Singapore Emerges as Top Investor in Vietnam
South Korea has been relegated to fifth place in terms of the amount of investment in Vietnam.
The amount of foreign direct and indirect investment made in Vietnam until May 20 this year reached US$13.89 billion, down about 17 percent from the same period of 2019, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and local media outlets including VN Explorer on June 2. Singapore turned out to be the biggest investor in Vietnam, followed by Thailand, China and Japan.
In 2019, Korea was the largest investor in Vietnam. In that year, Korea invested a total of US$7.92 billion in Vietnam, reclaiming the top spot in three years.
Foreign investment in Vietnam fell as indirect investments including equity investment and stock purchases plummeted 60.9 percent on year to US$2.99 billion. The amount of fresh foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam totaled US$7.44 billion, up 15.2 percent from the previous year. The amount of subsequent FDI hit US$3.45 billion, up 31.4 percent from 2019.
Vietnam's largest FDI attraction in the first five months of 2020 is a US$4 billion wind power plant construction project in the southern province of Bac Lieu.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at a recent meeting that Vietnam should attract FDI by focusing on leading companies and high-tech companies by industries. He also stressed the need to create a business-friendly environment.