US$21.48 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) has flown into Vietnam this year despite the global economic crisis and stiff competition from other regional countries.
Of the total, US$16.34 billion is registered by 839 newly-licensed projects and the rest from additional capital poured into 215 ongoing projects, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).
The agency said that accommodation and restaurant services continued to catch the eye of foreign investors this year, drawing in US$8.8 billion.
Real estate came second with an estimated US$7.6 billion, followed by manufacturing and processing with US$2.97 billion.
In 2009, the country’s disbursed capital is estimated to have reached US$10 billion, about 1.5 billion lower than in 2008 when FDI hit a record high of US$64 billion, according to the agency.
