100% Swiss-invested Nestlé Vietnam continuously increases its investment capital and expands its operations in Hung Yen province since 2017. Photo: VNA   

Vietnam attracted 40.63 billion USD in registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eight months of 2026, up 55.4% year-on-year, the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance reported on September 3.

The figure includes 21.72 billion USD in capital from 2,771 newly licensed projects.

Notably, the number of new projects rose only 9.4% while their registered capital surged 96.8%, indicating a significant increase in average project size and investors’ stronger commitment from the outset.

The processing and manufacturing sector remained the largest recipient of FDI, attracting 12.15 billion USD, or 55.9% of the total newly registered capital. Electricity, gas, water and air-conditioner production and distribution ranked second with 3.13 billion USD, accounting for 14.4%.

Among 73 countries and territories with newly licensed projects, Asian investors continued to dominate. Singapore led with 7.62 billion USD, making up 35.1% of the new registered capital, followed by the Republic of Korea with 5.67 billion USD (26.1%). Hong Kong (China), mainland China and Japan ranked next with 2.96 billion USD, 1.93 billion USD and 1.42 billion USD, respectively.

Meanwhile, 819 existing projects increased their investment capital by a combined 12.21 billion USD, up 14.7% year-on-year.

Including both new and additional capital, the processing and manufacturing sector attracted 20.18 billion USD, accounting for 59.5%. Meanwhile, real estate business received 5.32 billion USD, or 15.7%.

During the eight months, there were 2,062 capital contribution and share purchase transactions worth 6.7 billion USD, up 50.1%. Of this amount, foreign investors spent 4.15 billion USD acquiring existing shares without increasing companies’ charter capital, compared with 2.55 billion USD used to increase charter capital.

FDI through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is also shifting away from real estate toward knowledge-intensive sectors and the domestic consumer market. Professional, scientific and technological activities attracted 2.74 billion USD, or 40.9%, followed by wholesale, retail and motor vehicle repair with 2.01 billion USD (30%).

Notably, FDI disbursement was estimated at 17.25 billion USD, up 12% from a year earlier and also the highest eight-month figure recorded over the last five years.

The processing and manufacturing sector accounted for 14.24 billion USD, or 82.6%, of the disbursed capital, far exceeding real estate that ranked second with 1.29 billion USD (7.5%) and energy with 622.9 million USD (3.6%).

Meanwhile, Vietnamese investment abroad, including newly registered and additional capital, reached 2.62 billion USD, 4.7 times higher than a year earlier. This consisted of 1.21 billion USD for 113 new projects and 1.41 billion USD for 29 existing projects, representing increases of 2.8 and 10.9 times, respectively.

Transport and warehousing attracted the largest share of Vietnamese capital overseas at 601.7 million USD (23%), followed by energy with 585.8 million USD.

Laos was the top destination for Vietnamese investment with 667.5 million USD, followed by Cambodia with 486.5 million USD. India and Indonesia also emerged as major destinations, receiving 323.9 million USD and 313.6 million USD, respectively, reflecting Vietnamese businesses’ expanding global investment footprint, the office said./.