FDI to Vietnam declines sharply in Q1

HANOI, Mar 27 (Xinhua): Foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam witnessed a sharp decrease of 49.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2014 year-on-year, said Vietnam's General Statistics Office (GSO) Thursday.
According to the statistics office, since the beginning of 2014 till March 20, Vietnam received over US$3.33 billion in FDI.
During the period, a total of 252 new projects were licensed with registered capital of over $2.04 billion, down 6.0 per cent in project number and 38.6 per cent in capital year-on-year.
Foreign investors also registered to add some $1.29 billion to 82 existed projects, said GSO.
The manufacturing and processing sector lured the most FDI during the period, with $2.33 billion, accounting for 69.9 per cent of the total FDI to Vietnam, followed by real estate sector with $288.3 million (over 8 per cent of total FDI).
During the period, southern economic hub Ho Chi Minh City was the most attractive destination to foreign investors with $687.7 million, about one third of the total newly- registered capital.
South Korea was the largest investor to Vietnam in the first quarter, pouring some $534 million to the country, making up over 26 per cent of total FDI to Vietnam during the period, followed by China's Hong Kong with $264.5 million.
In the first quarter of 2014, FDI disbursement is estimated to reach $2.85 billion, an increase of 5.6 per cent over the same period in 2013.
During the period, FDI sector is forecast to earn some $20.78 billion from exports (excluding crude oil), an increase of 18.9 per cent year-on-year, accounting for 62.3 per cent of the country's total export revenue.
If crude oil included, the sector is expected to pocket $22.47 billion, up 16.3 year-on-year.