During the period, the nation licensed just 504 new foreign-invested projects worth USD 5.62 billion, a decline of 89 per cent year-on-year.

Ministry officials said, however, that additional capital of USD 4.82 billion pumped into 149 existing projects gave reason for optimism in the context of the current economic crisis, demonstrating the confidence of existing investors in the country’s economic recovery and potential.

While disbursements of committed capital also declined 8.5 per cent to USD 6.5 billion, they were on target to reach the FIA’s goal of capital disbursement of USD 9 billion for this year.

US firms were the leading source of foreign investment in Viet Nam, investing over USD 3.95 billion, or 37.8 per cent of the registered total. It was followed by Taiwan with USD 1.35 billion or 12.9 per cent.

The services sector attracted the largest share of FDI, gobbling up USD 4.56 billion. Of the figure, USD 755 million was committed to 20 new projects while USD 3.8 billion, or 83.3 per cent of the total, went into three existing projects.

Processing industries surpassed the real estate sector to become the second most attractive sector, drawing investment of USD 2.32 billion, including USD 1.74 billion in new projects.

HCM City remained the most favoured destination for foreign investors, followed by Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong provinces. Next were Ha Noi and Dong Nai province.

As of August 19, the country had 10,670 valid foreign-invested projects, worth over USD 166 trillion. Taiwan ranked top among 88 countries and territories making investments in Viet Nam with 2,000 valid projects valued at USD 21.2 billion, followed by South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Singapore.