Vietnam has attracted foreign direct investment pledges of 5.3 billion dollars so far this year, down 30 per cent from the same period last year, a government official said Thursday, dpa reported.
Le Hai Van, deputy head of the Statistics and Policy Division of Vietnam's Foreign Investment Agency, said that amid the current global economic downturn, the figure was an encouraging sign despite its drop.
"This reflects that foreign investors are still optimistic about the development potential of our economy," Van said.
About 1.5 billion dollars of the money involved 68 new investment projects. The other 3.8 billion dollars came from increases in the registered capital of 10 already existing projects.
Local media said most of the new foreign investment was in industrial production, in contrast to 2008 when it was concentrated in real estate and services.
The top destinations for the new investment were the two southern provinces of Ba Ria Vung Tau and Binh Duong.
Vietnam attracted 64 billion dollars in new foreign direct investment pledges in 2008, tripling the previous year's figure. Foreign investment funds disbursed in 2008 was a record 11.5 billion dollars.