Vietnam attracted FDI of over $4.29 billion in the first two months of this year, a 38.6 per cent increase year-on-year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) at the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

There were 405 new FDI projects granted investment licenses, with total registered capital of $3.6 billion; double the figure in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, more than $442 million was added to 159 existing FDI projects.

Investment through capital contributions and share purchase deals stood at $255.4 million.

Foreign investors invested in 16 of Vietnam’s 21 economic sectors, with manufacturing and processing topping the list with $2.54 billion, or 59.2 per cent of the total and up 16.8 per cent year-on-year. Real estate followed, attracting nearly $1.41 billion, up more than 3.5-fold.

There were 48 countries and territories with new investments in Vietnam in January and February, led by Singapore, with over $2.08 billion in capital, up over 2.1-fold year-on-year, then Hong Kong (China) with nearly $525.7 million.