Do Nhat Hoang, head of MPI’s Foreign Investment Department, said FDI mobilisation in the first half of the year reached $6.4 billion compared with the $8.8 billion in the same period of 2011. FDI disbursement during the same period amounted to $5.4 billion, compared with last year’s $5.3 billion.

He said FDI figures for the first half of 2012 are a positive sign for the Vietnamese economy, especially at a time of global economic crisis.

The downward tendency in FDI mobilisation of late is because Viet Nam is targeting higher quality inflows, Hoang said.

“We can say that recently compiled statistics on FDI mobilisation and disbursement are in conformity with our expectations.”

Hoang said FDI in the manufacturing industry increased from 64 per cent in the first half of 2011 to 65.3 per cent during the same period this year.

Meanwhile, foreign investment in the service sector fell from 35 per cent to 34 per cent, while rising in the agricultural sector from 0.4 per cent to 0.9 per cent.

With an investment of $1.2 billion in the Tokyu property development project in Binh Duong Province, Japan was the largest foreign investor in Viet Nam in the first half of 2012.

Hoang said this was a good sign for the local property market because Japanese investors were very cautious in their decision – makings.

Barring major unforseen changes, the measures taken by the Government to improve the country’s investment envrironment would help Viet Nam reach its FDI mobilisation and disbursement targets for 2012, he added.