VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JUNE 22
15:31
Not feasible for e-commerce floors to declare and pay
taxes for sellers: Vecom
The
association has just released a statement on new regulations related to
e-commerce in Circular 40/2021/TT-BTC, which guides value added tax, personal
income tax and tax administration for business households and individuals. The circular
was issued on June 1 and will take effect from August 1 to replace Circular
92/2015/TT-BTC. The circular
stipulated that commerce trading floors are responsible for declaring and
paying tax on behalf of individuals doing business selling goods and
services. The amount
of tax declared or paid is based on the tax rate of each field of business. Circular 40
had many new contents compared to the draft first published March 12, but the
drafting board had not yet collected comments from stakeholders and those
directly impacted, Nguyen Ngoc Dung, Vecom vice chairman told a meeting last
week. Representatives
of some units said that the e-commerce trading floor was not an "income
payer" unit. They only provide technology infrastructures to connect
sellers and buyers and help them make transactions. Therefore,
they are not subjects to declare and deduct income tax of sellers according
to regulations. In addition,
business individuals would have to declare and pay tax at the tax office
where their business located, while e-commerce platforms might have their
business locations in other provinces, said e-commerce representatives. Therefore,
the declaration and submission on behalf of the company leads to conflicts
with current regulations. Vecom also
said the expected roadmap to apply the requirements to the e-commerce floors
on August 1 was too short to be able to prepare the system for data
collection and report to meet the requirements of the tax authority. Representatives
of e-commerce floors expressed their hope that the tax authority would
clarify specific requirements and application roadmap, and at the same time
discuss with e-commerce floors to understand the difficulties encountered in
reality. On June 7,
Vecom sent a document to the General Department of Taxation expressing
concern about the feasibility and potential impacts of the regulation. A Tiki
representative told Viet Nam News they expected the tax authority
to give detailed instructions to businesses on the plan to implement the
circular, including steps to be taken, implementation time of each stage, and
specific dispatches on calculation methods, tax and accounting declaration
forms. Secondly,
the e-commerce platform realised that it would take more time to work
internally, prepare systems, infrastructures, and equipment for data
collection and reports following the request of the tax authority, as well as
ensuring the security of the system. In terms of
operation, e-commerce floors also needed more time to work, guide and reach
agreement with their brand partners and sellers to ensure close co-ordination,
accurate implementation for circular issued by the Ministry of Finance. Shares edge down on selling pressure, foreign investors flee
market Shares ended
lower on Monday as profit-taking activities weighed on the stock market,
while foreign investors net sold more than a trillion Vietnamese dong on two
main exchanges. The market
benchmark VN-Index fell 5.14 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 1,372.63 points.
The index gained 1.93 per cent last week. The market's
breadth was negative as 232 stocks declined and 173 stocks rose. The
liquidity was still high with nearly 768.2 million shares traded on HoSE,
worth VND22.66 trillion (US$982.7 million). The losses
were driven by falls in pillar stocks. The VN30-index, which tracks the 30
biggest stocks in market capitalisation on the southern market, slid 0.2 per
cent to 1,478.29 points. Seventeen of 30 stocks in the VN30 basket fell,
while ten stocks climbed and three stocks ended flat. Stocks in
attractive sectors including banking, material and real estate led the
market's losses. JSC Bank for
Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV, BID) lost the most, down 2.49
per cent. Other stocks posting big losses were Hoa Phat Group (HPG),
Vietcombank (VCB), Techcombank (TCB), Vietinbank (CTG) and Vietnam Dairy
Products JSC (Vinamilk, VNM). All these stocks plunged more than 1 per cent
on Monday. The index
pared some losses on gains in utilities, real estate, retail and infomation
technology (IT) including the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex,
PLX), Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), No Va Land Investment Group
Corporation (Novaland, NVL) and FPT Corporation (FPT). According to
an analyst from Bao Viet Securities Company, the benchmark is expected to
move sideways with some up and down sessions in ranges of 1,374 - 1,385
points in the upper bound and 1,300 - 1,330 points in the lower bound. "The
market continues to witness strong division between stock lines at the
moment. And cash flows will shift alternatively among small/medium-cap stocks
or large-cap stocks that haven't gained much in previous rallies," the
company added. On the Ha
Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index fell 0.78 per cent to 316.24 points,
weighed by losses in large-cap stocks. The HNX30-Index decreased by 0.65 per
cent to 502.24 points. During the
session, over 144.1 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth
more than VND3.2 trillion. Meanwhile,
foreign investors were net sellers on both exchanges, with a total value of
VND1.13 trillion. Of which, they net sold a value of nearly VND1.1 trillion
on HoSE, and a value of VND33.72 billion on HNX. Shares to move up but investors should be cautious Securities
companies have forecast that the stock market's uptrend may continue this
week but investors should adopt risk management measures. On the Ho
Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index gained 1.31 per cent, to close
Friday at 1,377.77 points, the highest milestone so far. It gained
1.93 per cent in total last week. An average
of 770.9 million shares were traded on the southern exchange each session
last week, worth VND23.9 trillion (US$1 billion). According to
SSI Securities Incorporation (SSI), the VN-Index has the impetus to continue
towards the target of 1,400 points in the coming sessions. “However,
the buying force might increase when the index approaches the resistance zone
of 1,400 points. Therefore, investors should focus on risk management during
the index's uptrend,” it said. BOS
Securities Joint Stock Company (BOS) said it was likely the VN-Index would
maintain an increase and move towards a stronger resistance area at 1,380 -
1,400 points. However,
according to the company, the index may retest the old peak of 1,370 - 1,375
points in the early sessions of this week before confirming the short-term
uptrend. MB
Securities Joint Stock Company (MBS) believes the market has recovered after
the correction in the early sessions of June. The return of leading stocks
like banks, securities and steel have helped VN-Index reach a new high. “Technically,
the market may enter a new bullish wave after successfully surpassing the old
peak to move towards the short-term target at 1,420 - 1,450 points,” it said. Viet Dragon
Securities Joint Stock Company (VDSC) said at the end of last week, the
VN-Index set a new peak with many stocks rising to new price ranges, boosting
investors' sentiment. “The spread
of smart money has not stopped,” VDSC said. Saigon-Hanoi
Securities Joint Stock Company (SHS) said the market rallied last week with
reduced liquidity compared to the previous week, but still higher than the
average level of the last 20 trading weeks. “The buying
demand is still relatively strong. However, there was more caution among
investors than before,” it said. “From a
technical point of view, the VN-Index ending last week above the threshold of
1,375 points opens an opportunity for an extension of the uptrend with the
target around 1,400 points,” it said. “However,
the index's gaining momentum over 1,375 points is not definitive and the
liquidity dropped. Therefore, it is still necessary to observe more movements
in the session on June 21 to assess the trend of the VN-Index,” it said. Energy
stocks gained the most last week, mainly thanks to the increase of pillars
such as PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) up 6.6 per cent, PV Power (POW) rising 2.1
per cent, Binh Son Refinery (BSR) increasing 8.8 per cent, Vietnam National
Petroleum Group (PLX) climbing 4.6 per cent and PV Oil (OIL) up 3.5 per cent. They were
followed by materials stocks, including Phu My Fertilisers (DPM) up 7.5 per
cent, Hoa Sen Group (HSG) up 7.3 per cent, Petro Viet Nam Ca Mau Fertilizer
JSC (DCM) rising 6.6 per cent and Nam Kim Group (NKG) gaining 4.2 per cent. The
financial group also performed well with gainers like Viet Capital
Incorporation (VCI) up 14.4 per cent, Saigon-Hanoi Securities Co (SHS) up
10.2 per cent, VNDirect (VND) rising 9.8 per cent and SSI Securities Co (SSI)
up 2.7 per cent. Credit expands quickly in H1, central bank might consider credit
room extension With credit
expanding quickly in the first half of this year, the State Bank of Viet Nam
(SBV) said in its press conference on Monday that the credit growth target
for the full year of 2021 at 12 per cent was within reach and it might
consider extending credit room if necessary. SBV’s
statistics showed that despite the pandemic, credit growth reached 5.1 per
cent as of mid-June against the end of 2020, more than doubling the rate of
2.26 recorded in the same period last year. This meant
that banks pumped a net value of VND468.8 trillion (US$20.2 billion) into the
economy in the first six months of this year through lending. Deputy
Governor Dao Minh Tu said that the central bank always asked credit
institutions to focus on providing capital for production and prioritised
sectors while tightly controlling credit flow into risky sectors. At the same
time, banks were asked to remove difficulties in credit access and creating
favourable conditions for enterprises and citizens to borrow money from
banks. “With such
strong credit growth in the first half of this year, the credit growth target
for the full year which was set at 12 per cent was achievable,” Tu said. “If
the pandemic is put under better control, the central bank might consider to
extend credit room.” Tu stressed
that the central bank maintained a flexible monetary policy and ensured the
system liquidity to stabilise the market and promote economic recovery amid
the pandemic. As of June
15, M2 money supply increased by 3.96 per cent against the end of 2020 and
14.27 per cent against the same period last year. The
liquidity of the credit institutions system was abundant and stable, Tu said. Tu said the
interest rates were generally kept at low levels in the first half of this
year after three cuts in 2020. This aimed to reduce lending costs for
citizens, enterprises and the economy. As of April,
annual deposit and lending rates were around 0.3 percentage points lower than
the end of 2020. The maximum short-term lending rates of loans in Vietnamese
dong for prioritised sectors was around 4.5 per cent per year while lending
rate for USD averaged 3-6 per cent per year. Regarding
the support to enterprises and citizens who were affected by the COVID-19
pandemic, the central bank’s statistics showed that credit institutions have
so far restructured debt payment deadlines for more than 257,600 customers
with a total outstanding loan balance of more than VND336.66 trillion,
reduced rates for more than 676,690 customers with a outstanding loan worth
more than 1.2 quadrillion. New loans with low lending rates provided from
January 23 to date were worth more than VND3.5 quadrillion. Cashless
payment also saw good growth. Online transactions rose by 65.9 per cent in
volume and 31.2 per cent in value in the first four months of this year
compared to the same period last year, via mobile by 86.3 per cent and 123.1
per cent, via QR Code by 95.7 per cent and 181.5 per cent, respectively. Businesses team up with Bac Giang farmers in selling lychee Bac Giang’s
Tan Yen district has signed cooperation contract with six businesses in
selling lychee, a specialty fruit of the northern province. Of the
businesses, Chanh Thu, Rong Do, Bamboo, Toan Cau and Ameii companies are
exporting the fruit to Japan. The remaining firm sells lychee in domestic
supermarkets. Meanwhile, Phuc Hoa lychee production and selling cooperative
and 18 traders have also registered to sell the fruit to the Chinese
market. Earlier, the
People’s Committee of Tan Yen issued a plan on the sale of early-ripening
lychees meeting export standards in 2021, and another plan on organising a
send-off ceremony to begin the shipment of lychee to Japan, along with
the formation of a working team directing the cultivation of lychees in
accordance with export standards. The district
has directed relevant agencies to coordinate with the People’s Committee of
Phuc Hoa commune to conduct survey and choose suitable areas as well as
farmer households having sufficient conditions to engage in for-export lychee
production, and giving advice to the communal authorities in the issuance of
documents directing the production and supervising the lychee cultivation
process under GlobalGAP standards. Meanwhile, consultancy agencies will be
selected to evaluate the local soil and water conditions, serving the
assessment and certification of product quality. Tan Yen
district also coordinated with the Bac Giang Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development to invite five companies to visit the locality to get
understanding on the district situation and its plan to sell lychee to Japan
and the EU, paving the way for the district to sign selling contracts with
those businesses. In 2021, Tan
Yen has 1,329 hectares of “thieu” lychee with output of about 14,000 tonnes,
including 1,200 hectares of early-ripening lychee with total yield of 13,200
tonnes, and 129 hectares of main crop with an estimated output of 800 tonnes. The area of
lychee meeting VietGAP standards and high requirement in food safety has expanded
to 880 hectares, including 350 hectares meeting VietGAP standard, up 50
hectares compared to that in 2020 with output of 4,300 tonnes, while the area
of orchards meeting GlobalGAP standards is 5 hectares with
production of 63 tonnes. For the
Chinese market, Tan Yen has maintained the area already granted area code for
export in Phuc Hoa commune with 600 hectares and output of 6,500 tonnes. For
the Japanese market, the district has coordinated with the Plant Production
Department under the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development to designate farming areas and ask the Japanese side to grant
cultivation area codes to five hectares of orchards of 11 local
farmer households in Quat Du 2 village, and 10 hectares of 8 farming households
in Phuc Le village. The total acreage of lychee production area for
the Japanese market is 15 hectares with estimate output of 120 tonnes. Lychees from
the remaining areas of Tan Trung, Hop Duc, Lien Son communes and Cao Huong
township with output of about 6,700 tonnes will be sold in domestic markets
through cooperatives and selling locations across the district. In order to
ensure the quality of lychee, especially “thieu” lychee for export, Tan Yen
has organised training courses to guide farmer in farming technique and
writing farming diary. So far, 100 percent of local households have practiced
the technique and written down the process. The district
has chosen IQC company as the consultancy agency during the process of
applying for certification of the product’s quality. The company
has collaborated with professional agencies of Tan Yen, the People’s
Committee of Phuc Hoa commune, and 11 households in Quat Du 2 village to
apply new farming procedures and diary writing in line with regulations to
lay the foundation for applying for GlobalGAP certification./. Vietnam imports 15,600 CBU cars during May Vietnam
imported a total of 15,600 completely built unit (CBU) cars in May from three
major regional markets of Thailand, Indonesia and China, making up 94% of the
total number of vehicles imported into the country. Data from to
the General Department of Vietnam Customs show it imported 7,407 cars from
Thailand, 4,470 from Indonesia, and 2,790 from China. May saw the
number of CBU cars of all types which had registered for import customs
declarations increase by 4.8%, equivalent to a rise of 714 units compared to
the imported volume from the previous month. According to
the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the number of imported CBU cars of
all kinds during the five-month period increased by 78% to 65,736 units. Of
the figure, the number of nine-seater cars imported from the Thai market rose
by 53.3% to 43,630, while the number of transport cars surged by 124% to
15,355. Meanwhile,
May alone saw local firms spend approximately US$480 million on importing
auto parts and accessories, a rise of 6.2% against April. The main suppliers
were the Republic of Korea, with turnover reaching US$125 million, China with
US$98 million, Thailand with US$94 million, Japan with US$70 million,
Indonesia with US$18.4 million, and India with US$15.3 million. The import
value of auto parts and accessories throughout the reviewed period also
soared by 63.3% to US$2.16 billion, equivalent to a rise of US$835 million
from the same period last year. Flexible monetary policy helps recover credit growth amid
pandemic The State
Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has flexibly operated monetary policy tools to maintain
liquidity for the banking system, contributing to stabilising and recovering
credit growth in the context of unpredictable impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic. The
information was announced by the SBV at a press conference on June 21 to
review the banking sector’s activities in the first half of 2021. According to
SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu, thanks to synchronous management solutions,
as of June 15, total credit in the economy expanded 5.1 percent from the end
of 2020. The credit growth rate in the same period last year was only 2.26
percent Attention
has been paid to strictly controlling credit for areas with potentially high
risks, and taking measures to remove difficulties facing enterprises and
people in accessing bank credit, he said. Total M2
payment vehicle - one of the tools to measure the level of "pumping
money" into the economy from the banking system – in the period
increased by 3.96 percent compared to the end of 2020 and surged 14.27
percent over the same period last year. The credit institution system
maintains smooth liquidity. The sector
has continued to manage interest rates in line with the macro-economic
balance, inflation, market movements and the objectives of the monetary
policy, contributing to cutting capital costs for people, businesses and the
national economy. A series of
measures have been implemented to support borrowers amidst the COVID-19
pandemic, helping them restructure cash flows, and revive production and
business activities. As of May
31, credit institutions have rescheduled debt repayments for 257,602
borrowers with total outstanding loans of over 336.6 trillion VND (14.61
billion USD), exempted or reduced interests for 676,690 customers with total
outstanding loans of over 1.2 quadrillion VND, provided new loans with low
interest rates totaling over 3.5 quadrillion VND for nearly 481,000
borrowers. Regarding
the form of payment and transaction, Director of the SBV’s Payment Department
Pham Tien Dung said non-cash payment activities have been expanded in the
last six months. Payment
transactions via Internet channels surged by 65.9 percent in volume and 31.2
percent in value, while payment transactions via smart phone jumped by 86.3
percent in volume, and 123.1 percent in value. Payments via
QR Code increased by 95.7 percent in volume, and 181.5 percent in value, Dung
added. The SBV said
it will continue to keep close watch on the macro-economic and monetary
situation, as well as local and global developments of the pandemic, thus
giving appropriate orientations in credit management and structure, towards
promoting sustainable economic growth and development. Notably, the
banking sector will tighten control of credit in potentially risky areas such
as real estate, build-operation-transfer (BOT) and build- transfer (BT)
projects, and securities, Tu said. He asked
credit institutions to intensify management of credit quality, and
implementing measures to curb bad debts./. HCM City requires over US$42 billion for transport
infrastructure upgrades Under the
plan, in the 2021-2030 period, the city will invest in over 650km of roads,
211km of railroads, 81 big bridges, 15 major intersections, and seven projects
under the Smart Cities programme. It will also complete highways
and national routes connecting the city with the Key Southern
Economic Zone. During the
2021-2025 period, the city will prioritise key and urgent projects with total
investment capital of over VND553 trillion, of which the State budget will
provide VND181 trillion and other capital sources VND372 trillion. The key and
urgent projects for the 2021-2025 period include the HCM City-Moc Bai
Highway, Ring Roads No 2 and 3, National Highways No 1, No 22, No
50, and No 13, several elevated roads, main intersections and bridges in
high-density urban areas. A number of
key and urgent infrastructure works will be completed by the end of this
year, mostly in Thu Duc city. The city has
set a target of raising the ratio of traffic land to urban land to
12.76% in 2021, and the average density of roads out of the city’s land
area reaching 2.26 km per sq km. The HCM City
People’s Committee has requested that sectors and localities develop specific
programmes, plans, and projects on infrastructure development as part of
their annual and five-year socio-economic development plans in the periods
from 2021-2025 and 2026-2030 to ensure the effective implementation of the
transport infrastructure upgrade project. Employees adapt to more 'agile workplaces' amid pandemic Amid the
COVID-19 crisis, employers want to keep their staff safe while
coping with challenges to maintain normal and effective operations, said
human resources experts and business leaders at a recent meeting. To meet both
business and individual concerns, most businesses and organisations have
gradually shifted towards agile working environments, experts said at a
recent virtual event co-organised by the global workforce solutions company
ManpowerGroup and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). "Agile
working refers to individual and organisational practices that leverage
technology and flexibility to enable employees and their organisations
to better collaborate across departments, locations and working
environments," said Nguyễn Thanh Hương, country HR manager at
ManpowerGroup Vietnam. "This
model should become a part of our everyday work culture with the goal of
achieving an optimal balance between agility, productivity, performance,
information security, compliance, client satisfaction, well-being, and much
more." According to
the Skills Revolution Reboot survey of 26,130 employers in 43 countries
by the ManpowerGroup, three out of four employers require at least 50
per cent of their staff to work in the workplace all or most
of the time, based on their individual roles. Yet most are also working
to build new kinds of flexibility into roles traditionally seen as
inflexible. Trần Thị Thu
Thắm, head of Human Resources at Bosch Vietnam, said: “Agile working
requires managers and employees alike to develop an even stronger culture of
mutual trust and responsibility.” To keep
their jobs, local workers need to know how to adapt to their working
model to remain an integral and valuable part of their organisation. Thái Vân
Linh, CEO & Founder of TVL Group, cited her practical experience in
applying this model. "Agile working means how to work efficiently, to
balance tight deadlines, give attention to
detail, achieve target results, and balance work and personal
life." The
"What Vietnamese Workers Want in the New Normal” survey conducted by
ManpowerGroup Vietnam in November and December 2020 surveyed 463
participants who said that COVID-19 should be a catalyst for a new
future of work, which is flexible, diverse and oriented toward wellbeing. Vietnamese
workers are united in what they want to prioritise for the future, including
staying healthy, learning and developing new skill sets, keeping their job,
and bringing more balance between work and life. As for the
benefits of being in the official workplace, the respondents said they highly
valued opportunities for collaboration, productivity and efficiency
improvement, and appreciated the office as a way of separating work from
home. However,
a proportion of respondents preferred flexibility in terms of
location and schedule, or working remotely full-time. Nearly 78
per cent of respondents placed significance on learning and career
coaching. Amid current
uncertainties, employability matters to workers and 72 per
cent said that simply keeping their job was the most important
priority. Work
security and well-being have been identified as the most crucial factors
that both Vietnamese workers in general and working parents in particular
would like to focus in the "new normal". Thừa Thiên-Huế Province aims to build a lotus brand The central
province of Thừa Thiên-Huế has applied several measures to preserve and
sustainably develop Huế’s traditional lotus farming. The People's
Committee of Thừa Thiên-Huế Province has worked with the Việt Nam Academy of
Agriculture, the University of Agriculture and Forestry under Huế University
and research centres to research, conserve and develop Huế's lotus gene
resources through tissue culture method. The efforts
aim to sustainably develop lotus cultivation and increase economic
efficiency and income for people growing lotus in the province. The province
has focused on high-quality and productive lotus varieties
and provided lotus farmers with training courses on seed care, land
improvement and production in accordance with VietGAP standards. In addition,
the province has helped connect lotus growers with traders to ensure
their products are consumed by supermarkets, tourist attractions and more in
a bid to build a 'Huế Lotus Seed' trademark. The
provincial People's Committee is aiming that by 2025, the province will
expand the new lotus planting area from 650ha to 745ha, with high-yield lotus
for seed accounting for 85-90 per cent of the area and Huế purebred
varieties 10-15 per cent of the area. The average
yield is estimated to be from 1,800-2,000kg of seed per hectare
equivalent to an output of 1,200-1,400 tonnes of seed every year by
2025. In recent
years, provincial farmers have converted inefficient rice-growing land and
abandoned lowland land to lotus cultivation, bringing high economic
efficiency. In Phong
Điền District, the lotus growing area has expanded to about 355ha,
concentrated in the communes of Phong Hiền, Phong An, Phong Hoà
and Phong Chương and Phong Điền Township. Trương Duy
Hoà's family in Phong Điền Township is one example of successful lotus
farming. Hoà’s family
converted their 3ha of rice farming land to lotus farming more than 10 years
ago and the new plant has brought his family a stable income. After
grasping the needs of the market this year, his family sowed earlier than
usual. So while
many households were still planting, his family was harvesting and selling
lotus seed for more than a month. On average,
he sold more than 200kg of lotus seed daily. At the beginning of the
season, lotus seed costed VNĐ80,000 (US$3.5) per kilo, double the
normal price. After deducting investment costs, the average income from lotus
seed was about VNĐ120 million (US$5,200) per hectare, 4-5 times
higher than from growing rice. In Quảng An
Commune, Trần Hũu Đạo's family made a success of converting to
lotus cultivation in 2018, on an area of more than 1ha of low-lying land that
was inefficient for rice cultivation. According to
Đạo, they plant lotus from February and harvest from June to August. It was not
yet time to harvest the main crop, but thanks to good weather conditions,
this year’s yield was estimated at about 4 tonnes per hectare, said Đạo. “The
advantages of lotus are it is easy to grow and adapts to low-lying and
waterlogged areas, requiring little investment and care but stable yield
and easy-to-sell products, so profits are high,” said Đạo. “With the
current price of fresh lotus seed at VNĐ40,000 (US$1.8) per kilo, my
family would profit more than VNĐ100 million (US$4,400) in this year's lotus
crop,” he said. In Quảng
Điền District, the area cultivating lotus is about 60ha with more than 200
farmer households participating, mainly in Sịa Town and the communes of
Quảng Vinh, Quảng Lợi and Quảng An. This year,
thanks to the amount of alluvium deposited after the floods, the lotus plants
in this area grew evenly and had good quality seed. Lê Văn
Thiên, vice president of Farmers' Association of Quảng Điền District, said
this year's lotus crop was good and well priced. “It is
estimated that fresh unpeeled lotus seed costs VNĐ40,000 per kilo and
finished lotus products cost VNĐ75,000-80,000 per kilo,” said Thiên. “Lotus
cultivation has not only improved the lives of households but also created
jobs for many local workers,” Thiên said. The
association plans to keep working with local authorities and other sectors to
encourage people to take advantage of the abandoned water surface, low-lying
areas and inefficient soil to grow lotus in combination with fish
farming to increase income, according to the vice president. The
association will also promote the establishment of co-operative groups and
professional associations to stabilise the output for lotus products as well
as mobilise people to develop Huế’s lotus varieties to build a brand. Vietnam’s exports to EU surge amidst COVID-19 Trade in
goods between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) has seen positive growth
since the beginning of 2021, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to
statistics of the General Department of Customs, Vietnam exported 16.1
billion USD worth of goods to the EU during January-May, while importing
commodities worth 6.7 billion USD from the bloc, up 20.1 percent and 16.8
percent compared to the same period last year, respectively. The EU is
currently Vietnam’s fifth largest trade partner and second biggest importer
of Vietnamese goods, following the US. Last year, two-way trade reached 49.8
billion USD, down 0.1 percent year-on-year, and accounting for 9.13 percent
of Vietnam's total foreign trade. With the
EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, Vietnam’s export to the bloc has bounced
back since the end of 2020, said Tran Thanh Hai, deputy head of the Ministry
of Industry and Trade’s Import-Export Department. Thanks to
the preferential tariffs under the deal, footwear exports to the bloc’s 27
member countries increased by 19.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter
of 2021. Countries
that saw surges included Spain (39.2 percent), Belgium (37 percent), Czech
Republic (36.5 percent) and Sweden (30.8 percent). The
agreement is also creating favourable conditions for the export of Vietnamese
farm produce. In recent
days, batches of fresh lychees have been shipped to the Czech Republic,
Germany, France and Belgium. Tran Van
Cong, Vietnam's agricultural counsellor in Europe, said that the first batch
of lychee to Belgium marked an important milestone as a special “passport”
proving the production capacity of the Vietnamese agricultural sector. According to
the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), European
importers have shown more interest in Vietnamese seafood suppliers given
tariff advantages from the EVFTA and the stable source of raw materials.
Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU reached over 380 million USD in the first
5 months of this year, up 15 percent y-o-y, with half of which, nearly 199
million USD, coming from shrimp, up 22 percent y-o-y./. Long An: Four new industrial clusters to be put into operation
this year The southern
province of Long An is set to get four industrial clusters this year, Vinh
Khang, Tan My, Tu Phuong and Hiep Hoa, according to the provincial Department
of Industry and Trade. Their
developers are expected to clear the lands by the end of this month and then
begin construction of infrastructure for wastewater treatment, traffic,
water, drainage, and electricity, which are expected to be completed by the
end of this year. Once
completed, they will add nearly 200 hectares to the province’s availability
of industrial lands. The province
has 16 industrial parks with a total area of over 2,282ha and average
occupancy of 89.2 percent. They house
796 foreign projects worth a total of 7.857 billion USD and 831 local ones
worth 92.32 trillion VND (4.02 billion USD). It is also
home to 22 industrial clusters with an occupancy rate of 86.5 per cent. There
are 647 projects with a total investment of 16.128 trillion VND (701.2
million USD), including 60 foreign ones worth 209.6 million USD. According to
its Department of Industry and Trade, the province’s industrial cluster
development plan for until 2020 envisaged having 62 industrial clusters with
a total area of more than 3,100ha by then, but currently only 22 industrial
clusters have been put into operation. The
department said it would focus on completing the province’s industrial
cluster development plan for 2021 – 30 to attract more investment. Besides, it
would monitor and ensure developers of infrastructure in the clusters finish
the work in time, it added./. High trade deficit recorded over five months nothing to worry
about Vietnam’s
export industries posting a trade deficit over the opening five months of the
year is not a worrying sign as most imported items are raw materials
necessary for production, especially for the group of export goods, according
to industry insiders. Over the
past five months local businesses have accelerated their import of electronic
components, raw materials and accessories for leather and footwear, textiles,
electronics, machinery, tools and spare parts, phones and accessories,
plastics, and farm produce as a means of boosting production activities. May alone
saw Vietnam record a trade deficit of more than US$2 billion, thereby making
the trade balance during the reviewed period reverse after a long period of
securing a trade surplus. Meanwhile, the import turnover of goods surged by
36.4% to US$131.31 billion compared to the same period from last year. Most
notably, the sharp increase in imported goods mainly came from
foreign-invested businesses, with turnover reaching US$85.5 billion, an
increase of 39.9% compared to last year’s corresponding period. Vu Duc
Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS),
attributed the recent rise in imported raw materials and accessories to the
recovery of the garment and textile industry. Indeed, export turnover
increased by up to 15% throughout the reviewed period. In addition,
the increase in import of production materials, especially electronics,
high-tech items, and machinery and equipment is anticipated to create greater
opportunities for businesses to boost their exports in the near future. Dang Hoang
Giang, general secretary of the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS), said
that the import of raw cashew nuts also skyrocketed during the five-month
period. The total imported volume of raw cashew from Cambodia soared by more
than 500% in value whilst also exceeding last year’s import volume. Vinh Long seeks investment in major projects across the board The Cuu Long
(Mekong) Delta province of Vinh Long is soliciting investment in large
projects that use modern and environment-friendly technologies and bring high
added value. It is
calling for investment of over VND24.37 trillion (US$1.06 billion) in 10
projects in all three main sectors of the economy. Le Minh Tan,
director of its investment promotion and enterprise support centre, said the
province is inviting investment in key projects, including the VND2.9
trillion ($126.1 million) Binh Tan Industrial Zone (IZ) in Tan Quoi Town with
an area of 400ha. In the
agricultural sector, it is soliciting investment of around VND250 billion
($10.87 million) in a 50-100ha high-tech agricultural project in Vinh Long
City. It is also
promoting an agricultural production and processing project in Binh Minh Town
on an area of 10.6ha and costing VND400 billion ($17.4 million). In the
housing sector, the province is looking for investment of VND8.05 trillion
($350 million) in the 500ha My Hoa new urban project in Binh Minh and My Hoa
communes and Binh Minh Town. There is
also an urban and administrative project worth VND7.5 trillion ($326.1
million). The province
is mobilising resources to promote tourism with the aim of turning it into a
key economic sector by 2030. Its tourist
and tourism revenues are increasing by 11.6 per cent and 25.7 per cent a year
on average. The province
has also begun to attract investment in supporting industries such as the
production of automobile parts. This
conforms with its desire to foster industrial production. To improve
the quality and effectiveness of foreign investment, it is working to attract
strategic investors from markets such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan,
Singapore, and the EU, Tan said. South Korea
now has 18 investment projects worth nearly $90 million in the province,
while Japan and Taiwan have invested $102.5 million and $239.2 million
respectively. The province
also targets major projects and those with high-added value and using advanced
and environment-friendly technologies, especially in agri-industry, human
resources training and agricultural-based tourism, he said. Local
authorities would create optimal conditions for investors to know about key
projects and incentives, and help them resolve investment obstacles, he
added. They have
been announcing support and incentives to encourage investment in tourism,
building infrastructure, tweaking planning for tourist areas to attract more
investments, and developing unique tourism products. Vinh Long
last year issued investment certificates for 26 projects with a total
investment of VND4.35 trillion and over $104 million, including six
foreign-invested ones. Fertiliser prices continue to increase: MoIT Fertiliser
prices are forecast to continue to grow for the rest of the year, caused by a
number of factors including higher shipping costs, a representative of the
Chemical Department said. Speaking at
the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s monthly press conference held on
Thursday, Luu Hoang Ngoc, deputy director of the MoIT’s Chemical Department
said: "The fertiliser price fluctuation in 2021 is similar to that in
2008, and the prices will continue to increase from now until the end of the
year." The main
factor pushing up prices is higher cost to hire shipping containers, while
imported fertilisers, such as diammonium phosphate (DAP), mono-ammonium
phosphate (MAP) and urea, are mainly transported on containers. Currently,
the cost to hire shipping containers has increased five times compared to the
previous year. In addition,
fertiliser supply in Southeast Asia has declined as many factories have
entered the period of maintenance. The price of
raw materials has increased on the world market so the price of
domestically-made fertiliser products has also soared, according to the
Chemical Department. At present,
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) manages production,
trading, and import-export of none organic and organic fertilisers. However,
"the MoIT manages import-export activities and the domestic market,
working closely with MARD to ensure supply," Ngoc said. According to
Le Trieu Dung, director of the MoIT’s Trade Remedies Department, the strong
increase in prices started early 2021. The reason has been mainly due to the
increase in cost of material for production of DAP and MAP fertilisers, of
which the price surged by two times for sulfur and 30 per cent for ammonia. However,
after assessing supply and demand, the MARD and MoIT have found that there is
enough fertiliser supply for domestic use. “The supply
of fertilisers, especially DAP fertilisers, is still enough for the domestic
needs," Dung said. "Specifically,
the import of DAP and MAP fertilisers from the beginning of the year to now
increased by 50 per cent, while the domestic production also increased by
about 30 per cent.” In addition,
the prices of domestically-produced DAP and MAP fertilisers are between
VND8-10 million per tonne, lower than the price of imported fertiliser at
VND14-15 million per tonne. This is also a factor helping to stabilise the
domestic market. Over the
past month, the MoIT has taken safeguard measures for imported DAP and MAP
fertilisers to protect domestic production. After an investigation on import
fertiliser, the ministry has issued a decision to impose taxes on those
products from 2017, according to Dung. In the
future, the MoIT will continue to coordinate with the MARD to monitor the
fertiliser market and have measures to stabilise the market. Hundreds of planes left idle at Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat airports Hundreds of
planes are now left unused at Vietnam’s two biggest airports of Noi Bai and
Tan Son Nhat. At present,
airlines in Vietnam own 230 planes, up 24 against 2019. Despite having more
planes, the airlines have seen a sharp fall in flight number due to the
Covid-19 pandemic. Since May 1
as the fourth Covid-19 wave hit Vietnam, flights to Noi Bai International
Airport have considerably dropped from the peak time of up to 530 flights
with a total of 78,000 passengers daily on the occasion of Reunification Day
Holiday (April 30). Currently,
the airport serves around 120 flights, including cargo flights, with around
5,000 passengers per day. The
Hanoi-HCM City air route which was considered as the world’s second-busiest
in November last year just behind South Korea’s Jeju-Seoul, now only has 18
daily flights compared to 130 previously. Overnight
parking demand for planes at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports has
drastically increased. So, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has asked
to use closed runways for parking. According to
the Vietnam Aviation Business Association, local airlines would witness a
total loss of VND15 trillion. The Ministry
of Planning and Investment recently announced Vietnam Airlines losses in the
first half of this year of VND10 trillion. The carrier’s overdue debt is
VND6.24 trillion. The Ministry
of Planning and Investment forecasted that the aviation sector would continue
facing difficulties this year due to Covid-19. If the pandemic is brought
under control this year, the sector’s operations would stabilise by 2024. Policy support needed to boost business growth: insiders Without a
more effective business support package, the country’s goal of 6.5
percent in gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year will be hard to
be achieved as the GDP growth in the first six months of 2021 is forecast to
reach only 5.8 percent, according to experts. Nguyen Xuan
Phu, Chairman of Sunhouse Group, said that like many other large-scale
firms, Sunhouse hopes to receive support in policy rather than financial
assistance. The country
currently has about 500 large-scale enterprises that contribute 60-70 percent
to the State budget, making it impossible to provide a common support package
for all of them, noted Phu, stressing that support in policy will be much
more effective. Businesses
need a smoother mechanism and simplier administrative procedures so that they
can focus on production, as COVID-19 has created development opportunities
for many firms, said Phu. Meanwhile,
Than Duc Viet, General Director of May 10, another big-sized enterprise, said
that the current support package has yet to be able to help businesses
overcome difficulties although many areas are eying opportunities to rise due
to recovering demand in the world market. Viet said
that in 2020, May 10 and other firms in the garment-textile sector faced
difficulties in both input and sale, in 2021, the situation has changed
completely with abundant orders. About 90
percent of the company’s products are exported to the US, the EU and Japan
with orders enough for production until the end of this year, but without
favourable mechanisms and policies to help businesses to attract labourers
and protect them against COVID-19, the firms can hardly complete their
orders. Although the
number of COVID-19 cases has exceeded 12,500, Vietnam has still been
considered one of the most successful countries in the world in pandemic
control. Nguyen Duc
Kien, head of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory team, said that
Vietnamese firms are eying great opportunities to win the world market when
other large suppliers such as India, Bangladesh and Myanmar are struggling
with the pandemic. The current
fiscal, monetary and social security support has been no longer suitable to
large-scale firms, he held, adding that it is necessary to design another
support package – support in policy. Kien added
that the current time is also a great chance for Vietnam to increase foreign
direct investment (FDI) attraction. Along with the effective control of the
pandemic, it is crucial to design new and stronger support policies to
promote economic growth and complete the target of at least 6.5
percent GDP growth this year and following years, stressed Kien. Deputy
Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said that the pandemic
has changed the mindset of many big and strategic investors on the formation
of a production hub to diversify supply chains and distributing the supply
chains in the globe, including in Vietnam. According to
Phuong, the support package for FDI companies cannot be the same as those for
small and medium-sized enterprises, but it is necessary to give breakthrough
policies and mechanisms. “We should
not organise traditional roadshows or trade promotion events in other
countries. So how we can persuade investors to pour a large amount of capital
into Vietnam without having to visit the country? To do so, we must give
another support package with assistance in policy and mechanism,” stated
Phuong./. Farmers utilise e-commerce to boost sale of agricultural
products Agricultural
specialties of some provinces are being sold on the e-commerce platform
Sendo, marking the first time cooperatives and farmers have directly put
their produce on sale in the digital environment. The
programme, co-organised by Sendo and the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital
Economy Agency (IDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT),
enables cooperatives and farmers in the provinces of Bac Giang, Hai Duong,
Vinh Long, Dak Lak, and Son La to directly sell their products to consumers,
without intermediaries, thus ensuring competitive prices and freshness. The produce
on sale are all in season such as plums of Son La, avocadoes of Dak Lak,
lychees of Bac Giang and Hai Duong, and purple sweet potatoes of Vinh Long. Joining in
this programme from June 21 to 26, farmers will receive the Sendo staff’s
guidance on how to package and introduce their products via livestreaming so
that they can gradually use e-commerce as a long-term distribution channel. Bui Huy
Hoang, an IDEA official, said the agency is working with e-commerce
platforms, including Sendo, to help boost the sale of Vietnam’s agricultural
products, and the efforts will benefit more produce from across the country
in the time ahead. The MoIT
will also keep coordinating with relevant ministries and sectors to organise
other programmes supporting the sale and brand building for agricultural
products, including those providing e-commerce training./. Source:
VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes |
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