HO CHI MINH CITY, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City's licensed foreign investors invested 6 billion U.S. dollars into the city through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in 2018, the municipal authorities said Tuesday.

Since 1988, foreign investors have been licensed to pump over 10 billion U.S. dollars into Ho Chi Minh City via M&A deals, accounting for 22 percent of total foreign direct investment in the city.

The city currently has 8,112 foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of nearly 45 billion U.S. dollars, said the municipal Department of Planning and Development.

In January, Vietnam licensed 226 foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of 805 million U.S. dollars from over 20 countries and regions, posting respective year-on-year rises of 36.1 percent and 81.9 percent, according to the country's Foreign Investment Agency.