Vietnamese enterprises invested nearly 184.7 million USD in overseas projects in the first five months of this year, according to the General Statistics Office. Some 144.7 million USD was pumped into 48 new projects, while the rest was earmarked for 14 existing ones. During the period, finance and banking drew the greatest interest from the Vietnamese investors, accounting for over 57 percent of total investment capital, or 105.8 million USD. Major banks such as BIDV, Vietinbank, and Sacombank are seeking to make inroads in new foreign markets. The finance and banking sector was followed by the manufacturing and processing, ago-forestry and aquaculture sectors. From January to May, Vietnamese businesses invested in 24 countries and territories.  Among them, Laos lured the lion’s share of investments with 43.4 percent of total funds. Apart from traditional markets such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, Vietnamese businesses are expanding to other markets like Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Haiti and Cameroon.-VNA