Foreign investments and foreign-added capital in Vietnam both posted increases in 2015, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).
The country attracted $22.8 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) and saw $14.5 billion in foreign disbursed capital last year, posting year-on-year increases of 2.5% and 17.4%, respectively, said FIA, which is under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI).
As of December 20, 2015, there were 2,013 projects with a total registered capital of $15.578 billion that were given licenses, and 814 projects infused added capital of $7.18 billion, according to a report by government-run VGP News.
The manufacturing and processing sector attracted the most FDIs with $15.23 billion placed in 955 newly registered projects, while 517 projects garnered additional capital, accounting for 66.9% of the total capital.
Electricity production and distribution came in second with $2.8 billion in 17 FDI projects, while real estate came in third with $2.39 billion in 46 FDI projects.
The foreign-invested sector in 2015 raked in $115.1 billion in export earnings and purchased imported goods worth $97.9 billion.
Some large foreign-invested projects were licensed in the year, including Samsung Display Viet Nam, which asked for an additional capital of $3 billion, and Duyen Hai 2 Thermal Power Plant, which had a total investment of $2.4 billion.
South Korea was the largest investor in the Southeast Asian economy with 702 newly registered projects and 260 capital-added projects, with total capitalization of $6.72 billion to account for 29.6% of the total. It was followed by Malaysia and Japan with $2.47 billion and $1.84 billion, making up 10.9% and 8.1% of total investments, respectively.
The government has credited the amended investment and enterprise laws that were implemented in July last year for the sharp increase in the number of newly established firms.
Since the amended laws came into effect on July 1, 2015, the number of new companies set a record annual high of 93,868, according to a recent report of MoPI.
From July 1 to December 15, 2015, about 46,740 enterprises were formed with a total registered capital of over $13.7 billion, up 24.5% in number and 50.3% in value.
Photo: ℍmoong
