HANOI, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has attracted foreign investment of 16.74 billion U.S. dollars so far this year, the largest five-month inflow since 2016, witnessing a year-on-year rise of 69.1 percent, according to Vietnam's Foreign Investment Agency.

Specifically, Vietnam licensed 1,363 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered capital of nearly 6.5 billion U.S. dollars, and saw 505 operational FDI projects raise their capital by more than 2.6 billion U.S. dollars, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday, citing the Foreign Investment Agency.

Between January and May, foreign investors also spent 7.65 billion U.S. dollars buying shares or contributing capital to Vietnamese firms.

Among foreign capital, 72 percent were poured into the processing and manufacturing sector, 7.5 percent into the real estate sector, and 5 percent into retail and wholesale sector, according to the Foreign Investment Agency.

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was Vietnam's largest source of FDI in the five-month period with 5.08 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 30.3 percent of total investment, followed by South Korea and Singapore with 2.62 billion U.S. dollars and 2.09 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.

The capital city of Hanoi retained its crown as the most attractive destination for foreign investors with 4.79 billion U.S. dollars, making up 28.6 percent of the nation's total investment in the period.

As of May 20, Vietnam is home to 28,632 valid FDI projects with total registered capital of 350.5 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the total disbursed capital had reached 198.7 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 56.7 percent of the total pledged investment, said the Foreign Investment Agency.