HANOI: Vietnam received US$2.55 billion in actual inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first two months of this year, down 4.9 per cent from a year earlier, the General Statistics Office said on Tuesday.
Total registered FDI as of Feb 20, including new pledges, additional investment funds to existing projects and share acquisition, slumped 38 per cent to a combined US$3.1 billion year on year, the data showed, reported Xinhua.
Singapore remained the top source of new FDI pledges to the country in the period with US$769.3 million, followed by China with US$254.3 million.
Foreign direct investment has been a key driver of Vietnam’s economic growth.
Companies with investments from foreign firms accounted for about 74.4 per cent of the country’s total exports in 2022, according to government data.
Foreign direct investment disbursements in the Southeast Asian country rose 13.5 per cent to US$22.4 billion last year from a year earlier, while investment pledges was down 11 per cent to US$27.72 billion, said the Ministry of Planning and Investment in a statement posted on its website.
Vietnam’s economy grew at the fastest pace since 2011 to 8.02 per cent in 2022. Vietnam is targetting GDP growth of 6.5 per cent and inflation at 4.5 per cent for this year. –Bernama