Vietnam draws investment

Vietnam is pulling in more factory and supply-chain investment as companies spread production beyond China and governments deepen trade ties. (state.gov) Vietnam attracted $38.42 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025, according to the National Statistics Office, while disbursed investment reached $27.62 billion, the highest level in five years. In the first quarter of 2026, realized foreign direct investment rose to $5.41 billion, up 9.1% from a year earlier. (vneconomy.vn) (en.baochinhphu.vn) The latest political signal came on April 22, when South Korea and Vietnam signed 12 memorandums of understanding during President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Hanoi. Reuters and Yonhap said the agreements covered areas including nuclear power, electricity and infrastructure, and the two sides reaffirmed a bilateral trade target of $150 billion by 2030 from $94.6 billion in 2025. (usnews.com) (yna.co.kr) Vietnam has become a manufacturing base for export-oriented companies, and the U.S. State Department said policies remain broadly supportive of foreign investors in that sector. The same report said Vietnam’s foreign direct investment stock stood at more than $322 billion at the end of 2024, roughly equal to two-thirds of gross domestic product. (state.gov) Trade deals have helped make that model work. The U.S. State Department said the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2020, the U.K.-Vietnam agreement in 2021, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in 2022, widening market access for goods made in Vietnam. (state.gov) South Korean companies have been central to that shift. Yonhap described Vietnam as a key manufacturing hub for South Korean firms, and Lee and Vietnamese leader To Lam said they would work together on energy security and supply-chain stability amid wider geopolitical disruption. (yna.co.kr) The export effect reaches agriculture as well as electronics and machinery. The U.S. Department of Agriculture ranked Vietnam the No. 8 market for U.S. agricultural exports in 2025 at $4.7 billion, with major shipments including cotton, soybeans, tree nuts and corn. (fas.usda.gov) Vietnam’s own farm and feed demand is also expanding. USDA reports published in April 2026 said Vietnam’s livestock and aquaculture sectors were still growing and forecast higher feed ingredient imports to support domestic use and exports. (fas.usda.gov) That combination — new factory capital, more infrastructure agreements and rising import demand for farm inputs — is tightening Vietnam’s role in Asian supply chains. The next test is whether 2026 investment approvals turn into the same kind of record disbursements Vietnam posted in 2025. (en.baochinhphu.vn) (vneconomy.vn)