Vietnam attracted nearly 5.45 billion USD worth of foreign investment in the first quarter of the year, down 39% year-on-year.

Of the three-month figure, over 3 billion USD came from 520 newly-licensed projects, up 62% in a number of projects but down 6% in the amount of capital compared to the same period last year.

However, foreign investors’ capital contribution and share purchases rose 4% year-on-year to over 790 million USD.

Along with the contraction in fresh capital, the disbursed capital also slightly plunged 2.2% from a year earlier to 4.3 billion USD.

The most significant proportion of the period’s foreign investment, 4 billion USD or 73%, landed in processing and manufacturing, followed by real estate.

Singapore topped foreign investors, pouring 1.69 billion USD into Vietnam or equivalent to 31% of the nation’s total foreign investment. It was followed by mainland China and Taiwan.

VNA