Foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursements in Vietnam are forecast to amount to USD900 million this month, raising the total in the first five months of this year to USD4.52 billion, up about 0.4% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the ministry said this figure is particularly high in FDI disbursement, especially in the context of the global economic turbulence. FDI disbursement is an important factor to evaluate the efficiency of investment inflows, according to the agency.

Despite global economic difficulties, foreign investors have remained optimistic about Vietnam’s investment climate and deployed their projects.

However, the agency said that FDI disbursement had shown signs of a downturn in the last three months. The figure decreased from some USD1.4 billion in March to over USD1 billion in April, and then continued down to USD900 million this month.

Experts said this was not a good sign for the economy, especially if it continues. It is very difficult to say if this is a new trend because the production and business situation of FIEs in the first five months of the year was better than last year.

Improved production has helped FIEs obtain export turnover of USD19 billion in the first five months, a year-on-year rise of 34.2%. With crude oil excluded, their export revenue has grown 33.7% to USD16 billion. Import spending of FIEs has totaled USD17.6 billion, a 32.5% year-on-year rise.

More good news saw 13 existing projects register an increase in their capital by a total of USD343 million this month, up nearly 50% year-on-year.

However, FDI into the country this month fell 80% compared to last month to nearly USD322 million which was committed to 51 new projects, making it the lowest monthly investment capital commitments since early this year.

Meanwhile, total FDI in the country, including additionally invested projects, has topped nearly USD4.7 billion this year, or 23.5% of the nation’s target of this year.

Vietnam has set a target of achieving USD20 billion in FDI this year, up from USD18.6 billion last year. And FDI disbursements will rise to USD11.5 billion this year from last year’s USD11 billion. Top priority would be given to projects in infrastructure construction, hi-tech and supporting industries.