According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, during November, US$726 million was pumped into 106 new FDI projects, increasing the total amount of newly-registered FDI capital to US$59 billion, a seven-fold rise over the same period last year.

In addition, the country has allowed 25 existing projects to add US$272 million in funds with FDI disbursement reaching US$10 billion so far this year, including US$950 million in November alone, a year-on-year increase of 44.2 percent.

Foreign-invested businesses reported a year-on-year increase of 26.3 percent in revenue during the reviewed period. They earned US$22.2 billion from exports, up 24.9 percent, and imported commodities worth US$26.2 billion, an increase of 34.2 percent, over the same period last year.

FIA director Phan Huu Thang said that this year Vietnam is likely to attract up to US$65 billion in FDI, three-times higher than last year’s figure. 2008’s FDI disbursement is expected to peak at US$11 billion, up 37 percent year on year.

Mr Thang also predicted that FDI disbursement in 2009 would hit US$12-13 billion, or 9-12 percent more than this year.