Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to Vietnam in the first ten months of 2013 reached $19.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 65.5 percent, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment on Friday.

As of Oct. 20, as many as 1,050 new FDI projects have been licensed with a total registered capital of $13.1 billion, 79 percent higher than last year's level. Meanwhile, 393 existing projects expanded their capital of $6.1 billion.

Most FDI projects were in the manufacturing and processing sectors, which bagging $14.9 billion, accounting for 77.6 percent of the total registered amount. The electricity distribution and production industry attracted $two billion (10.4 percent), and the remaining amount by other industries.

During the reviewed period, the northern Thai Nguyen province took the lead nationwide in FDI attraction with nearly $3.39 billion, followed by the southeastern Binh Thuan province with $2.03 billion, northern Hai Phong with $1.84 billion, and central Binh Dinh province with $1.09 billion.

The Republic of Korea tops the list of Vietnam's largest foreign investors, with its total investment worth more than $3.58 billion, followed by Singapore with $2.72 billion, China with $2.2 billion and Japan with $1.15 billion.

In the first ten months of 2013, the FDI sector pocketed $72.8 billion from its exports, a year-on-year increase of 22.3 percent, while it spent $61.9 billion for imports, up 25.7 percent. As a result, the sector recorded a trade surplus of $10.9 billion during the reviewed period.

As of Oct. 20, the FDI projects disbursed about $9.6 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.4 percent, reported the ministry.