Vietnam received an estimated 5.85 billion U.S. dollars in actual inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first four months of this year, down 1.2 percent from the same period a year ago, Vietnam News reported on Wednesday.

Total registered FDI as of April 20, including new pledges, additional investment funds to existing projects and share acquisition, fell 18 percent to a combined 8.9 billion U.S. dollars year on year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Vietnam licensed 4.1 billion U.S. dollars worth of 750 new projects in the first four months of this year, up 11.1 percent from a year ago, said the foreign investment authorities.

Nearly 1.66 billion U.S. dollars went into 386 existing projects during the January-April period, down 68.6 percent from a year ago, which indicates a slower declining trend as the additional investment funds slumped 85.2 percent in the first two months and 70.3 percent in the first three months.

The statistics showed foreign investors' confidence in Vietnam's investment environment as they continued to expand their existing projects in the country, the FIA said.

Foreigners also invested over 3.1 billion U.S. dollars in the January-April period, marking a year-on-year increase of 70.4 percent, through acquiring stakes in local companies, data showed.

Singapore was the top source of direct investment pledges in the period with nearly 2.2 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Japan with about 2 billion U.S. dollars and China with nearly $752 million.

Six biggest foreign investors accounted for 75.1 percent of the country's total investment capital in the period, the FIA added.

Foreign investors were mainly interested in the technology and manufacturing sector as they pledged to invest over 5.1 billion dollars, equivalent to 57.8 percent of the total registered capital.

Banking and finance came second with over 1.5 billion dollars, 12 times higher than the same period last year.

FDI inflows have been a key driver of Vietnam's economic growth. Companies with investments from foreign firms accounted for about 74.4 percent of the country's total exports last year, according to the country's General Statistics Office.