Hanoi (VNA)﷽ – Foreign direct investment (FDI) remains one of the most vital drivers of national economic growth, recording remarkable results in 2024.

This area has emerged as a notable highlight, promising to make an important contribution to expanding the economic growth rate by above 7% as targeted for this year. It is expected to set the stage for realising growth objectives outlined for 2025. Foreign investors poured nearly 4.12 billion USD into Vietnam in November this year. This lifted the total registered FDI in the past 11 months, including new and additional investments, and capital contributions via share purchases, to nearly 31.4 billion USD, marking a year-on-year increase of 1%. In the January-November period, a total of 21.68 billion USD was disbursed, up 7.1% against the same period last year. Foreign investors invested in 18 out of 21 sectors of the national economy, with the processing and manufacturing industry leading the way. The Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) reported that foreign investment capital has continued to flow into localities with advantages in attracting FDI, including Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Nghe An and Bac Giang. These localities accounted for 79.6% of the total number of new projects and 69.4% of the total registered investment capital nationwide over the last 11 months. Notably, the northern province of Bac Ninh has emerged as a prominent destination for semiconductor enterprises, with many large-scale projects. The provincial authorities have signed a cooperation agreement with Samsung Display to develop a project worth 1.8 billion USD. As a result, in the first 11 months of the year, Bac Ninh led the country in attracting FDI, with total registered investment capital reaching nearly 5.04 billion USD, accounting for 16% of the nation’s total investment, and more than tripling the same period last year. The Global Semiconductor Alliance (SEMI) has predicted that Vietnam's semiconductor market is expected to reach 7.01 billion USD by 2028, with an average annual growth of approximately 6.69% during the 2023–2028 period. Hong Sun, Chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (KoCham) stated that Vietnam is among the countries with significant opportunities to develop the semiconductor industry. Therefore, large corporations of the Republic of Korea (RoK) are actively exploring opportunities to expand semiconductor supply chains in Vietnam. Nguyen Van Toan, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE), believed that the trend of foreign investors pouring capital into the semiconductor and electronics industries in recent times is positive. Particularly, Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA, recently visited Vietnam for the second time. NVIDIA has partnered with Vietnam to establish an Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and development centre and an AI data centre in the country. Economic experts said Vietnam is currently the most open economy in the Southeast Asian region, just behind Singapore. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Government continues to focus on reforms, international integration, and sustained efforts to effectively attract sustainable FDI flows./.