During that time, FDI commitments totaled US$25.37 billion, almost equivalent to the same period last year, statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) revealed.

Up to 2,182 new projects were licensed with a total registered capital of US$14.1 billion between January and September, down 3% year-on-year, while 841 existing projects were given an additional US$5.5 billion, a reduction of 18% compared to the same period of last year.

Meanwhile 5,275 other projects had US$5.7 billion in capital contributed by foreign investors, surging 37% year-on-year.

Large-scale projects included the Japanese-invested smart city in the capital’s Dong Anh District worth over US$4.13 billion; the US$1.2-billion polypropylene manufacturing plant financed by Hyosung Corporation from the Republic of Korea in the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau; the Laguna hospitality project with an additional fund of US$1.12 billion from Singaporean investors.

Others were the US$600 million Lotte Mall Hanoi project that includes a hotel, apartments, offices, and trade center complex and the LG Innotek Hai Phong facility with additional capital of US$501 million for manufacturing camera modules.

As per the data, manufacturing and processing continued to lure the lion’s share of investment with US$11.3 billion, accounting for nearly 45% of the nation’s total FDI. Real estate came second with US$5.8 billion, or equivalent to 23% of total registered capital, followed by retail and wholesale with US$2.1 billion or 8.3%.

The data also showed 104 countries and territories invested in Vietnam in the nine-month period. Among them, Japan ranked first with US$7 billion, making up 28% of total investment. The RoK and Singapore come second and third with US$5.6 billion or 23% and US$3.6 billion or 15%, respectively.

The capital remained the most attractive investment destination to foreign investors, with US$5.8 billion, or 23% of total FDI. It was followed by HCM City with US$4.2 billion or 17% and Ba Ria - Vung Tau with US$2.1 billion or 8.5%.

As of September 20, the country had 26,646 valid foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of US$334 billion, and over half of the FDI had been disbursed, the agency noted.