VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS AUGUST 19
15:21
Vietnam targets 21,000 MW of offshore wind power by
2045
Vietnam is striving to produce about
3,000 - 5,000 MW of offshore wind power by 2030 and 21,000 MW by 2045. Addressing a
webinar on August 18, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology
Associations (VUSTA) Phan Xuan Dung said the country will benefit from the
development of offshore wind power, whose cost will gradually decrease in the
future. The
development will also help create new jobs, attract investment, and reduce
carbon emissions, he noted. Many experts
at the event, held by VUSTA and the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition,
held that the country still lacks legal regulations and technical standards
for the production, installation, operation, and maintenance of offshore wind
power. A mechanism
for offshore wind power purchase is also necessary to stimulate this market,
they said. Speakers and
other participants also suggested the State devise a specific mechanism for
developing offshore wind power farms since this type of renewable energy will
generate sustainable benefits, helping to guarantee energy security and
promote citizens’ sense of responsibility towards the protection of Vietnam’s
maritime sovereignty./. VN-Index falls for second day to hover around 1,360
point-level Viet Nam’s
stock market ended mixed yesterday as the benchmark reversed the morning
course on resurging selling pressure. On the Ho
Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index fell in a choppy session to get
closer to the 1,360 point-level. Accordingly, the market benchmark lost 2.15
points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,360.94 points. It inched higher in the morning
trade on key material stocks. The market’s
breadth was negative with 197 stocks declining while 172 stocks rose. But the
liquidity was lower than some recent sessions as investors poured nearly
VND24.41 trillion (US$1.06 billion), equivalent to a trading volume of 689.8
million shares. The index’s
reversal was mainly driven by a sell-off in bank stocks in the afternoon
trade. The 30 biggest stocks tracker, VN30-Index also slid by 0.31 per cent
to 1,489.54 points. Sixteen
stocks of the 30 biggest stocks in the VN30 basket decreased, while 11
climbed and three ended flat. Even though
many big banks recorded losses in the market, real estate stocks still led
the trend. The trio
stocks of the Vin family, including Vinhomes JSC (VHM), Vingroup JSC (VIC)
and Vincom Retail JSC (VRE), fell 0.89 - 1.01 per cent in market
capitalisation. Other stocks
contributing to the losses were VPBank (VPB), down 1.69 per cent, Techcombank
(TCB), down 0.94 per cent, and JSC Bank for Investment and Development Of
Vietnam (BIDV, BID) down 0.7 per cent. However, the
losses were limited by gains in some large-cap stocks, especially in the
material sector. Of which,
Masan Group (MSN) was the biggest gainer yesterday, up 1.51 per cent. It was
followed by Vinamilk (VNM) and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), up
0.78 per cent and 1.53 per cent, respectively. The move was
in line with expectations from Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS). In a
daily report to investors, the securities firm said that the VN-Index may
continue to struggle and fluctuate between the resistance zone of 1,370-1,380
points and the support zone of 1,325-1,350 points. It also
suggested that investors who have gradually taken profits from their
portfolios last week should take a wait-and-see approach this week, and
should not buy-in at the current price range. Investors’
sentiment was also weighed by selling activities from foreign investors as
they continued to net sell a value of more than VND1 trillion on the two main
exchanges. Of which,
they net sold a value of nearly VND1.89 trillion on HoSE and a value of
VND41.62 billion on the northern bourse. On the Ha
Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), meanwhile, the HNX-Index rose 0.5 per cent to
344.82 points. The index closed the morning trade at 345.63 points. During the
trading session, more than 157.3 million shares were traded on HNX, worth
over VND4.2 trillion. Provinces in Mekong Delta help businesses maintain production
Tra Vinh
province’s Department of Planning and Investment, for example, said that
investment permits and certifications were granted to 14 new domestic
investment projects in the first six months of the year. Lam Huu
Phuc, deputy director of the department, said the province was working with
companies to help them overcome problems and recover quickly. It has reduced
taxes, loan interest and certain bills. Twenty-five
businesses are providing accommodations to staff to continue production, as
of August 11. The businesses were asked to strictly follow pandemic
regulations and work with health authorities on contact tracing and
quarantining infected cases. Meanwhile,
Can Tho city attracted two foreign investment projects worth a total of 1.31
billion USD in the first six months of the year, ranking third in the country
in terms of FDI attraction, after Long An and HCM City. The city
will establish a centre to further expedite administrative procedures,
according to its People’s Committee. Around 100
businesses in the city have maintained production by arranging staff
accommodations. The city's departments are keeping an eye on how well they
follow pandemic regulations. Other
provinces in the Mekong Delta are requiring businesses to adhere to strict
regulations, such as Dong Thap province, which has been checking up on local
businesses and helping them overcome challenges, and monitoring industrial
parks' compliance. Pham Thien
Nghia, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said that businesses
can work with health authorities to have regular COVID-19 tests and vaccines
for staff. However,
according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Can Tho city,
many businesses, especially small to medium sized, are struggling in the
delta, especially those that cannot afford to arrange accommodations for
their staff. Large
businesses are also worried about lowered production output, stressed-out
workers, and loss of foreign customers. Some
businesses are struggling with unclear regulations surrounding essential
goods, test results, and travel across provinces. They also
need lower loan interest rates, more vaccinations for staff, and more
government support. In the first
six months of the year, more than 5,100 new businesses opened in the Mekong
Delta, but nearly 5,000 businesses were in the process of dissolving or had
already dissolved. Around 1,800
businesses have temporarily closed./. 98% of enterprises in Can Tho suspend operations due to pandemic Up to 9,800
of nearly 10,000 enterprises in Can Tho City have suspended their operations
due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the municipal
Department of Industry and Trade. Among the
1,090 industrial production firms in the city, 1,018 firms have shut down
temporarily, accounting for 93.39%. In
industrial and export processing zones, only 20 of 170 enterprises remain
operational. Over 38,000 employees of these enterprises have temporarily
stopped working. The director
of a seafood processing and exporting firm at the Tra Noc Industrial Park
said when the pandemic broke out in Can Tho in mid-July, the firm had to ask
over 3,000 workers to stop working temporarily as it could not deploy the
stay-at-work mode for thousands of people for months. Each worker would
receive VND100,000 per day. On July 13,
the Can Tho government asked enterprises in the city to apply the
stay-at-work mode to be allowed to operate during the pandemic. Since July
16, enterprises which did not register to apply the mode had to suspend their
operations. Can Tho
recorded more than 3,300 Covid-19 cases since July 7. The city has 170 areas
under lockdown. Vietnam drafts digital transformation plan for businesses At least 800
businesses, 100 cooperatives, and 4,000 business households in fields of
manufacturing and processing, agriculture, tourism, are expected to become
successful models in digital transformation by 2025. The Ministry
of Planning and Investment (MPI) set out the target in its latest proposal on
the national supporting program to aid businesses, cooperatives, and business
households in the digitalization process in the 2021-2025 period, with funds
allocated from the state budget and support from organizations or businesses
taking part in the program. According to
the MPI, the program’s goal is to speed up the digital transformation in
Vietnam amid a difficult economic environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic by
raising the business community’s awareness of this process and supporting
them to digitalize operation, corporate governance, and production procedures
for greater competitiveness and capabilities. By 2025, the
program expects 100% of manufacturing facilities to be aware of the benefit
of digital transformation, and 500,000 businesses to receive some sort of
support from the program, including training, consultation, or applying
solutions for digitalization. To realize
such goals, the program would set up a network of 500 organizations and individual
experts to facilitate digital transformation in the business community, along
with a database consisting of 100 technological solutions for digital
transformation that would be available for businesses. In addition,
the MPI proposed the development and launch of a portal and smart app for
digitalization to enhance engagement between parties in a cyber environment. Enterprises
seen as having high potential for digital transformation would be supported
with 50% of consultation fees when requesting support from the network of
digitalization experts. Ca Mau eyes annual growth of 8 percent in agricultural exports The
southernmost province of Ca Mau is working to achieve an annual growth rate
of 8 percent in agricultural exports during 2021 - 2025, according to its
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. To that end,
it is moving to tap into local advantages and promote production to improve
the competitiveness of farm produce, especially such key products as shrimp,
sea crab, organic rice, wood, and banana. The shrimp
industry is the largest foreign currency earner for the province. From now to
2025, Ca Mau will keep the shrimp farming area stable, at about 280,000ha,
while boosting productivity, output, as well as quality. The
eco-farming area, mainly integrated mangrove - shrimp aquaculture and rice -
shrimp farming, will be expanded to 49,000ha. The co-culture of shrimp with
other aquatic species will also be developed on about 250,000ha. The province
will boost shrimp export to potential markets, including the EU, Japan, the
US, Eastern Europe, Middle East, China, and the Republic of Korea, to make
use of the signed free trade agreements so as to earn nearly 5.65 billion USD
in revenue from now to 2025. Without as
favourable conditions for rice production as other localities in the Mekong
Delta, Ca Mau has still managed to form large-scale and sustainable rice
farming areas. It aims to
raise to the organic rice cultivation area to 2,500ha by 2025 and rake in 22
million USD from selling this produce to Singapore, Europe, the US, Hong Kong
(China), and the Republic of Korea during 2021 - 2025. Forestry has
also been given priority, with partnerships in the wood sector’s value chain
from afforestation to wood logging, processing, and sale promoted. Deputy
Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Van Thuc
said Ca Mau will work to have 10,000ha granted the sustainable forest
management certificate and 100 percent of wood products made from forest
trees with legal origin. It hopes
that 90 percent of the commercial forest area, equivalent to 54,000ha, will
have sustainable management plans, generating 20 million USD in processed
wood exports, mostly to Europe, in five years./. Tan Thanh Border Gate resumes operations as of August 18 The Ministry
of Industry and Trade (MoIT), on the morning of August 18, informed that the
Tan Thanh Border Gate in Lang Son Province, where agricultural products and
cross-border traded goods are exported to the Chinese market, will be
reopened from today after the two sides have been consensus on customs
clearance process. According to
information from Lang Son Province, customs clearance activities through Tan
Thanh Border Gate in Lang Son of Vietnam and Po Chai Border Gate in Guangxi
Province of China will return to normal from August 18. The two
provinces have agreed on the customs clearance process to ensure the
circulation of imported and exported goods and safety against the Covid-19
pandemic. The MoIT
announced that it would continue to coordinate with Lang Son Province and
Northern border provinces to closely monitor the import and export of goods
across the border to promptly handle arising problems. Previously,
on August 16, it was reported that China suddenly stopped importing and
exporting goods at Po Chai Border Gate in Guangxi Province. The MoIT
collaborated with Lang Son Province and the Vietnam Trade Office Branch in
Guangxi to verify this information. The
verification results on August 17 shows that there was no official
announcement from China about suspending customs clearance at Po Chai and Tan
Thanh border gates. However,
after some Covid-19 cases related to long-haul drivers carrying exported
goods through these border gates, the border gate management authority of
Guangxi Province temporarily halted customs clearance activities to review
and agree with Lang Son Province on measures to strengthen the process of
freight forwarding through Tan Thanh area, intending to ensure smooth
circulation of imported and exported goods and safety for pandemic prevention
between the two sides. Con Dao Airport to be expanded to serve 2 mln passengers per
year The airport
on Con Dao Island, the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, will be
expanded and upgraded to better serve rising passenger demand and the
operation of new-generation aircraft. In the
adjusted airport planning by 2030 recently approved by Minister of Transport
Nguyen Van The, Con Dao Airport will have a capacity of 2 million passengers
and 4,400 tonnes of cargo per year and be able to handle Code-C or equivalent
aircraft. A new
passenger terminal is expected to be built to the southeast of the existing
facility. An area to the west of the passenger terminal has also been zoned
for constructing a cargo terminal. The zoned
land area covers more than 181ha, including over 104ha of the existing
airport and 77ha of additional land. That consists of about 52.5ha for civil
aviation, 9.3ha for military aviation, and 119ha for joint use. The Ministry
of Transport said the growth of passenger traffic at Con Dao Airport has
outpaced the prediction in the old planning, and the current throughput has
exceeded the existing terminal’s capacity. Despite the
COVID-19 pandemic, this airport still served 447,750 passengers in 2020, up
4.1 percent from 2019. It was
designed to handle ATR-72 and equivalent planes. However, carriers are set to
gradually replace ATR-72, as well as A320 and A321, with new-generation jets
like A319neo, A320neo, A321neo, and equivalent aircraft. Given this,
airport upgrade and expansion are necessary, the ministry noted./. Associations hoping to aid vaccine access Business
associations are looking for new vaccine procurement schemes to maintain business
continuity. According to
Duong Anh Duc, Deputy Chairman of the committee, on June 15 the city got the
nod from Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on the purchase and import of
vaccines. Since then, the city sent a letter to Saigon Pharmaceutical Co.,
Ltd. (Sapharco) under VinaCapital to conduct negotiations with Moderna
vaccine distributor Zuellig Pharma to buy five million doses for the city. After
several discussions, the municipal authorities approved the contents of the
draft MoU with Sapharco, VinaCapital, and Zuellig Pharma. On July 7, Ho Chi
Minh City People’s Committee issued Official Letter No.2261 assigning
Sapharco and VinaCapital to negotiate the deal. Sapharco has
said it is working on a draft contract with Moderna representatives. If
everything goes well, the vaccine doses are expected to be delivered in the
fourth quarter of 2021 or the start of 2022. The company also requested that
at least two million Moderna doses are delivered to the city in October, and
is negotiating to have at least 10 million additional doses by the second
quarter of next year as booster shots. Earlier, the
four industry trade groups of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association,
the Vietnam Leather, Footwear, and Handbag Association, the Vietnam
Electronic Industries Association, and the Handicraft and Wood Industry
Association of Ho Chi Minh City also sought the prime minister’s approval to
buy vaccines from a company in the United Arab Emirates to provide free
injections to their employees. The trade groups will pay for the vaccines in
a hope to ensure production and avoid supply chain disruptions. Last week,
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh greenlit the four trade groups’ proposals and
instructed the MoH to negotiate with the UAE’s company to purchase, preserve,
and organise vaccinations. Foreign
associations are looking at innovative schemes to secure vaccines. “We have
seen the pandemic continue to be unpredictable and widespread in Vietnam, and
many German companies have been feeling the initial impact of the virus.
There is a number of investors from Germany who must postpone their
investment plans or even stop planned constructions due to the current
situation,” said Marko Walde, chief representative of the Delegation of German
Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (AHK Vietnam). “We have
been trying to access the vaccines ourselves, directly with the support of
the authorities at the national and provincial level,” he added. “The most
challenging factors are the huge demand and the initiative at the
governmental level. In other words, the global demand for vaccines dwarfs the
supply, and it is the only global initiative that is working with governments
and manufacturers to ensure vaccines are available worldwide.” AHK Vietnam
is now in contact with several vaccination manufacturers, with the support of
the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, on the purpose of
getting hundreds of thousands of doses for Vietnam, especially for German
companies here and their local employees. With this initiative, AHK Vietnam
hopes to support Vietnam in accelerating vaccinations and find the way out of
this pandemic. According to
Mary Tarnowka, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce
(AmCham) in Vietnam, it is supporting the Vietnamese government’s goals of
controlling the virus and enabling economic growth. AmCham has strongly
advocated for US vaccines and welcomes the five million doses of Moderna that
the US government has donated to Vietnam. She added that AmCham has not sought
priority access, but urges Vietnam to carry out a transparent, equitable, and
efficient distribution process, according to stated priority risk groups. “We welcome
workers in industrial zones being identified as a priority group, and more
vaccines being sent to Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and other
hard-hit areas. We hope that these can qualify for early vaccines access,”
Tarnowka said. AmCham
members have also expressed willingness to pay for vaccines. A survey carried
out by AmCham a few months ago found that over 90 per cent of the companies
were willing to pay for vaccines for their employees and, in some cases, for
family members as well. “That said,
the companies wanted to ensure they would not be jumping the queue for
current vaccine stocks over other higher pri- ority risk groups,” Tarnowka
said. “I am not aware whether any of our member companies are participating
in this scheme with the UAE company. But I know many would be willing to pay
for approved vaccines to ensure the health and safety of their workers, as
well as enable resumption and continuity of operations.” Vietnam poised to become world’s leading seafood processing
centre The growth
of processed seafood output in Vietnam will reach over 6 percent a year by
2030 under a national seafood processing development strategy for
2021-2030 which has been approved by the Prime Minister. The strategy
aims at turning Vietnam into a seafood processing centre and join the top
five seafood processing countries in the world by 2030. It also strives to
develop a modern, efficient and sustainable seafood processing industry,
meeting the demands of consumption markets, improving its competitiveness and
integrating deeply into the global value chain. Under the
strategy, value-added processed products will account for over 40
percent of total export value of seafood. At least 70
percent of seafood processing establishments will have production technology
from medium to advanced levels. The strategy
also sets a goal that by 2030, the value of seafood processing for domestic
consumption reach 40 - 45 trillion VND (1.7-1.9 billion USD), besides an
export value of seafood of 14-16 billion USD. A number of
modern seafood processing corporations with economic potential and management
on par with the world level will be established at the same time. To realise
these goals, the strategy has set forth some tasks including the development
and management of the production of raw materials for seafood
processing to meet the demand of enterprises and in line with the
requirements of domestic consumption and export. Compliance
with both domestic regulations and international practices and requirements
including traceability and origin is also a must. It is
necessary to attract investment to form big seafood processing corporations
which have economic potential and business administration on par with the
world level and upgrade technology and capacity of seafood processing
facilities for export. The
production chain should be restructured to improve the economic efficiency
and competitiveness of processed seafood products. Enterprises diversify plans to adapt to COVID-19 pandemic Vietnamese
enterprises have proven their dynamism and high adaptability to the situation
as the fourth outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to successive social
distancing measures over the past month. To Hoai Nam,
vice president and general secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Small and
Medium Enterprises (VINASME), said that in the context of the COVID-19
pandemic, Vietnamese businesses had really made many changes to adapt to
difficulties and challenges. Many
businesses have organised rotational work for employees to minimise absence
and leave no one behind; applied cost-saving measures by adjusting personnel
towards concentration and giving priority to positions generating direct
revenue; at the same time, created conditions for some positions to work from
home. Along with
that, businesses reviewed spending plans in the direction of minimalism and
adjusted investment programmes which are not urgent or are no longer suitable
for pandemic conditions and after it is over to adapt to changes in consumer
behaviour. Enterprises
also actively negotiated to reduce office rent and production and business
rates; adjusted internal regulations to ensure the safety of labour
positions, while also ensuring the maintenance of operations. In addition,
enterprises also have implemented internal policies to strongly encourage
initiatives and creativity in production and business, meeting the
requirements of pandemic prevention and control while maintaining revenue
growth. Nam also
said that many businesses had actively changed and sought credit sources with
lower interest rates from the Government's supportive policies, commercial
banks' support packages as well as finding new sources of supply of raw
materials, sources of new goods or services, or implemented the "sharing
economy" with customers, business partners or investors and consumers. There are
also businesses converting to online sales, attaching importance to
e-commerce platforms. Tran Thoa,
Deputy Director of Thien Tam Thao Company Limited, said that the outbreak of
COVID-19 had seriously affected the business activities of all enterprises. Facing that
influence, the company has changed business and sales strategies to promote
online business based on e-commerce platforms and online services. This has
helped the business maintain revenue and profit. In order to
respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pham Thi Bich Hue, vice president of the
Viet Nam Young Entrepreneurs' Association, also noted three issues to focus
on at this time, which are the reasonable adjustment of personnel;
distinctive development strategies and specific management solutions to
respond to the current crisis of the risk of pandemic outbreaks. Livestock groups satisfied despite drop in recent profits While supply
chain disruptions exacerbated by rising input material prices have brought
down revenue and profit from standout heights in 2020, many of the biggest
livestock companies in Vietnam are looking at first-half year results with a
sense of satisfaction. Estimates
published by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam showed that in H1/2021,
a total of 3.2 million tonnes of meat was provided to the market, including
approximately two million tonnes of pork (up 8.1 per cent on-year) and over
932,000 tonnes of poultry (up 6.1 per cent on-year). Meanwhile, 8.4 billion
eggs went into consumption (up 5 per cent on-year) as well as over 561,000
tonnes of milk (up 11.2 per cent on-year). Nguyen Van
Trong, deputy director of the MARD’s Department of Livestock Production, said
that the growth in production volume in H1 is a particular triumph in the
context of the pandemic which disrupted the operations and distribution
chains of numerous livestock companies while also racking up considerable
added expenses for pandemic control. “Besides
that, businesses have also been impacted by the drastic increase in material
prices for animal feed production. This is important because Vietnam imports
90 per cent of animal feed materials which make up 60-70 per cent of
production costs,” Trong said. He added
that the situation will likely grow worse as 19 provinces of the southern
region – the main production hub for the livestock industry – have been
adopting social distancing measures. “In order to
ensure the thorough distribution for enterprises, the MARD is proposing the
government to recognise breeding animals and equipment for the livestock
industry as essential goods to make transportation smoother,” Trong said. While the
output has been growing steadily, these difficulties have been eating into
the revenue and profit of livestock companies, resulting in lower figures
than last year, when the price of pigs experienced runaway growth, bolstering
profits for all. Do Hoang
Long, development and sales manager of Japfa Comfeed, told VIR that while the
revenue and profit in H1 were indeed lower than the year prior, the company
maintained stability in almost all segments. In 2020, the
majority of Japfa Comfeed’s revenue and profit came from the pork segment
while the chicken segment had been reporting consecutive losses. However,
since the beginning of 2021, the price of chicken has been increasing while
the price of pigs declined by approximately VND20,000 (87 US cents) per kg
compared to last year’s peak, but remained at a profit-making level. “The rapidly
increasing cost of global agri-commodities and freight rates have impacted
the cost prices of feed and food globally, including in Vietnam. However, we
continued to see growth in this segment thanks to long-term contracts with
international partners,” Long said. The company
has strictly observed pandemic prevention and control measures at its
factories, farms, and offices to protect the health of labourers while
keeping production and business on track. Thus, the operations of six animal
feed production factories, over 300 livestock breeding farms, and 40 shops
selling meat and processed foods managed to avoid serious impact. Meanwhile,
Johan Van Den Ban, general director of De Heus Vietnam and Cambodia, told VIR
that the group is satisfied with its first-half results. “We have grown our
business together with independent farmers in Vietnam, expanded poultry
breeding capacity, and opened a new hatchery in partnership with Bel Ga. At
the same time, we are also proceeding with multiple swine genetics projects
so that we can elevate professional standards in this important sector.” In its
financial statement for H1/2021, leading domestic livestock company Dabaco
Group JSC reported a 30 per cent plunge in after-tax profit on-year, with
VND579 billion ($25.17 million), mainly caused by after-tax profit dropping
47 per cent on-year in the second quarter. For the full year, Dabaco targets
to acquire VND15.4 trillion ($669.57 million) in revenue, with VND827 billion
($35.96 million) in after-tax profit. According to
company leaders, this year expenses for livestock companies have drastically
escalated. Distribution and production activities were impacted at numerous
facilities, with Dabaco hit especially hard in the second quarter when Bac
Giang and Bac Ninh provinces became epicentres, forcing many of its farms to
suspend operations. Its labour force dropped by 50-75 per cent as many of its
employees were stuck in lockdown areas, unable to return to work. Meanwhile,
Mitraco Livestock JSC in the central province of Ha Tinh, which produces
60,000 pigs a year, also set lower targets. This year the company plans to
earn VND350 billion ($15.22 million) in revenue, and VND45 billion ($1.96
million) in after-tax profit, 12 and 52.7 per cent lower than last year. Vietnamese agricultural exports shine despite pandemic The
agricultural industry has promoted trade successfully despite difficulties
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to expanding export markets and
helping the country gain an impressive trade surplus of US$3.9 billion in the
first seven months. Among trade
deals made by the agriculture industry in the period, the most notable was
Viet Nam’s lychee exports to Japan. With efforts in negotiation and
commitments to comply with Japan’s regulations, Japan authorised Viet Nam to
supervise and approve Vietnamese quarantine treatment establishments. According to
Hoang Trung, director of the ministry’s Plant Protection Department, the
department had to continuously work online with Japanese authorities, even
implementing online inspection, which created favourable conditions for
enterprises to successfully export lychees in 2021. Ngo Thi Thu
Hong, director of Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said when Viet Nam was
allowed to monitor quarantine treatment establishments, the department’s
quarantine staff came to work with the establishments, which helped the
lychee exports to be much more favourable than last year. The
department also negotiated with Malaysia on pesticide residues to restore
chili exports. The department also broadly solved problems related to the
export of fresh fruits and promoted the opening of Viet Nam's agricultural
products market to China, especially for lychees and sweet potatoes. The
ministry’s Department of Animal Health (DAH) also supported more factories to
export milk and dairy products, feathers, fishmeal and fish oil to China. It
has also completed procedures on exporting processed chicken products to
Russia and has so far gained approval from the country. In addition,
the DAH has also exchanged and negotiated with countries such as the United
States, China and Russia to open the market for animal products. According to
Nguyen Quoc Toan, director of the Department of Agricultural Product
Processing and Market Development, relevant agencies have negotiated to open
more export markets and remove technical barriers to promote the export of
agricultural, forestry and seafood produce. The agencies
have also coordinated and exchanged with Vietnamese embassies and trade
offices in other countries to have timely analysts and forecasts on
agricultural product consumption in key export markets such as Japan, South
Korea, the US, the EU and China during and after the pandemic. Agencies have
focused on solving problems on food safety barriers to ease agricultural
exports. In the first half, they successfully organised online inspections,
which helped 13 enterprises export catfish to the US besides adding 18 and 13
seafood processing establishments for export to Russia and South Korea
respectively. According to
Toan, the industry will continue to negotiate to remove importing countries’
trade and technical barriers imposed on Vietnamese agricultural produce. It will also
expand the agricultural product market to economies with complementary
product structures with Viet Nam, such as Japan, South Korea, India, the
European Union or the Middle East, as well as introducing suitable products
in potential markets such as Russia, the Middle East, Africa and ASEAN. Vietnam, Egypt seek to beef up trade ties The second
meeting of the Vietnam – Egypt Sub-Committee on Trade and Industry
Cooperation was held virtually on August 18 under the co-chair
of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc
Hung and his Egyptian counterpart Ibrahim El-Seginy. Both sides
reviewed trade and industry cooperation since the first meeting in April
2018, discussed regional and global situation affecting bilateral economic
ties, and reached consensus on several specific measures tackling
difficulties in export-import. They debated
cooperation opportunities in industry, orientations and measures to further
improve bilateral economic connectivity, and remedy the impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The two
sides agreed to build a mechanism to share information regarding market
demand, export-import management regulations, quarantine, and goods quality
management. They
expressed wish for further collaboration among relevant agencies to offer
market navigation opportunities to each other, especially for agro-fishery
products, in line with bilateral and multilateral international commitments. Online trade
and investment promotion activities will be held to link the two countries’
investors and businesses together amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same
time, logistics cooperation opportunities will be enhanced, including
building logistics projects, holding seminars and training human resources in
the field. They also
shared each country’s industrial development policies and priorities to seek
cooperation opportunities in trade and investment, as well as explored the
possibility of joint work in electricity, apparel, chemicals, automobiles,
construction materials and telecommunications. On this
occasion, Vietnam suggested that Egypt open the market for a number of
Vietnam’s agricultural products, including dragon fruit, lychee, ginger and
turmeric; as well as support and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese
enterprises exporting to Egypt to meet requirements set by the country. The
successful session once again affirms the importance of the mechanism
of Vietnam – Egypt Sub-Committee on Trade and Industry
Cooperation to strengthening economic and trade cooperation between the
two countries, especially in the context that world and regional trade
activities are facing many difficulties, with the increasing protectionism
and trade tensions between major powers. According to
the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Egypt is currently one of the most
important trade partners and a potential market of Vietnam in North Africa. Data from
Vietnam Customs shows that the two-way trade between Vietnam and Egypt in
2020 reached 515 million USD, up 4.8 percent against 2019. In the first six
months of 2021, Vietnam’s export turnover to Egypt was 238.7 million USD, a
year-on-year rise of 11.4 percent. Vietnam’s
main exports to Egypt include computers, electronic products and components;
metals; fiber; machinery and equipment; seafood; cashew; phones and
accessories; pepper; coffee; vegetables; and garment. Meanwhile,
the country imports vegetables and fruits, plastic materials, DAP fertilizer,
and raw materials for textile and footwear production./. Realty bond market prospers amid potential risks The realty
sector recorded a strong rise in the value of corporate bonds issued in the
first six months of 2021, but risks still abound amid the impact of COVID-19
on production and businesses. In the
second quarter of 2021, the total value of corporate bonds issued reached
VND164 trillion (US$7.15 billion), 3.7 times higher than the previous quarter
and up 29 per cent over the same period in 2020, according to the corporate
bond market report published recently by the Center for Analysis and
Investment Advisory of SSI Securities Joint Stock Company (SSI Research). Of the
estimate, the value of bonds issued by real estate enterprises was VND64.4
trillion, accounting for 44.4 per cent of the total issued value, an increase
of 131 per cent compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 285 per
cent over the same period in 2020. The issuers
with the largest amounts of bonds were Golden Hill, BIM Group, Hung Thinh Quy
Nhon and Wonderland. Besides domestic issuance, a number of businesses also
issued international bonds, such as BIM Group issuing $200 million with an
interest rate of 7.4 per cent per year. In the first
two quarters of 2021, real estate businesses issued the largest amount of
bonds with the issuance value of up to VND92.3 trillion, with an average
interest rate of 10.36 per cent per year, 23 percentage points lower than the
2020 average. “The main
fuel of the bond market in the real estate sector is that bond interest rates
are much higher than deposit rates at banks, as well as current restrictions
on access to bank capital," said the report by SSI Research. A reporter
from tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn, posing as an individual investor, tried to buy
bonds in a group on Facebook, with an expected investment of several hundred
million Vietnamese dong, he received dozens of messages thereafter. Decree No
153/2020/ND-CP on private bond offering and trading, effective from January
1, 2021, stipulates that buyers of privately issued bonds must be
professional investors. But in fact, brokerages can still commit a breach of
this regulation if customers insist. Huong
Nguyen, a financial consultant working at a securities company, told
tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn her company was ready to support customers in the
procedures and conditions to possess a certificate as a professional investor
if that buyer wishes to directly sign the bond purchase contract. Huong said
that the bonds provided by the company have many terms for customers to
choose from, particularly 3-6-9-12-15 months, with interest rates amounting
to 10 per cent per year, significantly higher than the interest rates offered
by banks for deposits. “Lower bank
interest rates and current volatile stock market are attributed to investors
more frequently shifting to other investment channels such as corporate
bonds,” said Nguyen Anh Trung, Deputy General Director of Hai Phong
Securities Company. “The
outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, is damaging the production and
business activities of enterprises, affecting their ability to pay interest
for bonds. “Recently
there are businesses in the field of beauty, car repair and maintenance,
karaoke and restaurants, which are non-essential services and businesses
easily affected by the disease, regularly inviting individual investors to
buy corporate bonds with unbelievably high interest rates of 18 per cent per
year for an investment of only VND1 billion,” he said. In the
latest warning, the Ministry of Finance said that investors buying bonds need
to clearly distinguish between the two methods of issuing corporate bonds to
the public, and issuing corporate bonds privately. Increased
risk SSI Research
forecast in its report that risks with corporate bonds are increasing,
especially in the real estate and energy sectors. According to
SSI Research, of the bonds issued in the first half of 2021, 18.6 per cent
are secured by real estate, 11 per cent are secured by assets, 33 per cent
are partially secured by assets, real estate and shares, 9.3 per cent fully
secured by shares and 28 per cent unsecured. More
specifically, the report stated that there is VND29 trillion of real estate
bonds fully secured by stocks or without collateral. If including real estate
bonds partially secured by shares, this figure reaches nearly VND60 trillion,
accounting for 64 per cent of the total amount of real estate bonds issued in
the first six months of 2021. The
obligation to pay the bond interests by shares is meaningless because when a
crisis occurs, the enterprise becomes insolvent, the value of shares used as
collateral also drops dramatically, SSI said. Vietnam’s CBU car imports in seven months surge despite COVID-19 Vietnam’s
imports of completely built-up (CBU) vehicles in the first seven months of
2021 posted a year-on-year surge of 111.2 percent in volume despite the
complexities of COVID-19. Statistics
of the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that in the period,
Vietnam purchased 95,525 CBU vehicles worth 2.1 billion USD, surging 107.1
percent in value against the same period last year. Thailand and
Indonesia were the main providers of Vietnam, holding a lion’s share of 80
percent. In July
alone, 14,407 cars worth 290.8 million USD were imported, down 5.9 percent in
volume and 13.3 percent in value compared to the previous month. Meanwhile,
members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) sold
166,516 vehicles in January-July, up 27 percent compared to the same period
last year. Of the figure, domestically assembled cars made up 15 percent, or
94,109. In seven
months, TC Motor of Hyundai Thanh Cong sold 38,066 vehicles, while VinFast of
conglomerate Vingroup 19,720 units./. Agritourism expected to bring double benefits to Hanoi Hanoi boasts
good potential in agricultural tourism, or agritourism, with its 18 suburban
districts and townships, which is expected to help the capital city diversify
its tourism products and promote growth of the suburban localities. Experts held
that agritourism has high opportunities to grow when traditional tourism
products have been exploited for a long time and tourists’ demand for new
tourism experience is rising. Agritourism
is expected to bring entirely new inspiration for travellers who will have
chances to experience the daily life of farmers in natural environment.
Moreover, agritourism is hoped to create a new livelihood for rural people by
creating new jobs, while restoring and promoting traditional values and
improving the living conditions for local community. Hanoi has
seen the formation of agricultural eco-farms combining with tourism and
education, with typical examples like the Ban Rom ecotourism area in Quang
Tien commune, Soc Son district, Dong Que Farm in Ba Vi district, Van An
education farm in Thanh Tri district. The sites provide visitors with
experience in farming, harvesting and enjoying agricultural products
themselves right at the sites. The
development of agricultural farms in combination with school tourism has
opened up a new growth prospect for many outskirt areas of Hanoi. At the same
time, traditional craft villages of Hanoi have become increasing popular
among tourists thanks to their time-honoured cultural values and creativity
of artisans. Ancient trade villages in suburban localities have been
attractive to travelers who wish to experience local life. Despite its
great potential and advantages, Hanoi’s agritourism growth has still remained
modest with small-scaled and similar models. Agritourism products have yet to
create their unique attractiveness and own trademarks. Insiders
held that in order to promote agritourism development, it is necessary to
design a master plan for its growth with specific standards. The city should
support the building of promotion programmes for agritourism, ensuring that
it operates around the year in all seasons, while giving trainings for
labourers involving in the sector. Aware of the
high potential of agritourism and its role in the diversification of rural
livelihoods and the improvement of living conditions in rural areas, many
suburban localities of Hanoi have paid great attention to this kind of
tourism. Dan Phuong
district, the first district of Hanoi that has been recognised as a new-style
rural area, is trying to tap its advantages in a convenient travel system and
a thick network of cultural relic and heritage sites as well as a large
number of traditional craft villages, to develop tourism. Tran Duc
Hai, Secretary of the Party Committee of Dan Phuong said that tourism is a
new development orientation of the district basing on the local resources,
including those in cultural, historical and architecture values. With a large
farming area and flower fields, Dan Phuong is confident that its agritourism
can prosper. Over the
years, Hanoi's tourism sector has built and implemented various plans to
expand tourism products and encourage tourism development, along with efforts
in developing human resources for the sector and integrating tourism models
in the building of new-style rural areas in districts. Meanwhile,
the capital city has worked hard to build agritourism products and improve
other tourism products in rural areas, which has become an important way to
promote agritourism growth of the city. Dang Huong
Giang, Director of the municipal Tourism Department said that in the
2016-2020 period, the department coordinated with relevant agencies to
organise 44 training courses for 8,900 rural residents in providing tourism
services, while implementing a pilot programme to build logos for Hanoi's
tourism products, for example Bat Trang ceramic trade village and Van Phuc
silk village. Currently,
the department is drafting a plan for agritourism development in combination
with new-style rural area building in the 2021-2025 period, aiming to boost
the growth of the sector and change the face of its outskirt areas, said
Giang./. Businesses seek new trends to boost exports to Spain Vietnamese
enterprises must learn to cater to the tastes and new consumption trends in
order to boost their exports to Spain, according to Vietnam’s Trade Office in
Spain. Statistics
released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs indicate that
Vietnamese exports to Spain during the opening seven months of the year
reached US$1.374 billion, an annual increase of 14.78%. With
approximately 70% of the Spanish population fully vaccinated, their economic
recovery will serve to boost Vietnamese import and export turnover to the
market ahead in the remaining months of the year. The
enforcement of EVFTA is therefore expected to create a wealth of
opportunities in which Vietnamese goods can penetrate the Spanish market. Currently,
key Vietnamese export items to the European country include phones and
components, garments and textiles, footwear; machinery, tools and spare
parts, coffee, toys, game equipment and sports equipment, and furniture,
leather travel accessories, rubber, edible fruit and almonds, seafood,
plastic products, metal tools and kitchenware, and carpets. Experts have
advised domestic seafood enterprises to meet stringent technical standards
relation to safety and hygiene so as to make inroads into the EU and Spanish
markets, especially with regard to regulations of residue levels of
banned substances in export seafood products. Moreover,
the Spanish market, along with the EU market in general, continues to pay
special attention to corporate social responsibility, with employers required
to ensure standard working conditions for employees along with environmental
protection. Amid the
complicated nature of COVID-19 developments, the Trade Office said it will
help local businesses enhance online trade linkages and participate in online
trade promotion activities at both local and international fairs and
exhibitions. Source:
VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/SGGP/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes |
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