South Korean firms were the biggest foreign investors in Vietnam in the first ten months of this year, a position they took over from Japanese businesses in August last year.

South Korea accounted for over 30 percent of nearly US$19.3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in January-October, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Total newly-registered and additional capitals of South Korean investors topped $6.22 billion in the period.

The newly-registered capitals of 583 projects reached $2.27 billion while the investors added $3.94 billion to 257 existing projects, the agency said.

This means that Korean businesses are increasingly confident in the domestic investment climate so they decided to expand their investment in Vietnam, the FIA said.

Korean firms focus on manufacturing and processing, covering over 90 percent of total registered capital.

Their investment is mainly in the form of 100 percent foreign-owned firms, with 96 percent of total FDI projects registered in this fashion.

Apart from South Korea, Vietnam also attracted huge Japanese investment with a total of $1.48 billion in 258 new projects and 137 existing ones in the first 10 months, according to the FIA.

The capital of Japanese enterprises in manufacturing and processing accounted for 51 percent, followed by construction (24 percent) and real estate (10 percent).

According to the FIA, total newly-registered and additional FDI capitals nationwide hit $19.29 billion in January-October, up 40.8 percent against the same period last year.

In January-August 2014, South Korea topped the list of foreign investors, with total investment of $3.22 billion for its Vietnam projects, while Japan fell to second place, with $1.27 billion worth of newly, and additionally, registered capital.

Korean businesses have maintained their top spot ever since.

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