Covid-19 pandemic takes toll on FDI

Around half, $11.66 billion, went into new projects and $5.71 billion into existing projects, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Of the latter, Thailand’s Siam Cement Group alone accounted for $1.39 billion as it increased its investment in the Long Son Petrochemical Complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau to nearly $5.1 billion.

The remaining $6.11 billion worth of the FDI pledges, which indicate the size of future FDI disbursements, went into buying stakes, representing a 43.5 percent fall.

Experts said the lack of international flights and the global economic fallout have hit FDI in Vietnam though it fared better than most other countries, with the World Bank saying in a report this month that the global decline this year is expected to be 30-40 percent.

Much of the investment went into 18 industries, with manufacturing leading with 45.7 percent, followed by energy and real estate.

The FDI came from 109 countries and territories led by Singapore, which accounted for 31.9 percent, largely due to a $4-billion LNG-fired power plant in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu.

It was followed by South Korea, China, and Japan. Bac Lieu, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi attracted the most FDI.

FDI disbursement fell 2.5 percent year-on-year to $15.8 billion between January and October.

In 2019, FDI pledges had been worth $38 billion, a 10-year high.