HCMC – While January-August foreign investment approvals countrywide dipped 12.3%, fresh approvals in HCMC soared 24% against the year-ago period at US$2.71 billion.
Le Thi Huynh Mai, director of HCMC Planning and Investment Department, said new foreign investment approvals in HCMC included capital contributions and acquisitions of shares in local firms.
Of US$2.71 billion, US$309.4 million was registered by 479 projects, up 24.1% and down 17.6% year-on-year, respectively. US$1.47 billion was added by 96 operational projects, up 127.3% versus the year earlier and down 17.9%, respectively.
The eight-month period saw 1,632 foreign investors getting approval from the city to contribute capital and buy shares, with a total value of over US$926 million. These respective numbers represent a rise of around 0.4% and a fall of 19.7%.
Nguyen Khac Hoang, director of the HCMC Statistics Office, said this was a five-year high in foreign investment approvals.
In the first eight months of the year, HCMC emerged as the most attractive destination for foreign investment, accounting for 16.1% of the total in the country.
As for domestic investment, Mai said HCMC saw an 8.23% year-over-year drop to VND703,553 billion. Of this, VND346,887 billion in new capital came from 29,224 enterprises, down 5.42% against the same period last year.
Some VND356,666 billion was added by 82,176 operational enterprises, down 10.81% year-over-year.
According to Hoang, the data suggested that domestic enterprises still struggled with difficulties.
The Department of Planning and Investment has completed the dissolution procedures for 2,930 businesses, down 0.17% year-over-year.
Another 17,443 enterprises temporarily shut down, up 42.38% year-on-year, and 10,895 others resumed operations, up 18.9%.
The number of businesses that exited the market in the period was 104,300, up 22% over the same period last year.
