Ho Chi Minh City has drawn 497.5 million USD of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first three months of this year, up 22.4% year on year, according to the city’s Statistics Office.

The office reported that in the first quarter of this year, the city issued new investment licences to 216 projects worth 133.2 million USD, a rise of 30% over the same period last year, mostly in construction sector (53.7 million USD).

Singapore remained the leading investor in the city with 47 projects with a total capital of 86.7 million USD, accounting for 65.4% of the total FDI the city attracted in the period.

Hong Kong (China) came second with 15 projects worth 9.5 million USD, accounting for 7.1%, and Japan with 19 projects worth 9.0 million USD.

At the same time, investors also injected additional 87.1 million USD into 37 underway projects. Of the total, 35.5 million USD, or 40.8%, came from the Republic of Korea.

Meanwhile, 468 share purchase deals involving foreign investors were conducted with a total value of 277.3 million USD, down 5.9% year on year.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first quarter of this year, HCM City continued to lead localities nationwide in FDI attraction, showing the attractiveness of the local business environment amid the instability in the world economy.

To date, the city has hosted 11,598 valid FDI projects worth over 56.4 billion USD, the highest numbers among localities nationwide.

VNA