Vietnam registered over $25.1 billion in foreign investment between January and November this year, a 0.5% month-on-month rise but down 5% year-on-year.

This is according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Over the 11 months, there was an annual decline in new capital registered in Vietnam of 18% to $11.5 billion, whilst share purchases and capital contributions fell 7% year-on-year to $4.08 billion.

The FIA said the Covid restrictions at the beginning of the year and global uncertainties were the main factors behind the decline in registered capital, Vietnam Plus reports.

The stringent Covid preventive measures made it harder for foreign investors to visit Vietnam to find new investment opportunities, leading to a fall in newly registered projects at the start of the year.

Whereas inflation, geopolitical conflict and supply chain issues exacerbated the situation by reducing capital flows from major economies, particularly Vietnam’s partners.

Furthermore, FIA statistics reveal the average scale of adjusted capital per project between January and November rose 4.9% over the same time last year. Manufacturing and processing attracted the majority of foreign investment, exceeding $14.96 billion, representing 59.5% of total capital. Real estate was next with $4.19 billion, making up 16.7% of total capital, followed by electricity production and distribution with $2.26 billion and science and technology with $1.03 billion.

In addition, according to a recent report to the National Assembly, the Ministry of Planning and Investment affirmed foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursement could hit between $21-22 billion, an increase of between 6.4% and 11.5% over last year. This indicates the country’s FDI attraction was accelerating towards recovery, the Vietnam Plus report adds.