FDI disbursement in 2016 reaches highest ever

Total foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursement in 2016 has reached US$15.8 billion, up 9% compared to 2015, the highest FDI disbursement so far, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO).

Photo for Illustration (Pho to: Thai Thien).

As of December 26, Vietnam has attracted 2,556 new licensing projects, with total registered capital of over US$15.2 billion, up 27% on the number of projects and down 2.5% on registered capital over the same period in 2015.

In addition, 1,225 licensed projects from the previous year adjusted their registered capital with increased capital of more than US$5.8 billion, an increase of 50.5% in the number of projects and 19.7% in increased capital.

In 2016, there are 2,547 enterprises and economic entities with foreign contributed capital purchased shares at a total of more than VND3.4 billion.

The sum total of registered capital from new projects, additional funding and investment in the form of capital contribution and share purchasing in 2016 reached more than US$24.4 billion, up 7.1% against the previous year.

This year, processing and manufacturing industry attracted the largest FDI flows with newly licensed capital reached over US$9.8 billion, accounting for 64.6% of total newly registered capital, followed by property business with over US$1.5 billion, accounting for more than 10%.

The country had 51 provinces and cities with newly licensed FDI projects in 2016, in which the northern port city of Hai Phong recorded the highest level, with a registered capital of more than US$2.5 billion, accounting for 16.2% of total newly registered capital.

Hanoi ranked second with more than US$1.9 billion, accounting for 12.7%, followed by Binh Duong with over US$1.63 billion, accounting for 10.7% and Dong Nai over US$1 billion, accounting for 6.9%.

Of 68 countries and territories having newly licensed investment projects in Vietnam this year, the Republic of Korea is the biggest investor with more than US$5.5 billion, accounting for 36.3% of total newly registered capital, followed by Singapore with more than US$1.59 billion, accounting for 10.5%. China is third with more than US$1.2 billion, accounting for 8.3%.

The total official development assistance (ODA) and preferential loans signed in 2016 is estimated at US$5.38 billion, up 39.7% compared to 2015.

ODA and preferential loan disbursement as of December 21 was around US$3.5 billion. The figure for the whole year is estimated at US$3.7 billion, equal to 80.4% of that in 2015.

(Source: NDO)