Meanwhile, 85 operational projects citywide applied for capital increases in the January-September period, with a total of US$623 million added, surging 78.73% year-on-year, much higher than the total fresh capital. The city licensed 278 new FDI projects in the first nine months, up 3.35% year-on-year, but the total pledged capital of these projects is only US$447.5 million, a drop of a staggering 76.4% over the same period last year.

Overall, HCMC had attracted US$1.07 billion in FDI in the year to end-September, equal to 47.47% of the year-ago figure, said the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment.

Though FDI inflow declined significantly, it has regained the uptrend recently. In the third quarter, 100 new FDI projects were granted investment certificates, up 10% year-on-year, with total registered capital of US$200 million, a hefty rise of 70.6% against the same period last year.

In addition, 35 operational projects raised their capital by US$128 million, taking the total newly-registered and additional FDI in the third quarter to US$327 million, picking up 32.23% over the year-ago period.

Despite the troubled property market, fresh FDI in this sector ranked first in September with over US$117.6 million poured into seven projects. Manufacturing and processing took the second place with 29 projects worth US$94 million, followed by wholesale, retail, and auto and motorbike repair, luring some US$89 million into 91 projects.