FDI attraction soars in first 11 months Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Newly-registered and additional foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in Vietnam totalled 20.8 billion USD in the first 11 months of the year, representing a 54.2 percent rise year-on-year.  Figures from the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) showed that 1,175 new and additional projects obtained investment licences with combined registered capital of 13.77 billion USD, up 73.3 percent from last year. Meanwhile, the 446 existing FDI projects in the country announced plans to increase investment by a total of 7.03 billion USD, a 26.9 percent year-on-year surge. The processing and manufacturing industries remained on top of the list of 18 sectors that received foreign investment, with 557 new projects capitalised at 16.07 billion USD, accounting for 77.2 percent of the total. Electricity, gas and water production and distribution took second place with combined capital of 2.03 billion USD, 9.8 percent of the total. The sector was followed by real estate with 20 new and additional projects worth 884 million USD. FDI inflow came from 52 nations and territories, with Japan remaining the largest foreign investor. New and additional investment from Japan amounted to 5.6 billion USD, accounting for 27.3 percent of the total figure. It is followed by Singapore with 4.2 billion USD and the Republic of Korea with 4.1 billion USD. Northern Thai Nguyen province led localities in FDI attraction, bringing in 3.3 billion USD, which accounted for 16.1 percent of the total. Central Thanh Hoa province came in second with 2.9 billion USD from new and additional projects, accounting for 14 percent of the total.The province's Nghi Son Refinery Project alone saw 2.8 billion USD in additional capital. Northern Hai Phong city took third place with 2.6 billion USD. FDI disbursement in the January-October period reached 10.5 billion USD, increasing 5.5 percent from last year. The FDI sector reported trade surplus of 12.2 billion USD in the period. Its exports including crude oil were estimated at 81.1 billion USD, up 23.5 percent year-on-year, or 67.06 percent of the total. Its imports were 68.9 billion USD, 56.92 percent of the total import-export turnover in the 11-month period, an increase of 26 percent against last year.-VNA