Vietnam has enticed foreign investment of nearly 35.5 billion US dollars so far this year, posting a year-on-year decrease of 1.2 per cent, its Foreign Investment Agency said yesterday.

Of the nearly 35.5 billion US dollars, nearly 18 billion US dollars were registered capital of 3,046 new foreign-invested projects, down 15.5 per cent in capital; roughly 7.6 billion US dollars were additional capital of 1,169 existing projects, down 9.7 per cent in capital; and nearly 9.9 billion US dollars were the money foreign investors used to buy shares or contribute capital to Vietnamese firms, up 59.8 per cent.

Among countries and regions having investment in Vietnam from January to late December, Japan was the biggest investor with nearly 8.6 billion US  dollars, followed by South Korea with 7.2 billion US dollars, and Singapore with 5 billion US dollars.

In the 12-month period, realized capital of foreign-invested projects in Vietnam stood at 19.1 billion US dollars, up 9.1 per cent, said the agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.