Vietnam jumped 12 places in the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s latest business environment rankings which measure the attractiveness of doing business in 82 economies with 91 crucial indicators.

The report highlights that Vietnam, along with Thailand and India, is considered the Asian country that has made the most progress in terms of business environment development.

Thailand leaped 10 places and India six. Meanwhile, Singapore topped the rankings.

In the first four months of this year, FDI channeled into Vietnam neared USD8.9 billion, with new capital surging after a slight decrease in the first three months.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), there were 750 new projects granted with investment licenses worth over $4.1 billion, up 65.2% and 11.1% annually, respectively.

A total of 386 projects had their capital added for a total of $1.66 billion, a 19.5% increase in quantity and reduction of 68.6% in value against the same period last year. The growth, despite the associated decrease, reflected investors’ confidence in Vietnam’s business climate and decisions to expand their existing projects.

Also in the four months, foreign investors did 1,044 transactions of capital contribution and share purchases, with their contributed capital exceeding $3.1 billion, up 70.4% year-on-year. They invested in 18 economic sectors, mostly in processing and manufacturing with over USD5.1 billion or 57.8% of their total investment.

The number of countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the period amounted to 77. Singapore took the lead by pouring close to $2.2 billion into the market, followed by Japan with nearly $2 billion and China with $752 million.

VNA