The amount, representing a 7.2% increase on a yearly basis, included newly registered capital, additional capital to existing projects, and share purchase by foreign investors.
The disbursement of FDI capital also reached a record of US$20.38 billion.
Specifically, a total of 3,883 new projects were licensed during the year, up 27.5% year on year, bringing in US$16.75 billion of new capital, equivalent to 93.2% of the same period last year. The average capital per project fell from US$5.9 million in 2018 to US$4.3 million this year.
Meanwhile, 1,381 projects raised their capital, up 18.1% from 2018. They added a total US$5.8 billion worth of capital, equal to 76.4% of the same period last year.
A surge of 56.4 percent was seen in the capital spent on capital contribution and share purchase by foreign investors, raising the amount to US$15.47 billion. According to the FIA, 45.8% of this flow on capital was directed into processing and manufacturing, while 17.8% went into real estate.
The FDI sector earned US$181.35 billion from exports, including crude oil, a year-on-year rise of 4.2%. Excluding crude oil, the sector’s export revenue stood at US$179.33 billion, up 4.4% year on year, and accounting for 68.1% of the country’s total export earnings.
The FDI sector spent nearly US$145.5 billion on imports, up 2.5% form 2018 and making up 57.4% of the country’s total spending on imports.
As a result, the sector posted an export surplus of nearly US$35.86 billion, if crude oil is included, and US$33.8 billion if not. It compensated for the deficit of US$25.9 billion of the domestic sector.
