Vietnam invested just US$150.7 million abroad between January to July of 2024, a fall of 53 percent over the same period last year, according to PetroTimes. Only 64 foreign investment certificates had been granted by the end of the first half of the year, a fall of 18.2 percent year-on-year.
The key beneficiaries of Vietnamese foreign investment were the Netherlands, Laos, the USA, and Cambodia. They received US$54.6 million, US$36.7 million, US$18.7 million, and US$12.4 million, respectively.
It’s worth noting, however, that it’s quite common for local firms to have offices in other parts of the world, usually Singapore, through which they conduct their foreign investment activities. This is partly to avoid the bureaucratic approval process for outbound investment but also due to the perceived relative safety of more advanced markets.