Japan is now the biggest investor in Vietnam , with total registered investment capital of 4.33 billion USD, accounting for 51.1 percent of total FDI in the country, according to the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
It is followed by Samoa with a total capital of 889.8 million USD of FDI, while the Republic of Korea ranks third with 654 million USD.
Binh Duong leads the country in attracting FDI, with 1.84 million USD, while Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi drop to the forth and fifth position respectively, after Hai Phong and Dong Nai.
As per August 20 statistics, there have been 672 newly licensed projects operating nationwide with a total capital of 5. 52 billion USD, equivalent to 56.5 percent of the same period last year. Meanwhile, another 244 projects with 2.95 billion USD have also been registered, raising the total FDI in the first eight month of this year to 8.47 billion USD, equivalent to 66.1 percent of the 2011 figure.
Processing and manufacturing are proving to be most attractive sectors with a total of 5.74 billion USD invested in 281 projects, accounting for 67.8 percent of the total registered FDI so far this year. They are followed by the real estate sector, which contributed 20.4 percent to the total investment.
Considerable projects licensed in August are the Japan-funded Tokyu Binh Duong Urban Area with 1.2 billion USD, an expansion project of Wintek Vietnam and a Bridgestone tyre plant in northern provinces of in Bac Giang province and Hai Phong city with 870 million USD and 574. 8 million USD, respectively.
According to the Foreign Investment Department, in order to attract more FDI, it is necessary to put large industrial projects into the national industrial development master plan until 2020.
In Jan-August period, as much as 7.28 million USD was also disbursed, equivalent to 99.7 percent of the same period last year./.