. Among those, South Korea is expected to top other FDI contributors with a total registered and added capital of 6.82 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 39.4 percent of the national total.
Singapore and Japan rank second and third with 2.75 billion U.S. dollars and 1.71 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.
China's Hong Kong sits in the fourth place with 1.69 billion U. S. dollars, accounting for 9.8 percent.
In the 11 months, FDI projects were seen in 50 out of 63 localities across Vietnam.
Northern Thai Nguyen province is the locality with the largest foreign investment of 3.27 billion U.S. dollars, making up 18.9 percent of the country's total.
The southern economic hub Ho Chi Minh City ranks second with 3. 01 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 17.4 percent.
Large projects licensed in the period include the second stage of the Samsung Thai Nguyen High-tech Complex (with 3 billion U.S. dollars of investment), the Samsung CE Complex in Ho Chi Minh City (1.4 billion U.S. dollars), Samsung Display in northern Bac Ninh province (1 billion U.S. dollars), and Texhong Ngan Ha in northern Quang Ninh province (300 million U.S. dollars).
Exports of the FDI sector, including crude oil, are expected to hit 92.212 billion U.S. dollars in the 11-month period, up 14.1 percent year-on-year, accounting for 67.3 percent of Vietnam's total export revenue.
The sector is likely to spend 76.671 billion U.S. dollars on imports, up 12.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for 56.8 percent of the country's total import revenue.