Foreign direct investment rebounded in July, reaching USD1 billion for the month, the Ministry of Planning and Invest-ment\'s Foreign Investment Agency announced.

Workers at a Thai-invested company in Noi Bai Industrial Zone produce motorcycle parts. Foreign direct investment rebounded in July, reaching US$1 billion for the month. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

The figure almost kept up with the highest monthly level since the beginning of this year, which was $1.39 billion in March, the agency said.

It also broke the downward trend of FDI disbursement over past few months.

Total FDI disbursement hit USD6.3 billion for the first seven months, marking a 1.6 per cent decrease over the same period of last year.

This month also witnessed a significant change in new registered investment capital. Only 49 new foreign-invested projects received licences during the month, the lowest in six months but the total registered capital for these projects was up to USD3.23 billion.

Meanwhile, 15 existing projects were allowed to increase their capital by USD148 million this month. So far this year 147 projects have been approved to add USD1.42 of registered capital.

The new additions have brought the total FDI registered in the first seven months to USD9.05 billion, down 24 per cent on the same period last year, the agency said.

During the period, Hong Kong overtook Singapore to become Vietnam\'s largest source of foreign investment with 31 projects worth USD2.89 billion.

Singapore ranked second with 54 projects capitalised at USD1.41 billion, following by South Korea with 172 projects valued at USD797 million and Japan with 119 projects worth USD720 million.

The processing and manufacturing sector attracted the largest share of FDI, gobbling up USD4.25 billion. Electricity, gas and water production and distribution sector contributed USD2.52 billion while the construction industry made up USD603 million.

With 21 projects, totally worth USD2.49 billion, the northern province of Hai Duong was the country\'s biggest destination for foreign investors, followed by HCM City with USD1.63 billion and southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with USD510 million.

The agency also reported foreign-invested firms fetched USD27.82 billion from exports in the first seven months of the year, up 34 percent over the same period last year. The firms also spent USD25.4 billion for imports during the period, up 29.5 percent.