Eight out of 10 member states of ASEAN have made investments in Vietnam with a total pledge of $56.32 billion for 2,681 projects, the Foreign Investment Agency recently reported.

The cumulative investment figure was recorded at the end of September and was up 8.6 percent from a year ago.

Accounting for 59 percent of the total inflows, Singapore topped the list, followed by Malaysia, 24 percent, and Thailand, 12 percent, according to the agency.

Singapore's pledges rose 7.9 percent within a year to amount to $33.45 billion for 1,456 projects. This made the country the third largest foreign investor in Vietnam, after South Korea and Japan.

With the regional economic community AEC to be established later this year, many analysts expected a strong increase in investment inflows into Vietnam's property market, news website Saigon Times Online reported on Tuesday.

The growing presence of multinationals as well as small and medium enterprises will boost demands for offices and industrial properties, it said.

As of June 30, ASEAN countries had invested more than $16.6 billion into the local property market, making it the second biggest capital magnet only after the manufacturing sector, according to the Foreign Investment Agency.

Their 97 property projects have covered almost every segment of the market from residential to industrial segments. Most are located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Singaporean businesses owned nearly 80 percent of the total projects, and accounted for 60 percent the total registered capital.

Some of Singaporean property developers that have already entered Vietnam are CapitaLand, Keppel Land and Mapletree.

With 16 projects with a combined investment of $5.5 billion, Malaysia was the second biggest investor in Vietnam's property market, the agency reported.

Thanh Nien News

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