First trimester FDI falls by a solid third

April 29, 2018 | 12:20

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In the first four months of the year, Vietnam saw decreasing foreign direct investment (FDI) capital, while overall foreign investment capital increased by 67 per cent on-year.

first trimester fdi falls by a solid third

Foreign investment inflows were down in January-April, though disburesment increased slightly

According to the statistics of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), in the first four months of this year Vietnam attracted $8.06 billion in foreign investment capital, reaching approximately two-third or 76.1 per cent of last year's figure. However, the disbursed FDI capital was $4.5 billion, up 6.3 per cent.

Notably, as of April 20, 883 newly-registered projects received investment certificates with the total capital of $3.55 billion, which was 76.1 per cent of last year's figure, while 303 existing projects received added capital of $2.24 billion, 51.5 per cent. Meanwhile, 1,863 M&A deals were signed with a total investment capital of $2.26 billion, up 67 per cent.

In the first four months of this year, foreign investors invested in 17 industries nationwide. The processing and manufacturing industry still kept the top position with a total of $4.52 billion, equaling 56.1 per cent of the total FDI inflows. The runners-up are the real estate industry with $807.5 million and the wholesale and retail industry with $779 million.

Besides, Vietnam’s cities and provinces saw changes in the ranking of provinces and cities receiving the largest FDI volume as well as the ranking of the largest foreign investors.

Notably, foreign investors poured capital into 53 cities and provinces across the country. Ho Chi Minh City ranked first with $1.92 billion, making up 23.8 per cent of the total FDI inflow, while Haiphong received the second largest FDI volume with $1.03 billion, equaling 12.8 per cent of the total. Hanoi overcame Binh Duong to become the third largest investee with $746 million.

Additionally, Japan returned to the top three largest foreign investors during January-April. The three largest foreign investors in Vietnam were South Korea with $2.34 billion in registered investment capital, Japan with $1.29 billion, and Singapore with $808 million.

Notable M&A deals in the first four months of the year

1. Nawaplastic’s purchase of Binh Minh Plastic: Nawaplastic spent approximately VND2.329 trillion ($102.33 million) buying 24.139 of the 24.159 million shares on offer at the initial price of VND96,500 ($4.24). The deal increased Nawaplastic’s holdings in BMP to 49.9 from 20.4 per cent.

2. Itochu and Vinatex: Itochu Group spent $46.9 million buying an additional 10 per cent stake in Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex). The deal increased Itochu’s holding in Vinatex to 15 per cent, making it the second largest shareholder of the group, following the Ministry of Industry and Trade (53 per cent).

3. Shinhan Card’s acquisition of Prudential Vietnam Finance: Shinhan Financial Group’s subsidiary finalised the acquisition, stating that it would grab 100 per cent of the shares of Prudential Vietnam Finance, which was commensurate with KRW161.4 billion ($150.8 million).

4. Lotte Card acquired Techcom Finance: the Seoul-headquartered credit card firm took over 100 per cent of Techcom Finance from Techcombank, becoming the first South Korean credit card firm to engage in the Vietnamese finance and banking sector. According to newswire The Investor, the deal could climb up to VND1.7 trillion ($74.67 million) in value.

By Kim Oanh

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