HCMC – In the first two months of the year, HCMC attracted only three foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered capital of US$115 million, with 99.7% of the amount being injected into property projects.
The HCMC Statistics Office attributed the small FDI in the period as the Covid-19 pandemic has left tremendous impact on many countries, especially those that are HCMC’s investment partners.
Of the total FDI, Singapore made up 29.6% and the Netherlands, 70.1%.
Besides the newly registered projects, the period saw 22 operational FDI projects in the city revising up their investment by a total of US$53.3 million. Further, foreign investors conducted 168 transactions to contribute capital and acquire stakes in local companies with a combined value of US$169.5 million.
Thus, the total foreign investment in the city in the first two months was US$337.8 million, down 29.7% over the same period last year.
Of the total, US$145.1 million was poured in the real estate sector, accounting for 43% of the total, followed by the science and technology sector with US$57.5 million and the processing and manufacturing sector with US$41 million.
During the period, Singapore was the largest foreign investor in HCMC, making up 37.1% of the city’s total foreign investment. The Netherlands came in second with 23.9%, followed by South Korea with 13.2% and the Cayman Islands with 7.6%.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the total foreign investment in the whole country in January and February reached US$5.46 billion, down 15.6% year-on-year.
HCMC’s foreign investment in the two-month period was lower than that of Can Tho, Haiphong, Bac Giang, Binh Duong and Tay Ninh, while the city was always among the top places attracting the most foreign investment in the last few years.
By Le Hoang
