The southern economic hub attracted approximately $820 million in foreign direct investment during the first seven months of this year, down by 57 per cent year-on-year, according to the municipal Statistics Office.
Up to 214 new foreign-invested projects, worth over $292 million, were granted licences in the city while 65 operating projects were allowed to raise capital by $528 million during the period.
Singapore was the city's leading source of foreign direct investment (FDI) with 38 projects capitalised at $118 million, accounting for 40 per cent of the total FDI registered in the city during the first seven months of the year.
Japan ranked second with 46 projects valued at $83 million, followed by the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, France and the British Virgin Islands.
The heath sector took the lead in terms of investment capital during the period, gobbling up $83.9 million or 28.6 per cent of total FDI. It was followed by industry and services, attracting $83 million and $72.5 million respectively, while the construction sector drew $20 million.
To date, Ho Chi Minh City is home to 4,275 foreign-invested projects worth a total of $30.8 billion.
The city is focusing on achieving the ambitious target of attracting $2.5 billion in FDI for the whole year mainly through the finance and banking, insurance, transport and logistics, import-export services, and telecommunication technology industries, the municipal Department of Planning and Investment deputy director Lu Thanh Phong said.
It will also pay attention to hi-tech industries and sectors of high added value such as electronic engineering, information technology, pharmaceutical chemicals, rubber, food processing and bio-technology industries, he added.
Energy saving technologies and supporting industries will be other areas of focus, he said.
Apart from Japan, the city has also been seeking FDI from the US , the EU, north-east Asian countries, Germany, Belgium and Holland.