The Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the MPI also revealed an increase in new registered investment capital. During the period, around 860 new foreign-invested projects, valued at around $8.9 billion, were granted licences, accounting for 70 percent of the same period last year.

Meanwhile, 264 established projects received approval to raise their capital levels by a combined $2.4 billion, a jump of 38 per cent against last year.

While some foreign investors have expressed concern about domestic macroeconomic fluctuations, FIA’s Director Do Nhat Hoang said that investors continued to seek local opportunities based on present levels of development.

Hoang added that in this month alone, 86 projects had raised their capital, the highest number so far this year.

This could be a good sign as FDI business growth could serve as evidence of good investment conditions.

The processing and manufacturing sectors jumped by $5.6 billion, accounting for half of the total FDI, with 362 newly registered projects and 190 increasing their capital.

Electricity production and distribution sectors contributed $2.5 billion while the construction industry made up $712 million.

Hong Kong remained Vietnam’s largest source of foreign investment with $2.98 billion, making up 26 percent of the country’s total FDI capital, followed by Singapore with $1.55 billion and Japan with $1.31 billion.

The northern province of Hai Duong attracted the largest amount of FDI, drawing $2.56 billion, 23 percent of the national total. The province granted a licence to the Hai Duong Thermoelectricity plant operated via the Build-Operate-Transfer model at a total investment of $2.26 billion.

FDI businesses experienced $43.2 billion in export turnover while imports made 38 percent.

The FDI sector enjoyed an export trade surplus of $4.9 billion in the same period. However, the department said that some FDI enterprises had to borrow money from credit organisations in Vietnam, negatively affecting the country’s investment environment.

The Government has asked relevant agencies to strictly manage foreign currency and FDI activities.