Foreign investment to HCMC soars 49%

Foreign investors pledged more than US$472 million into 451 newly licensed projects in the period, marking a year-on-year rise of 22.6% in the number of new projects, VietnamPlus news site reported.

The property sector took the lead in foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction in HCMC in the first five months, with capital rising by 46.7% over the year-ago period.

The second position belonged to science and technology, making up 23.4% of the total investment in the city, followed by retail and wholesale as well as automobile and motorbike repair, representing 16.8% of the total.

The five-month period also saw the city attract over US$214 million in additional capital for 102 operational foreign-invested projects, up 35.8% in value and 27.5% in volume, year-on-year.

Capital contribution and share purchases by foreign investors through mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in HCMC amounted to some US$2.08 billion during the period, up a whopping 64.3% year-on-year.

The foreign investors carried out 1,719 M&A deals with local firms, soaring by 33% against the same period last year, with the real estate sector attracting the most capital.

As for the domestic business activities, the city saw the total registered and additional capital reach VND348 trillion, up 4.6% from the year earlier. Some 16,600 enterprises were licensed for business, with total registered capital of VND265.6 trillion, surging by 43.2% year-on-year.