Vietnam attracted 1.78 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first two months of this year, a decrease of 72.7 percent year-on-year, said a report on the website of the Ministry of Planning and Investment on Monday.

However, the country's FDI disbursement during this period stood at 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 10 percent compared to the same period last year, said the ministry.

Disbursement in FDI in Vietnam is forecast to increase 10 percent to between 10 or 11 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, thanks to the global economic recovery, according to a forecast of the ministry last month.

In the first two months of this year, Vietnam approved 88 projects with total registered capital of 1.62 billion U.S. dollars, down 40.2 percent year-on-year, said the ministry.

The rest 165.2 million U.S. dollars came from the additional capital for on-going projects in the country, posting a plunge of 95.7 percent year-on-year.

Last year, Vietnam lured 21.48 billion U.S. dollars in FDI with amount of disbursement standing at 10 billion U.S. dollars, said the ministry.