Realized social investment capital in 9 months of 2022 at current prices was estimated at 2,130.3 trillion VND, up 12.5% over the same period last year, reflecting the strong recovery of production activities, and business. The highlight was that foreign direct investment (FDI) realized in Vietnam increased by 16.3% over the same period last year, which is the highest increase in 9 months of the years from 2018-2022. The ratio of realized FDI to registered capital reached a record of 82.3%.
It was estimated that in 9 months this year, the realized investment capital of the whole society at current prices reached 2,130.3 trillion VND, up 12.5% over the same period last year, including State capital reached 544, 9 trillion VND, accounting for 25.6% of total capital and increasing by 16.1% over the same period last year; non-state sector reached 1,227.1 trillion VND, equaling 57.6% and increasing by 10%; the foreign direct investment sector reached 358.3 trillion VND, equaling 16.8% and increasing by 16.3%.
Since the beginning of the year, the Government and the Prime Minister have drastically directed the implementation and disbursement of public investment capital, especially in the context of the demand for a quick and sustainable recovery of the economy. Many Directives were issued, establishing 06 Government Working Groups to inspect, urge and remove difficulties and obstacles. Realized investment capital from the state budget in the nine months of 2022 was estimated at 334.5 trillion VND, equaling 58.7% of the year plan, up 19.6% over the same period last year. The level of reaching 58.7% of the year plan is higher than in the same period of 2020 and 2021[1] but still has not met the expectation of over 65% of the plan. Objective reasons made the disbursement of public investment capital slow compared to the plan such as 2022 is the second year of implementing the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period, ministries, branches, and localities are launching many new projects that need time to prepare, so the progress of these projects only accelerated in the last months of the year; the sudden price increase of construction materials affects the progress of investment capital… There are also subjective reasons such as Problems in site clearance compensation, resettlement, and price in compensation; the quality of the plan, and the preparation of the project was not close to the implementation capacity, leading to not allocating all of the assigned capital plans; the selection of contractors, completion of investment procedures, the capacity of appraisal, inspection, supervision, and construction was still limited; the reliance on regulations of official development assistance (ODA) donors, causing delays in the implementation and disbursement of funds; limited capacity of project management boards and investment officers at all levels; failure to comply with regulations on project appraisal and approval time…
From mid-October 2021, the Government and Prime Minister promptly directed to redirect the strategy of Covid-19 epidemic prevention and control in Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP under the motto “safe and flexible adaptation, effectively control the Covid-19 epidemic”, proactively prevent epidemics safely to stabilize and develop production, business, and investment, create favorable conditions for the business community to strongly recover production and business activities, attract foreign investment in the last month of 2021 and continue this positive momentum in 2022, is a bright spot for economic growth in the nine months of 2022. As of September 20, 2022, the total registered capital of foreign investors in Vietnam reached nearly 18.75 billion USD, down 15.3% over the same period last year, mainly due to the decrease in newly registered capital. Specifically: Of the total registered capital of foreign investors in Vietnam, newly registered capital reached 7.12 billion USD, down 43% over the same period last year; adjusted registered capital reached 8.35 billion USD, up 29.9%; the total value of capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors reached 3.28 billion USD, up 1.9%.
Newly registered capital in nine months of 2022 decreased by 43% compared to the same period last year because that one in the same period in 2021 suddenly increased by 4.41 billion USD from 02 newly registered projects in the first quarter of 2021, including Long An LNG Power Plant Project I and II (Singapore investor, total registered capital of over 3.1 billion USD) and O Mon II Thermal Power Plant Project (Japanese investor, total registered capital of over 1.31 billion USD). If excluding the sudden increase of 4.41 billion USD in early 2021, the total registered foreign investment capital in 9 months of 2022 will increase by 5.74% over the same period last year.
There are also clear positive signs in the number of projects registered for foreign investment in the nine months this year: The whole country had 1,355 new projects granted investment registration certificates, an increase of 11.8% over the same period in 2021; 769 projects registered to adjust investment capital, up 13.4%.
Among 63 countries and territories with newly licensed investment projects in Vietnam in the nine months of 2022, Singapore was the largest investor with 1.45 billion USD, accounting for 20.4% of the total newly registered capital; followed by Denmark with 1.32 billion USD, accounting for 18.5%; Japan 927.5 million USD, accounting for 13%; Korea 749.1 million USD, accounting for 10.5%; China 735.3 million, accounting for 10.3%.
Realized FDI investment in Vietnam in the nine months of 2022 was estimated at 15.43 billion USD, up 16.3% over the same period last year. This is the highest level of realized FDI in 9 months for the past five years. The ratio of realized FDI to registered capital in the period 2018-2022 shows a very positive trend of foreign direct investment in Vietnam: The ratio of realized capital to registered capital in the nine months of 2022 reached 82.3%, which is a record-high rate.
This affirms the confidence of foreign investors in Vietnam’s business investment environment, considering Vietnam as a safe and attractive investment destination, and continuing to expand investment when Vietnam applies policies to attract investment and advocates reopening the economy after nearly two years of restrictions due to the Covid-19 epidemic. In particular, the Investment Law 2020 took effect on January 1, 2021, which can be considered a breakthrough in the regulation of investment activities in Vietnam, which has so far reflected positive results from the implementation of the New Law.
In the Investment Law 2020, the regulations gradually remove unnecessary administrative procedures in the management of investment activities: In which, the new Investment Law is supportive of start-up investment projects, foreign investment projects in start-up activities in Vietnam. Investors of large projects (for example, golf courses, and casinos…) will only need to apply for approval from the People’s Committees of provinces and cities compared to the previous Law must be approved by the Prime Minister. This is one of the important adjustments contributing to the reform of administrative procedures; For foreign investment projects related to innovative start-up investment, investors will not need to carry out investment registration procedures. Innovation centers, and research and development centers are also added to the investment incentive cases. Regarding the extension of the investment progress, project progress is not allowed to extend for more than 24 months compared with the initial progress, except for force majeure cases as prescribed by Law and other cases, thereby creating an “escape” for many hanging projects in Vietnam.
Vietnam is forecasted to be in the group of countries with the highest growth rate in Southeast Asia in 2022 and 2023 (International organizations: Moody’s, WB, IMF, and ADB forecast Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2022 are 8.5%, 7.2%, 7%, and 6.5 percent, respectively). The core tasks and solutions in the fourth quarter of 2022 are important, as the “sprint” time to “reach the finish line” of the socio-economic development goals of 2022, including the following tasks: promoting disbursement of public investment capital.
The Prime Minister issued Directive No. 17/CT-TTg dated October 5, 2022, on accelerating the allocation and completing investment procedures for projects expected to plan a medium-term public investment for the 2021-2025 period. Next, in the Report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment on the allocation and disbursement of state budget capital in the nine months of 2022, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) proposed 08 groups of solutions to accelerate the public investment capital disbursement in the last months of 2022[2] with the determination to strive to fulfill at the highest level the task of disbursing public investment capital set out by the Government in Resolution No. 124/NQ-CP and Directive No. 17/CT-TTg.
A quick survey conducted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) in collaboration with the Vietnam Business Forum Alliance (VBF) in September 2022, showed positive information about the production and business activities of foreign investors in Vietnam: Over 90% of enterprises achieve medium and high business efficiency and financial status. Most businesses expressed their optimism and confidence in Vietnam and committed to continue to expand investment and long-term business; in which about 66% of enterprises plan to expand their investment in 2023. 76% of enterprises rate the effectiveness of the Government’s production and business support policies as medium and high. Currently, the MPI is also collecting comments on the draft Decision of the Prime Minister stipulating the set of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of foreign investment in Vietnam. This will be a tool to analyze and evaluate the quality of the foreign investment sector activities in order to make appropriate policy adjustments to serve the orientation of attracting investment in large-scale projects, high technology, innovation, pervasiveness, and high-added value, and actively contribute to the sustainable socio-economic development of Vietnam.
The bright spots on improving the business environment, production, investment, and international trade in the nine months of 2022 are the basis for many prestigious international organizations to keep positively assessing Vietnam’s economic situation next time. Foreign investors are placing great faith in Vietnam’s investment environment and economic position, forecasting promising results for foreign investment in Vietnam in the last months of 2022.
[1] 2020, and 2021 were two years heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, the realized investment capital under the State budget in 9 months reached 58% and 55.7% of the year plan, respectively.[2] Source: https://www.mpi.gov.vn/Pages/tinbai.aspx?idTin=55577&idcm=49