In a report released yesterday, FIA said that as of August 20, 672 fresh FDI projects had been granted investment certificates, with a total registered capital of US$5.52 billion, equal to 56.5% of the year-ago figure.

Meanwhile, 244 ongoing projects have applied for capital increase, with US$2.95 billion added, down 3.2% year-on-year.

Overall, the total fresh and additional capital in the first eight months is US$8.47 billion, falling 33.9% against the same period last year.

Among the 672 new projects, only one has investment capital of over US$1 billion, namely the Japan-invested Tokyu Binh Duong urban project with the registered capital of US$1.2 billion.

In addition, 57 projects, or 8.1 % of the total number, have a size of US$10 million or above, focusing on processing, manufacturing and property trading.

Meanwhile, there are 126 projects, or 19%, with capital scale of US$100,000 or below, mainly in the fields of consulting services, trading and software production.

Notably, among the 52 nations and territories with investment in Vietnam in the year to date, Japan accounts for more than 50% of the total investment, with fresh and additional capital totaling US$4.33 billion.

The second largest investor is Samoa with a total newly-registered and additional capital of US$889.8 million, followed by South Korea with US$654.7 million and Singapore with US$514.5 million.

Processing and manufacturing lures the most foreign investors with 281 fresh projects. The total newly-registered and additional capital in the sector is put at US$5.47 billion, accounting for 67.8% of the total FDI inflow in eight months.

Real estate comes second with eight new projects. Fresh and additional capital poured into this sector amounts to US$1.72 billion, or 20.4% of the total FDI.

Wholesale and retail sale, maintenance and repair, transport and healthcare occupy the following ranks.

As of now, Binh Duong is the locality that attracts the most FDI capital, with US$1.84 billion of fresh and additional capital, or 21.8% of the total FDI. Haiphong is the runner-up with US$1.05 billion, 12.4%, and Dong Nai takes the third place with US$972.8 million, followed by HCMC, Bac Giang and Hanoi.

In the first eight months, US$7.28 billion worth of FDI capital has been disbursed, equal to 99.7% of the year-ago figure.

Typical large-scale FDI projects in Vietnam since the year’s beginning are Tokyu Binh Duong in Binh Duong, the expansion project of Wintek Vietnam in B ac Giang, with US$870 million of additional capital, and the project by tire manufacturer Bridgestone Vietnam in Haiphong, worth US$574.8 million.