Vietnam continues to be an attractive destination for FDI investors.

Vietnam continues to affirm itself as an attractive destination for foreign direct investors (FDI). Although the business confidence index has increased, exports are still not expected to recover strongly in the last quarter of the year. FDI capital realized in the first 9 months of 2025 is estimated at 18.8 billion USD, up 8.5% over the same period in 2024, and this is the highest FDI capital realized in the past 5 years.

* Bright spot in attracting FDI

According to the Foreign Investment Agency ( Ministry of Finance ), in the first 9 months of 2025, the country attracted 28.54 billion USD of FDI capital, an increase of 15.2% over the same period last year. Of which, newly registered FDI capital was 12.39 billion USD (2,926 new projects, an increase of 17.7% over the same period in 2024); additional adjusted capital was 11.32 billion USD, an increase of 48%; capital contribution and share purchase reached 4.84 billion USD, an increase of 35% over the same period last year. The increase in adjusted FDI capital and capital contribution and share purchase compared to the same period shows that Vietnam's investment and business environment is improving, foreign investors are optimistic about expanding production and business.

Among the sectors and fields attracting FDI, the processing and manufacturing industry continues to play a leading role. In the first 9 months of 2025, if including newly registered capital and adjusted registered capital of licensed projects from previous years, registered FDI capital in the processing and manufacturing industry reached 15 billion USD, accounting for 63.3% of the total newly registered and increased capital.

Regarding the form of capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors, the investment capital in the processing and manufacturing industry reached 1.79 billion USD, accounting for 37% of the capital contribution value; the bright spot is that foreign investors are more interested in the technology sector when the capital contribution to buy shares in professional, scientific and technological activities reached 1.06 billion USD, accounting for 21.9% of the total value of capital contribution to buy shares in 9 months.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, realized FDI capital in the first 9 months of 2025 is estimated at 18.8 billion USD, up 8.5% over the same period last year. This is the highest realized foreign direct investment capital in 9 months in the past 5 years. Of which, the processing and manufacturing industry reached 15.56 billion USD, accounting for 82.8%; real estate business activities reached 1.37 billion USD...

The World Bank (WB)'s September 2025 Vietnam Economic Update Report also stated that in the first quarter of 2025, the financial account deficit reached 3.2% of GDP, but FDI inflows into Vietnam remained stable. Foreign investors continue to believe in Vietnam's economic prospects, with FDI inflows remaining at 3.3% of GDP in the first quarter of 2025, an important indicator of this confidence. FDI inflows are forecast to continue to be stable in the coming time despite uncertainties in global trade, as Vietnam's business environment reforms are better assessed.

The FDI sector has made significant contributions to Vietnam's economic growth in recent times, especially in import and export. According to the Foreign Investment Agency, in the first 9 months of 2025, the export turnover of goods of the FDI sector (including crude oil) reached 263.33 billion USD, up 21.4%, accounting for 75.5% of the country's total export turnover. The FDI sector had a trade surplus of 37.08 billion USD (including crude oil) and became a support for export growth.

* Optimistic about business confidence

Commenting on Vietnam's business environment, many international organizations said that recent institutional reforms have created new development drivers. The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) has just announced that the Business Confidence Index (BCI) for the third quarter of 2025 reached 66.5 points (61.1 points in the second quarter) thanks to Vietnam's proactive efforts and measures to promote public investment and administrative reform. This reflects renewed optimism in Vietnam's economic prospects and business environment.

Kwong Lung Meko Company Limited - an FDI enterprise operating in Can Tho City. Photo: My Thanh

EuroCham's survey recorded that in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, the proportion of enterprises (DN) believing in the stability and improvement of the economy increased significantly, with the rate of assessment being 68% (in the second quarter, only 50% assessed that "The economy is likely to stabilize and improve in the next quarter). The proportion of enterprises predicting "The economy is likely to worsen in the next quarter" also decreased to 7% (in the second quarter, it was 11%), reflecting the general optimistic sentiment.

EuroCham’s report stated: “The Government is actively pursuing the GDP growth target of over 8% through promoting public investment, administrative reform and implementing green initiatives, thereby continuing to strengthen the optimistic sentiment in the market. However, uncertainties in global trade and domestic administrative adjustment processes remain major challenges for businesses.”

While the current outlook is balanced, the outlook for the fourth quarter of 2025 is more positive, with 56% of firms rating it as “Good” or “Very Good”, 28% as “Normal”, 14% as “Poor” and 2% as “Very Poor”. As concerns about stagnant domestic export orders, rising tariffs and logistics costs continue to undermine export activity, and payment delays are worsening as large firms delay payments, causing pressure to ripple down the entire supply chain.

Regarding the outlook for the next 5 years, EuroCham member enterprises participating in the survey were more optimistic, with up to 80% of enterprises expecting to have growth opportunities. At the same time, they recognized Vietnam as an attractive investment destination for foreign enterprises. Up to 76% of enterprises said they would likely introduce Vietnam as an investment destination, an increase of 4 points compared to the previous survey. Enterprises also recommended that simplifying administrative procedures, strengthening law enforcement, clarifying the legal framework and more effective environmental control are key factors that can improve Vietnam's competitiveness in attracting FDI.

The survey results noted that administrative burdens remain a core challenge, with tax and work permit procedures also being a challenge for businesses. Up to 48% of surveyed businesses expect reforms in work permit and visa policies to have a more positive impact on their business operations and investment plans.

Although there are still many issues that need to be reformed to increase the attractiveness to foreign investors, the results of the EuroCham Report have stated that the majority of enterprises responding to the survey said that global trade tensions have only “little” or “no” impact on their business plans, with 50% of enterprises responding having no plans to change the structure of their supply chains and 44% saying this does not apply.

In the face of geopolitical challenges and fragmentation of global trade, international forecasts for Vietnam's growth are better than those of other countries in the East Asia and Pacific region. Another positive signal is that on October 8, 2025, FTSE Russell announced its periodic market classification for October 2025. Accordingly, the Vietnamese stock market was upgraded to the "Emerging Market" group. “This is an important milestone, recognizing Vietnam’s strong, synchronous and substantial reform efforts in perfecting institutions, modernizing infrastructure, enhancing transparency, protecting investors and integrating with international standards. The upgrade opens up great opportunities to attract both active and passive international investment flows, contributing to reducing capital costs for businesses, increasing the depth and quality of the capital market, and affirming Vietnam’s position on the global financial map,” said a press release from the Ministry of Finance.

As of September 30, 2025, the country had 44,476 valid FDI projects with a total registered capital of about 523.3 billion USD. Foreign investors have invested in 19/21 national economic sectors; of which, the processing and manufacturing industry accounted for the highest proportion with more than 298.7 billion USD, accounting for 60.7% of the total registered capital.

Accumulated realized capital reached 341.4 billion USD, equal to 65.2% of total valid registered capital.

Article and photos: GIA BAO

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/viet-nam-tiep-tuc-la-diem-den-hap-dan-nha-dau-tu-fdi-a192431.html