Vietnam attracted close to US$20.21 billion in foreign investment in the year to September 20, up 7.7 percent year on year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In particular, foreign investors registered to inject over $10.23 billion into nearly 2,300 new projects in the nine-month period, surging 66.3 and 43.6 percent, respectively.

The period also saw 934 operational foreign direct investment projects revise up their capital by a total of over $5.15 billion, up 21.5 percent in the number of projects but down 37.3 percent in the additional capital.

Foreign investors also conducted around 2,500 transactions to contribute funds to and acquire shares in local firms with total capital of $4.82 billion, edging down five percent in the number of transactions but soaring 47 percent in value.

They poured capital into 18 out of 21 national economic industries in Vietnam, with the processing and manufacturing sector taking the lead in investment capital at over $14 billion, accounting for some 69.3 percent of the total registered capital and rising 15 percent over the year-ago period.

The real estate sector took the second place with nearly $1.94 billion, followed by finance-banking with $1.54 billion and wholesale-retail with $734 million.

The Foreign Investment Agency revealed that Singapore was the biggest investor of Vietnam during the period with over $3.98 billion, followed by China with $2.92 billion and Japan with nearly $2.9 billion.

Foreign investors pledged investments in 54 cities and provinces in Vietnam, with Hanoi being the largest recipient of the foreign investment, at around $2.53 billion, making up nearly 12.5 percent of the total foreign investment in the period and increasing 2.46 times over the same period last year. 

The capital city was followed by northern Hai Phong City with some $2.21 billion, Ho Chi Minh City, northern Bac Giang Province, and southern Binh Duong Province.

VNA