Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

As of October 20, foreign investment totaled approximately 23 billion USD, down 5.4% from last year, according to the Foreign Investment Department of the Ministry of Planning and Investment. But it’s worth noting that the disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) rose sharply and is forecast to reach 21-22 billion USD this year, up to 11.5% higher than last year.

The Foreign Investment Agency says newly registered investment capital is still recovering but adjusted capital, capital contributions, and share purchases all increased from last year. More than 1,500 new projects were granted investment registration certificates, up more than 14% over the same period last year.

In the past 10 months, Singapore topped the list of foreign investors in Vietnam with total capital of more than 5.3 billion USD, accounting for 23.8% of the total. Japan ranked second and South Korea third.

By October 20, foreign investors had poured nearly 270 bil;lion USD in Vietnam.

Alain Cany, President of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Eurocham), said many foreign businesses consider Vietnam a top destination for long-term, high-quality investment.

On the sidelines of an HSBC event last week, Mr. Cany noted that Vietnam has recently received a lot of investment from Europe. For example, Lego is building a carbon-free factory in Vietnam.

At a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in September, Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization in Hanoi Nakajima Takeo said that more than half of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam are planning to expand their operation, the highest in ASEAN.

In another survey of 1,700 Japanese parent companies, Vietnam ranked second in answer to the question "where do you want to expand your investments?”