Vietnam is estimated to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) of 3.2 billion US dollars in the first seven months of this year, surging 66 percent over the same period last year.

In the period, Vietnam lured nearly 2.1 billion dollars of FDI from 419 new projects, increasing in both terms of project and capital, the Foreign Investment Department under the country's Ministry of Planning and Investment told Xinhua on Monday.

The industry sector attracted most of FDI in the first seven months, accounting for 50 percent of the total, followed by the service and agriculture sectors, which made up 47 percent and 3 percent respectively, the department said, noting that biggest investors came from Luxembourg, Chinese Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

Localities attracting most of the FDI included Hanoi capital city, Ho Chi Minh City, and southern provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Duong.

Vietnam is likely to lure 5 billion dollars worth of FDI this year, much bigger than its initial target of 4.2-4.5 billion dollars, the department said.

As of July 20, Vietnam housed 5,563 operational FDI projects with total registered capital of nearly 48.8 billion dollars.

Source: Xinhua