January-February FDI inflows down 25 per cent

According to statistics published by the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first two months of this year, foreign investors poured $5 billion into 500 newly-registered projects, three-quarters of which came from the Bac Lieu LNG-to-power project. In addition, $638.1 million of capital was added to 151 existing projects, down 25.4 per cent on-year.

Furthermore, there were 1,583 M&A deals with a total capital of $827.3 million, up 52.4 per cent on-year.

Almost all FDI capital ($3.89 billion) was poured into the power manufacturing and distribution sector, making up 60.2 per cent of the total. The runner up was manufacturing and processing with $1.76 billion, making up 27.3 per cent.

Notably, foreign investors poured capital into 48 cities and provinces across the country. Bac Lieu became the locality receiving the largest FDI inflow thanks to the Bac Lieu LNG project.

Among the 23 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, Singapore is the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with a total $4.12 billion, making up 63.7 per cent of the total capital inflows. The runners-up are mainland China and South Korea.

In December 2019, the Government Office issued Letter No./TTg-CN, granting the prime minister’s approval to include the Bac Lieu LNG-to-power project in the revised National Power Development Plan for the 2011-2020 period with vision to 2030. The entire 3,200MW capacity of the project was added to the planning. On January 21, 2020, Bac Lieu People’s Committee granted the licence approving the project’s investment planning.