HANOI, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam lured over 20.3 billion U.S. dollars in foreign investment in the first half of this year, up 5.7 percent on-year, its Foreign Investment Agency said on Wednesday.

The sum included 16.2 billion U.S. dollars worth of registered capital of 1,366 projects licensed in the six-month period and additional capital of 507 operational projects, and 4.1 billion U.S. dollars spent on buying stocks of, or contributing capital to Vietnamese companies.

Of the total foreign investment, over 7.9 billion U.S. dollars was poured into processing and manufacturing sector, accounting for 38.9 percent, over 5.5 billion U.S. dollars into property sector, representing 27.3 percent, and 1.5 billion U.S. dollars into wholesales and retails sector, making up 7.4 percent.

Between January and late June, nearly 8.4 billion U.S. dollars worth of foreign direct investment was disbursed, increasing 8.4 percent on-year.