HÀ NỘI — Foreign investment inflows into Việt Nam maintained strong growth momentum over the past 11 months while the disbursed capital reached the highest level in five years, the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Finance said on December 6.

Disbursement progress continued to accelerate, hitting a record high for the 2021–25 period, reflecting Việt Nam’s improved capacity to absorb capital and foreign enterprises' commitment to project implementation.

Specifically, the disbursed foreign capital between January and November was estimated at $23.6 billion, up 8.9 per cent year on year and also the highest level recorded over the past five years. The processing and manufacturing sector accounted for 82.9 per cent of the total, at $19.56 billion.

The NSO reported that total registered foreign investment during the period reached $33.69 billion, rising 7.4 per cent from a year earlier.

Of this, newly registered capital exceeded $15.95 billion, down 8.2 per cent annually due to the absence of large-scale projects. Meanwhile, capital poured into existing projects increased by 17 per cent to nearly $11.62 billion, and capital contributions and share purchases surged 50.7 per cent to almost $6.12 billion.

According to the Ministry of Finance, despite a decline in the average size of new projects, the number of new ones grew strongly, indicating robust interest from small- and medium-sized foreign investors. A total of 3,695 new projects were licensed in the 11-month period, up 21.7 per cent in number.

Combining newly registered capital and additional capital for existing projects, foreign investment channelled into the processing and manufacturing industry reached $16.52 billion, accounting for 59.9 per cent of the total. Real estate attracted $5.72 billion (20.7 per cent) while other sectors drew $5.34 billion (19.4 per cent).

Statistics also show that among the 88 countries and territories with newly licensed projects in Việt Nam during the January–November period, Singapore was the largest investor with $4.29 billion (26.9 per cent of the total). It was followed by China with $3.4 billion (21.3 per cent), Hong Kong (China) with $1.66 billion (10.4 per cent), Japan with $1.56 billion (9.8 per cent), Sweden with $1 billion (6.3 per cent), Taiwan (China) with $951.1 million (6 per cent), and the Republic of Korea with $659.6 million (4.1 per cent). 

Public investment disbursement

Meanwhile, more than VNĐ360 trillion (US$13.7 billion) of public investment has yet been disbursed this year, putting heavy pressure to accelerate spending in the remaining months, the Ministry of Finance has said.

The ministry’s statistics showed that as of the end of November, public investment disbursement reached VNĐ553.25 trillion, or 60.6 per cent of the Prime Minister’s assigned plan, 2.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The disbursement results are positive despite the impacts of natural disasters, storms and floods, the ministry said. Still, greater efforts are needed to achieve the Government’s target of the disbursement rate at 100 per cent while the remaining amount to be disbursed is large.

Performance across ministries and localities remains uneven, according to the finance ministry. By the end of November, only 12 central agencies and 20 provinces and cities had disbursement rates at or above the national average.

Provinces with low disbursement rates include Tuyên Quang, Sơn La, Cần Thơ, Vĩnh Long, Quảng Tri, Đắk Lắk, Lâm Đồng, Khánh Hòa, Cao Bằng, Đà Nẵng, An Giang and Hưng Yên.

To speed up the public investment disbursement, the Ministry of Finance urged ministries and localities to focus on resolving bottlenecks related to natural disasters, administrative restructuring, legal frameworks and construction material shortages. — VNA/VNS