HANOI: Total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam reached US$15.2bil in the first quarter of 2026, up 42.9% year-on-year (y-o-y), according to the Finance Ministry’s National Statistics Office.
Of the total, 904 newly licensed projects registered combined capital of US$10.23bil, marking a 6.4% y-o-y increase in the project number and a 2.4-fold rise in capital compared to the same period last year.
The manufacturing and processing sector continued to attract the lion’s share of new FDI, drawing US$7.07bil, equivalent to 69% of the newly registered capital.
It was followed by electricity, gas, water and air conditioner production and distribution, which secured US$2.28bil, accounting for 22.3%. The remaining sectors posted $884.6mil, or 8.7%.
Notably, the disbursed FDI in the January to March period was estimated at US$5.41bil, up 9.1% y-o-y and the highest first quarter figure recorded over the past five years.
Manufacturing and processing also dominated the disbursed capital, with US$4.48bil, representing 82.8% of the total.
Real estate saw US$389.5mil disbursed (7.2%) while electricity, gas, hot water, steam, and air conditioner production and distribution US$196.1mil (3.6%).
Among the 52 countries and territories with newly licensed projects, Singapore remained the largest investor with US$5.32bil, making up 52% of total new capital.
It was followed by South Korea with 3.68bil (35.9%), mainland China with US$417.5mil (4.1%), Hong Kong (China) with US$256.8mil (2.5%), Japan with US$191.3mil (1.9%) and the United States with US$91.3mil (0.9%).
Meanwhile, 251 existing projects registered additional capital of US$2.3bil, down 55.1% y-o-y.
Combining both newly registered and additional capital, the manufacturing and processing sector attracted US$8.85bil, accounting for 70.6% of the total. — Viet Nam News/ANN
