The growth mainly driven by higher prices for food, catering services and transport as consumer demand for shopping and travel surged during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.
South Korea was the largest investor with $1.34 billion (accounting for 37.8% of the total newly registered capital). Singapore followed with $1.1 billion (31.1%), China $522.8 million (14.8%), and Japan $171.0 million (4.8%).