According to Dr. Phan Huu Thang, Chairman of the International Investment Research Institute, in the ASEAN, since 2015, Vietnam has surpassed Malaysia to become the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region, after Singapore and Indonesia. Vietnam is also one of the few countries in the ASEAN that have maintained stable FDI flows over the years. In 2021, registered FDI reached US$31.15 billion, up 9.2 percent compared to 2020, and realized FDI reached $19.74 billion. The FDI sector had a trade surplus, including crude oil, of $28.5 billion, while the domestic business sector had a trade deficit of over $25.5 billion.
By August 2022, the total newly registered and adjusted capital, capital contribution, and purchase of shares from foreign investors reached nearly $16.8 billion, equaling 87.7 percent over the same period last year. Accumulated to August 20, the country had had 35,539 valid projects, with a total registered capital of over $430 billion, equal to 61.5 percent of the total valid registered investment capital.
To ensure effective investment, representatives of foreign associations suggested that it is necessary to speed up the implementation of tasks to complete laws and policies, review, and evaluate ongoing projects, thereby, developing strategies, repositioning Vietnam's advantages, focusing on adjusting investment promotion activities in the direction of unity, focus, showing inter-sectoral and inter-regional linkage, associated with specific markets, investment partners, and projects.
