HO CHI MINH CITY, Nov. 21  -- Together with Singapore, South Korea and China's Hong Kong are listed among the top foreign direct investors (FDI) in Vietnam, replacing Japan as the biggest foreign investor over the recent years, local press said Friday.

The Saigon Times daily quoted sources from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) as saying that since early this year, South Korea has become the biggest investor among 55 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

S. Korea has registered new and expanded capital of 3.6 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 26.3 percent of the total FDI flow into Vietnam so far this year.

S. Korean firms have focused on manufacturing and processing sectors, pouring more than 3 billion dollars into 271 new projects and 106 existing projects, or 83.3 percent of their total registered capital in Vietnam. Huge projects of major firms such as Samsung and LG have attracted other S. Korean spare parts suppliers into the country.

In addition, other groups in the fields of trade, service and production such as Lotte, CGV, CJ and Kumho have repeatedly expanded business operations in the local market.

Meanwhile, there is a strong rise in FDI capital from China's Hong Kong. Between January and October, Vietnam saw 103 newly- established and expanded projects of Hong Kong's firms with total registered capital of over 1.67 billion dollars, reported FIA.

China's Hong Kong has surpassed Japan to rank third in FDI ( after Singapore), focusing on dyeing, textile and real estate sectors.

For dyeing and textile, large companies such as Huafu, Texhong and TAL have strongly developed business in Vietnam in anticipation of enjoying a zero export tariff in the U.S. market.

Meanwhile, Sun Wah, Warburg Pincus Fund and Texhong have strongly disbursed capital into Vietnam's real estate market which saw clear signs of recovery.

From January to October, Vietnam received over 13.7 billion U.S. dollars in FDI attraction with 1,300 newly-licensed projects. Of which, manufacturing and processing remained the most attractive to foreign investors with 636 projects, with a combined newly- registered and expanded capital of 9.7 billion dollars, making up 70.8 percent of total FDI capital into Vietnam.

Real estate ranked second with 1.22 billion dollars, or 8.9 percent, followed by construction with over 1 billion dollars, or 7.2 percent of the total, according to FDI.