As of June 20, 2020, the total value of newly registered capital, adjusted capital and capital contribution or share purchase by foreign investors reached 15.67 billion USD, equalling 84.9% as compared to the same period in 2019. Capital generated by FDI projects was estimated at 8.65 billion USD, equalling 95.1% as compared to the same period in 2019.

Accumulated as of June 20, 2020, the whole country has  32,212 valid projects with total registered capital of 377.9 billion dollars. The accumulated realized capital of FDI projects was estimated at 220.4 billion USD, equalling 58.3% of the total valid registered investment capital.

Details are as follows:

I. FDI INFLOWS

1. FDI attraction in the first 6 months of 2020

1.1. FDI performance:

Realized capital:

As of June 20, 2020, foreign direct investment projects were estimated to disburse 8.65 billion, or 95.1 % over the same period in 2019.

Import and export performance:

Export: Export turnover of the foreign invested sector decreased both in value compared to the same period and the proportion of the country's export turnover. Export (including crude oil) reached 79.8 billion USD, a drop of 6.7% over the same period, accounting for 65.9 %  of export turnover. Export excluding crude oil was 79 billion USD, down by 6.4% compared to the same period last year, accounting for 65.2% of national export turnover in the first 6 months of 2020.

Import: Import of the FDI sector was 65.6 billion USD, a fall of 5.4% over the same period last year and accounting for 56% of the national import turnover.

Despite a decrease compared to the same period, in the first 6 months of 2020, the FDI sector still saw a trade surplus of 14.2 billion USD including crude oil and a trade surplus of 13.4 billion USD excluding crude oil, offsetting the trade deficit of nearly USD 10.2 billion created by the domestic sector, helping the country to gain a trade surplus of over 4 billion USD.

As of June 20, 2020, the total value of newly registered capital, adjusted capital and capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors reached 15.67 billion USD, a decline of 15.1% compared to the same period last year. Although the newly registered capital and adjusted capital increased over the same period, the capital made by foreign investors in the form of capital contribution and share purchase continued to decline sharply, reducing the total investment capital attracted in 6 the first month of the year.                                

Foreign direct investment in the first 6 months during the period of 2016-2020

Compared to 2018 and 2017, the registered investment capital in the first 6 months of 2020 also decreased by 22.9% and 18.5% respectively, but the number of newly registered investment projects increased by 3, 8% and 19.9%  respectively.

Of which:

The registered capital: There were 1418 new projects granted with investment certificates (down by 17.7% over the same period). Total registered capital reached 8.44 billion USD ( up by 13.8% compared with the same period last year). The increase in investment is thanks to the new LNG project which was granted with an investment certificate worth 4 billion USD (47.4% of total newly registered capital in the first 6 months of the year). Large projects have pushed the average project size up over the same period, from 4.3 million USD in 2019 to nearly 6 million USD in 2020.

Capital adjustments: There were 526 times of projects registered for adjustment of investment capital (a year-on-year decrease of 16.2%), the total additional registered capital reached over 3.7 billion USD (up by 26.8 % compared with the same period last year). The adjusted capital increased in 6 months thanks to the capital expansion of Vietnam Southern Petrochemical Complex Project in Ba Ria - Vung Tau (Thailand) by US $ 1,386 billion.

Capital contribution and share purchase: There were 4,125 times of capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors (up by 2.6% over the same period last year) with total value of contributed capital worth 3.51 billion USD (equal to 43.2% compared to same period last year). Although the number of times of capital contribution and share purchase increased, the size of capital contribution is small, only 0.85 million USD/capital contribution on average, much smaller than the average size in the first 6 months of 2019.  The portion of capital contribution and share purchase in the total registered investment capital also decreased significantly compared to the same period in 2019 (from nearly 44% in the first 6 months of 2019 to 22.4% in the first 6 months of 2020).

(Detailed tables in Appendix I attached to the report).

By sector:

Foreign investors have invested in 18  sectors, of which the processing and manufacturing led with total investment capital of over 8 billion USD, accounting for 51.1 % of the total registered investment capital. Electricity production and distribution ranked second with investment capital of 3.95 billion USD, accounting for 25.2% of total registered investment capital. This is followed by retail and wholesale sector and real estate business with the total registered capital of 1.08 billion USD and nearly 850 million USD respectively. The rest are other sectors.

By counterpart:

There are 98 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Singapore led with total investment of 5.44 billion USD, accounting for 34.7 % of total investment in Vietnam; Thailand ranked second with total investment of 1.58 billion USD, accounting for 10.1% of total investment capital. China ranked third with total registered capital of 1.58 billion USD, accounting for 10.1 % of total investment capital . Next were Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.

In terms of the number of new projects, South Korea ranked first (372 projects); China ranked second (207 projects); Japan ranked third (154 projects); and Hong Kong ranked fourth (129 projects).

By location:

Foreign investors invested in 57 provinces and cities across the country. Bac Lieu continued to lead with a large project worth 4 billion USD, accounting for 25.5% of total registered investment capital. Ho Chi Minh City ranked second with more than 2 billion USD, accounting for 12.9 % of total investment capital (of which investment in the form of capital contribution, share purchase accounted for a large proportion or 75.6 % of the City’s total registered investment capital, 54% of the turns of capital contribution and share purchase and 43.4% of the nationwide value of capital contribution). Ba Ria - Vung Tau ranked third with 1.95 billion USD, accounting for 12.4% of total investment capital . Next are Hanoi, Binh Duong, and Hai Phong.

Regarding the number of new projects, Ho Chi Minh City led the list (533 projects); Hanoi ranked second (286 projects); Bac Ninh ranked third (88 projects).

(Detailed tables in Appendix II attached to the report).

Several major projects in June and the first 6 months of 2020:

In June 2020, particularly:

(1) Knitting factory project at Texhong Hai Industrial Park (Hong Kong), with investment of 214 million USD aimed at producing knitted fabric in Quang Ninh.

(2) USI Factory Project in Vietnam (China), with investment of 200 million USD aimed at manufacturing wearable electronic circuit boards in Hai Phong.

(3) Factory Project Furukawa Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. Vinh Long Vietnam (Japan), with investment of 48.8 million USD manufacturing electric wires for cars in Vinh Long.

In the first 6 months of 2020:

(1) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Plant Project under the operation of Bac Lieu LNG Thermal Power Centre (Singapore) having total registered investment capital of 4 billion USD with the goal of producing electricity from liquefied natural gas (granted with a certificate of competency on January 16, 2020).

(2) The South Vietnam Petrochemical Complex Project (Thailand) in Ba Ria - Vung Tau with an increase of adjusted investment capital by 1,386 billion USD on April 18, 2020

(3) Radian Jinyu Tire Manufacturing Plant Project (Vietnam) with total investment of 300 million USD aimed at producing full steel TBR tires invested by Chinese investors in Tay Ninh (granted with a certificate of investment on January 1, 2020).

(4) Victory Project - A factory manufacturing high-tech electronic products in Dong Van, Ha Nam (Taiwan), worth 273 million USD with the goal of manufacturing and assembling electronic computer and computer auxiliary equipment, production of civil electronic audio and visual equipment (granted with a certificate of competency on April 1, 2020)

(5) The Office Building project at 29 Lieu Giai (Singapore) with an increase of adjusted investment capital by 246 million USD on March 31, 2020 (amended investment certificate issued on March 31, 2020).

2. FDI attraction performance in June 2020

In June 2020 only, the whole country attracted  1.79 billion USD of newly registered capital, expanded investment and capital contribution and share purchase from foreign investors, 3.1% increase over the same period in 2019, a rise of 14.9% compared to May 2020 and accounted for 11.4% of total investment capital attracted in the first 6 months.

Foreign investment attraction by month of 2020

Of which:

- 206 projects were newly granted with certificates of investment, total registered capital reached US $ 997.1 million, up by 4.5% over the same period last year, a surge of 51% compared to May 2020 and accounted for 55.8% of the total investment capital in the month. Although the number of newly registered investment projects in June decreased compared to the previous months, some large-sized production projects of over 200 million USD were licensed.

- 90 times of expanded projects made a rise of registered capital by nearly 268.8 million USD, equalling 87.7% compared to the same period last year, accounting for 15.1% of the total investment capital in the month. This is also the month with the least increase in investment capital in the first 6 months as a result of reduction in both quantity and size of capital adjustment.

- 597 times of capital contribution and share purchase were made by foreign investors, the total value of contributed capital was nearly 519.5 million USD, up by 10.3% compared to the same period last year, a slight increase (1.5%) compared to May 2020 and accounted for 29.1% of the total investment capital in the month.

3. Evaluation of the FDI performance in June and the first 6 months of 2020

- Investment capital in June 2020 has rebounded after falling in May 2020, and increased by 3.1% compared to the same period last year. The size of new investment projects also rose significantly, the average capital size in June reached 4.8 million USD/project, 67.2% higher than May 2020, 2.4 times higher than March 2020 and 2.2 times higher than February 2020 (lower than April 2020 with the average size of 5.5 million USD/project and January with the average size of more than 17 million USD/project thanks to a large project of 4 billion USD).

- The Covid-19 pandemic had negative impacts on the world economy, in which production and business activities were delayed, many businesses fell into difficult situations. Generated capital of FDI projects continued to decrease in the first 6 months, equivalent to only 95.1% over the same period, yet the rate of reduction is gradually improving compared to the previous months.

- The travel of investors as well as decisions of making new investment and expansion of existing foreign investment projects was still affected. The number of new projects and capital adjustments decreased over the same period, especially newly registered projects (down in June and 6 months). Although new investment and capital adjustment increased, most of the rise was thanks to large projects, which had been submitted and negotiated for a long time before. If large projects of 1 billion USD  were excluded, the total newly, adjusted and contributed capital made by foreign investors in the first 6 months of 2020 would be equal to only 70.4% of the same period last year.

- The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continued to affect import and export turnover nationwide. Although the FDI sector still saw a trade surplus of 14.2 billion USD and contributed to the surplus of 4 billion USD of the trade balance, the import-export turnover continued to decline compared to the same period.

- In the first 6 months and especially in June, thousands of experts from Korea, Hong Kong and Japan continued to be supported to enter Vietnam to maintain and expand production.

4 . Accumulated foreign direct investment as of June 20, 2020

Accumulated as of June 20 , 2020, the whole country had 32,212 valid projects with total registered capital of 377.9 billion USD. The accumulated realized capital of FDI projects was estimated at 220.4 billion USD, equalling 58.3 % of the total valid registered capital.

- By sector: Foreign investors have invested in 19/21 branches in the national economic classification system, of which the processing and manufacturing sector accounts for the highest proportion of 221.4 billion USD, or 58.6 % of total investment capital, followed by real estate business with 58.4 billion USD (or 15.4 % of total investment capital); electricity production and distribution with 27.5 billion USD (capturing 7.3 % of total investment capital).

- By counterpart: There are 136 countries and territories having investment projects in Vietnam, in which, South Korea ranked first with total registered capital of 68.3 billion USD (or 18, 1 % of total investment capital). Japan ranked second with 60.1 billion USD (capturing 15.9 % of total investment capital), followed by Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

- By location: Foreign investment has been present in all 63 provinces and cities nationwide, of which Ho Chi Minh City is still the leading province in attracting foreign investment with 47.7 billion USD (accounting for 12.6 % of total investment); followed by Hanoi with 37.6 billion USD (or 10 % of total investment capital); Binh Duong with 34.9 billion USD (9, 2 % of total investment capital).

(Detailed tables in Appendix III attached to the report)

II. FDI OUTFLOWS

In the first 6 months of 2020, Vietnam’s total newly registered investment and expanded investment outflows were 222.67 million USD, up by 11.4% compared to the same period last year. Of which 70 projects were were newly registered with total investment of 185.3 million (an increase of 78.4 over the same period) and 14 times of investment adjustment with capital gain of 37.4 million USD (equal to 38.9 % of the same period last year).

In June 2020 particularly, 10 projects were granted with new investment registration certificates and 3 times of projects were expanded with the total new and additional investment capital of 42 million USD, 2.5 times higher than the same period last year, 37.6% compared to May 2020 (the large project of Masan Tungsten Co., Ltd. (Germany) was invested in May 2020 with a total investment outflow of 91.5 million USD).

Vietnamese investors have invested in 14 sectors abroad. In which, processing and manufacturing led the list with 3 new projects and 2 times of capital adjustment obtaining total registered capital of 137.9 million USD, accounting for 61.9%. Wholesale and retail ranked second with total investment capital of 33.8 million USD, accounting for 15.2%; followed by accommodation and catering services, professional activities, science and technology.

There are 18 countries and territories receiving investment from Vietnam in the first 6 months of 2020. Leading is Germany with 4 new investment projects worth 92.6 million USD, accounting for 41.6 % of total investment. Myanmar ranked second with 38.3 million USD, accounting for 17.2%. Next are Laos, USA and Singapore.

(Detailed tables in Appendix IV attached to the report).

Ministry of Planning and Investment