VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS AUGUST 28
09:08
Shares
end week higher on large-caps
The market finished higher in the
last trading session of the week as large-cap stocks gained points, while
foreign investors net sold large values on both exchanges. On the Ho
Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index climbed 0.93 per cent to
1,313.20 points. It had
slipped 0.64 per cent to close Thursday at 1,301.13 points. The market
breadth was positive as 260 stocks rose while 115 stocks fell. During the
session, local investors poured over VND21.4 trillion into the southern
bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of more than 685 million shares. The gains in
pillar stocks were the main driving force for the market. The VN30-Index rose
0.43 per cent to close Friday’s trade at 1,418.57 points. Twenty-one
of the 30 biggest stocks in the VN30 basket inched higher on Friday while
eight stocks declined. In the VN-30
basket, Viet Nam Rubber Group - Joint Stock Company (GVR) soared by more than
5 per cent and was the leader in this group. PVPower (POW) followed with a
rise of 4 per cent, Khang Dien House (KDH) gained more than 2 per cent, Phat
Dat Real Estate (PDR), Vingroup (VIC), Viet Nam National Petroleum Group
(PLX), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Mobile World Group (MWG), Masan Group (MSN),
Vincom Retail (VRE) and Vietcombank (VCB) were the gainers with 1 per cent
rises. On the other
side, HDBank (HDB) was the biggest loser with more than 1 per cent decrease. On a sector
basis, most of the industries maintained their growth momentum in the last
session of the week. Plastic - chemical production, healthcare, rubber
products and agriculture - forestry - fishery all increased by more than 3
per cent. In the
plastic and chemical sectors, Vietnam Pesticide Joint Stock Company (VPS)
showed a dramatic increase of 7 per cent, Hanoi Plastics Joint Stock Company
(NHH) surpassed 5 per cent, Pha Le Plastics Manufacturing and Technology
Joint Stock Company (PLP), The Southern Fertiliser JSC (SFG), An Phat
Bioplastics JSC (AAA) and South Basic Chemicals JSC (CSV) all increased by
more than 4 per cent. Foreign
investors net sold nearly VND370 billion on HOSE and sold over VND15 billion
on HNX. On the Ha
Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index edged 0.58 per cent higher to 338.79
points. During the
session, nearly 133.8 million shares were traded on the northern bourse,
worth nearly VND3 trillion. Ha Noi supports consumption of OCOP products The capital
city of Ha Noi has been implementing solutions to open up sales channels as
the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the production and
circulation of goods, in particular 'One Commune, One Product' (OCOP) goods. OCOP goods
are highly localised products, often food, that come from one small specific
area. During
social distancing, e-commerce platforms have become shopping destinations for
a large number of Ha Noi consumers. This is an opportunity for OCOP
businesses to switch to online trading. Director of
Ubofood Viet Nam Do Hoang Thach said that the company was distributing more
than 1,500 products from 200 suppliers in 30 provinces and cities, of which
there are nearly 100 OCOP products of Ha Noi. Due to the
convenience and safety of e-commerce, the number of customers buying products
grew during this time, and the revenue of the company in one month of social
distancing increased 10 times compared to previously, he said. To sell on
social networks, OCOP businesses need to be proficient in technology, sales
skills, photography, writing and online communication. To sell products on
e-commerce platforms, products need to meet many quality standards set by the
platforms. The
coordination office of the Ha Noi new rural development programme said that
the city had 1,054 OCOP products by the end of last year, mainly agricultural
produce, food, beverages, and handicrafts. The
promotion of these products was particularly important: Participating in
e-commerce, online sales and livestreams to promote the products is an
effective solution to help maintain the supply chain of agricultural produce during
the pandemic, said the office. It has
organised the "OCOP product livestream festival" from June, to
support the consumption of OCOP products. It also
organised free online training programmes to improve the knowledge and sales
skills of participants. Thereby,
businesses, co-operatives and producers can connect with each other to form
e-commerce agricultural produce supply chains. General
Director of MD Queens JSC Trinh Kim Thu said that through participating in
the training, they had grasped skills in branding and livestream sales to
bring OCOP products to the market, and at the same time, participants had
also exchanged and shared difficulties and experiences in selling on
e-commerce systems and social networks. Online
business models had brought positive effects in social life, not only
ensuring disease prevention and control but also in line with the future
development trend of e-commerce, she added. US postpones preliminary anti-dumping determination on imported
raw honey The US
Department of Commerce (DOC) has postponed the preliminary determination of
the anti-dumping investigations of raw honey originated from Argentina,
Brazil, Ukraine, India and Vietnam. The
preliminary determination is initially due to be released no later than
September 28, but now delayed by 50 days to no later than November 17 upon
the request of US producers of raw honey, according to the Ministry of
Industry and Trade’s Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (TRAV). On May 11,
the DOC initiated the anti-dumping duty investigations after receiving
petitions concerning imports of raw honey from the five exporters filed on
behalf of the American Honey Producers Association and the Sioux Honey
Association, which are trade associations representing US producers of raw
honey. The
petitioners, however, submitted a request for the postponement earlier this
month, stating that they concern that the DOC may need more time to issue supplemental
questionnaires to address deficiencies in the respondents’ initial
questionnaire responses, and to determine the cost of production methodology
that it will rely on for these investigations. It is the
first time Vietnam’s raw honey has faced an anti-dumping probe. The TRAV has
recommended concerned Vietnamese producers and exporters to keep a close
watch on the case, cooperate with the DOC, and actively contact the TRAV for
timely support./. EU-ASEAN Business Council calls for faster action on energy
transition in Southeast Asia There is a
clear need now for ASEAN to address its over-reliance on fossil fuels,
particularly coal, for its energy needs, the EU-ASEAN Business Council has
said. In a recent
report on Powering ASEAN’s Energy Transition, it calls on ASEAN governments
to accelerate energy transition as a means of helping the region deal with
climate change challenges and ensure the greening of supply chains while
meeting rising energy demands. The EU-ABC,
which represents the interests of European businesses in Southeast Asia, has
said in the report that ASEAN’s energy demands continue to increase but it
remains heavily dependent on highly polluting fossil fuels, with around 80
per cent of its current energy mix coming from such sources. Donald
Kanak, chairman of the EU-ABC and chairman of Prudential Insurance Growth
Markets, said: “This month the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change] released its sixth assessment report dubbed code red for humanity
because of the urgent and decisive action needed to decarbonise to avoid
climate catastrophe. “The EU-ABC
believes that progress requires a mix of policies, finance and technology,
with special assistance for developing countries. That means coming up with
new practical, scalable solutions that can accelerate the energy transition,
phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, and providing a just transition for
affected workers and communities.” One such
solution that could potentially support ASEAN is an energy transition
mechanism (ETM), a way to combine public and private finances to accelerate
retirement of coal-fired power plants and significantly increase investment
in renewables. “The EU-ABC,
with its members and other key stakeholders are supportive of the work being
led by the Asian Development Bank to explore the feasibility of the ETM in
several countries in ASEAN.” Chris
Humphrey, executive director of the EU- ABC said: “Tackling climate change in
a just and affordable way should be the absolute number one priority for all
of us. “And driving
energy transition forward should be at the top of the agenda for all
governments in the region. As ASEAN continues to develop economically demand
for power will increase, but we need to make sure that that increased demand
is being met from less polluting sources, and that producers and
manufacturers can continue to grow but do so using greener sources for their
power needs. “This will
require shifts in policy thinking to adopt policies and processes that
promote the transition away from high carbon-emitting solutions to lower
carbon ones, and ultimately renewable energy solutions.” Among other
things the EU-ABC calls for is the development of a region-wide green finance
taxonomy and enhanced de-risking instruments to aid the development of
sustainable finance mechanisms in the region which could be used to help
finance energy transition solutions. It also
calls for the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies across the region with
those monies being redirected to support energy transition. SBV issues new decision on interest rates of required reserve
deposits The State
Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a Decision 1349/QD-NHNN on interest rates
applicable to reserve requirement deposits and excess reserves of credit
institutions and foreign banks’ branches in the SBV. It will take
effect on September 1 to replace the central bank’s Decision 1349/QD-NHNN
dated August 6, 2020. Under the
new decision, the interest rates of reserve requirement deposits in Vietnam
Dong and in foreign currencies will be kept unchanged at 0.5 percent and zero
percent per annum, respectively. The interest
rate for excess reserves in Vietnam Dong will also remain at zero percent per
annum, while that in foreign currencies will be slashed to zero percent per
annum, from 0.05 percent per annum as prescribed in the previous decision./. HCM City helps businesses shop for food, groceries to feed
staff
The HCM City
Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority is helping businesses at
industrial parks that house their staff buy food and other essential goods
amid the stricter social distancing mandate currently in place to curb the
spread of COVID-19. Pham Thanh
Truc, deputy head of the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones
Authority (HEPZA), said retailers have sent lists of items such as rice,
milk, egg, and meats at discounted prices. Businesses
wanting to buy food for their staff can register twice a week with HEPZA,
which will pool the orders and send to the Department of Industry and Trade. The
department will organise delivery to each business. On the first
day over 40 companies registered to buy. Some stocked
up on food before the social distancing orders became stricter on Monday. Dai Dung
Metallic Manufacture JSC in Binh Chanh District’s An Ha Industrial Park has
for instance stocked tonnes of rice, meats, vegetables, and instant noodles
for the nearly 1,000 workers it houses. Trinh Thi
Thu Hien, who is in charge of logistics, said Pham Van Hai Commune, where the
factory is located, has also offered to help buy food. The
department is also allowing businesses supplying essential items to transport
their goods despite the strict preventive measures to ensure businesses do
not run out of food. More than
720 factories in industrial parks and processing zones have accommodated over
60,000 workers in their premises and elsewhere. The city,
Viet Nam’s current COVID epicentre with over 190,000 cases, has instructed
the public to "stay where they are” at all times, and strictly follow
safe distancing between individuals, families, residential quarters, and
wards. It is
helping people get food and groceries without leaving home by having organisations
such as the Women's Union, community-based COVID-19 prevention teams and
other voluntary groups work with the police and military to deliver them. The Vietnam
General Confederation of Labour is also helping provide free meals to its
members staying in factories. SSI issues 170 million covered warrants for 16 stocks SSI
Securities Corporation has issued 170 million covered warrants for 16
underlying stocks of companies in the manufacturing and services sectors and
banks. They are
HPG, VIC, VRE, MSN, FPT, MWG, PNJ, VHM, VJC, VNM, NVL, KDH, VPB, MBB, TCB,
and STB, the last four being bank stocks. All have a
term of five months. During the
initial public offering, investors can buy the CWs issued at all of SSI’s
transaction offices and online. After they are
listed, investors can buy and sell them on the secondary market with
settlements just like stocks and mutual funds. If an
investor holds the warrant to maturity, the difference will be paid in cash. An SSI
spokesperson said macro factors still supported economic growth, but the
biggest risk had been the COVID-19 pandemic, and investors should use
additional investment tools besides the underlying securities to hedge risks
and allocate assets. After the
correction in July, the stock market had not yet indicated a clear trend, and
so investors could use call warrants as a speculative tool with low fees but
high profit potential, he said. He also
claimed holding the CWs to maturity might not be optimal at this stage for
investors, who should prioritize short-term trading based on
indicators. Future outlined for BOT projects on back of PPP Law Over the
past few years, investors have not been much inclined towards
build-operate-transfer (BOT) transport projects in Vietnam, while the number
of schemes with financial constraints has increased. According to the
Ministry of Transport, in 2011-2015 around 88 BOT transport projects were
implemented, but the number in 2015-2020 was far lower. It is challenging to
raise capital for such large-scale projects. The Law on
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Investment has created a legal basis
allowing investors to set up project companies which are allowed to issue
bonds – a good channel to raise capital and one which regulates that only
capable companies can carry out BOT projects for infrastructure, such as for
the Dien Chau-Bai Vot, Nha Trang-Cam Lam, and Cam Lam-Vinh Hao sections of
the North-South Expressway. However, few
policy issues exist in BOT projects and investment. There is an issue on
maintenance mechanisms for these due to the disallowance of the use of state
budget for maintenance if the property has not been converted into public
ownership. However, the procedures for establishing this are complicated and
time-consuming. Although the
regulations under the law on PPP put the relationship between the state and
investors on an equal footing, in reality, investors are required to fulfil
many commitments. If they fail to comply, they can be handled as violators.
On the other hand, in case of failure to comply with commitments, state
agencies may cause implications to investors and banks. For
instance, for the Deo Ca tunnel project, the state budget participation is
approximately $219 million, but so far only $168 million has been disbursed
and around $51 million is yet to be allocated as committed, causing serious
impacts and generating interest on credit loans. Furthermore,
there are inadequacies in policies on the allocation and accounting of loan
interests. The Vietnamese Association of Road Systems Investors received a
request from the Deo Ca Group to solve problems on the interests expenses
when the new project was put into operation. Due to the large balance of
interest calculation, early revenues were low but gradually increased due to
the growth in vehicle traffic and increased ticket prices. This
recognition of interests expense leads to a large loss in business outcome
especially in the first years, and very high profits in the last years of the
project. This may be seen as inconsistent to an extent. Moreover,
there are problems arising from non-refundable VAT in projects like the road
tunnel through Deo Ca, as well as the Co Ma, Cu Mong, and Hai Van tunnels.
Input invoices for construction and investment that incurred after the
project was put into operation seem not eligible for refunds. However, due to
the characteristics of the long-term acceptance of settlements, after a
project is put into operation, the total value of VAT remains high. If this tax
is not refundable and required to be offset against the output VAT of toll
collection, the company will have to offset this within several years,
causing a shortage of cash flow and generating more loan interest. Another
shortcoming is the risk-sharing mechanism between the state and investors.
The fact that the Law on PPP stipulates that when there is a change in
revenues determined by the state agency, and the cause is not from the
investor’s side, the state and investors share this risk. However, the
risk-sharing mechanism is only stipulated for new projects with limited
clarification on the scope as well as guidance on how to share and remove
difficulties. The
government’s commitment to support companies is a key factor. Since the
1990s, India has widely applied PPP for infrastructure. The participation of
private capital and effective management have made it possible to better
assess market risks, estimate changes in demand and propose appropriate
solutions. Transparency is also important when designing PPP contracts, and
government policies have to be consistent to be effective and flexible.
Moreover, the contracts must be carefully designed, with attention paid to
risk allocation and cost recovery. In India,
the financing policy of the government subsidises some projects based on
risks and benefits in different stages to encourage participation of the
private sector. Likewise,
the UK has had a lot of experience in successfully implementing PPP projects.
Problems in risk allocation include those related to inflation and interest
rates, as well as technical and management risks, especially when a project
is transferred to the private sector. Risks under the control of parties,
such as supply and demand, are shared between the private sector and the
government. Nevertheless,
corruption is the biggest obstacle to the success of any PPP. On the
contrary, factors contributing to the success of PPP projects are stable
economic and political conditions, appropriate tax rates, reasonable risk
allocation, and appropriate selection of contractors. In South
Korea, the government started the PPP model in 1994 with around 100 proposed
projects. However, during the first four years, only 42 projects were
implemented successfully. The reasons for this failure were insufficient
incentives, unclear bidding procedures, lack of transparency, inconsistent
standards, and inadequate risk allocation mechanisms. To overcome
the limitations, South Korea enacted its PPP law to improve contracts,
require feasibility studies, and establish a private investment centre. This
law, along with simplified procedures, significantly improved and attracted
foreign investment for many projects and, as a result, the number of PPP
projects has increased rapidly. Hanoi flexibly maintains production amid COVID-19 To maintain
business operations amid social distancing order caused by the fourth wave of
COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to pool the drastic involvement of local
authorities, especially flexibly adopting plans to both fight the pandemic
and prevent production disruption. Difficulties
faced by enterprises Chairman of
the Board of Directors of Son Ha Garment JSC in Son Tay town Pham Huy Ve said
since August, the company has suspended operation to fight the pandemic.
Though the “three on the spot” option was arranged, most of workers wished to
come home because they are women residing in the town. The company
suggested cutting the number of local workers from 2,000 to about 500-800 who
have been vaccinated, and arranging production in five independent workshops.
It also seriously followed “One route, two destinations” strategy to complete
remaining orders. However, the plan has yet to be approved by the local
authorities, Ve said, adding that if delivery of orders is delayed, the
company could lose hundreds of billions of VND or even the market if partners
seek other suppliers. Similarly,
the TOMECO Mechanic – Electrical JSC based in Ngoc Liep industrial cluster in
the outlying district of Quoc Oai also faced the shortage of workers as most
of them do not stay on-site in line with “three on the spot” plan. Head of the
TOMECO’s personnel office Tran Thu Trang said as the cost of “three on the
spot” plan is high while the prolonged pandemic could cause heavy burden on
the company, she proposed allowing workers in unaffected areas to return
home. Chairman of
the Board of Directors of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group
(Vinatex) Le Tien Truong said the “three on the spot” model could only work
for a short term and applicable for enterprises with wide factories and few
workers. For apparel sector, it will be harder due to a large number of
workers. Therefore, anti-pandemic plans need to be flexible based on common
standards. Statistics
by the municipal Department of Industry and Trade showed that since the
social distancing order is imposed, only 1,077 out of 3,600 manufacturing
facilities in industrial clusters and 546 out of 661 enterprises in
industrial parks are working. Deputy
Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said the “three on the spot”
strategy previously proved successful in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces,
but it has shown shortcomings in other localities. The Ministry
of Industry and Trade sent a document to the Health Ministry suggesting the
addition of other production methods to make it easier for firms to choose,
such as allowing workers to return home and pledge to follow “One route, two
destinations” arrangement with local authorities and their companies, ensure
similar measures for F1 cases at home and amending several regulations
regarding production in industrial hubs. Enterprises
also proposed allowing them to resume operations, from 30-100 percent as
before the pandemic, depending on their safety conditions and the results of
the pandemic prevention and control. In a recent
meeting with ministries and agencies, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the
“three on the spot” strategy requires the drastic involvement of departments
and agencies and initiatives of enterprises to tackle difficulties in
implementation. The
Government, departments and agencies directed changing priority groups for
vaccination, ensuring smooth goods transportation in combination with
fighting the pandemic safely and effectively, as part of efforts to assist
firms, he said. He affirmed
the Government’s consistent policy of achieving “dual goals” via harmoniously,
reasonably and effectively combining the goals of fighting the pandemic and
maintaining production and trade, and socio-economic development. To prevent
production chain disruption, authorities, especially in localities, need to
take more flexible approaches to helping firms amid the pandemic, he said./. Red card for EU market has grave consequences After nearly
four years of struggling to remove the yellow card issued by the European
Council (EC), many remain worried that the red card may soon be issued, and
access to the lucrative European Union (EU) markets denied altogether. The Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as the Vietnam Association of
Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that with more efforts made by
Vietnam, the red card can be avoided. Vietnam must set a goal for 2022 to be
able to get the green card. In fact, the goal of removing the yellow
card dates back to May 2018 when the EC held the first assessment in
Vietnam. The effort continues to find solutions to avoid another crucial
assessment. For the
yellow card to be removed, the EC made four groups of recommendations that
Vietnam needs to implement in the near future which include, improved legal
framework; monitoring, inspecting and controlling fishing vessel activities
and fleet management; certification of production and traceability of fishery
products from catch; and efficient law enforcement. According to
information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, due to
the Covid-19 pandemic since early 2020, the EC cannot directly
assess Vietnam, but the Ministry regularly updates the implementation results
as per the previous four groups of recommendations. However, the results so
far are still receiving yellow cards and when this will switch to a green
card or even red, no one can say in advance. We need to review all of our
regulations and law enforcement methods, especially at the local level where
fishing activities take place. What can be done, what can't be done, needs to
be made transparent when working with authorities. The EC has actual check
procedures, and does not decide just by looking at a written report on
whether to withdraw the yellow card or not. In the
current context, when the Covid-19 pandemic situation is becoming very complicated
in so many localities, neglect in enforcement and control may occur. It
forces localities to have clearer solutions on how to fight the pandemic and
also ensure the best implementation of EC recommendations. We are entering a
new goal of removing the yellow card by 2022. If we don't do this well, we
lose the opportunity, and even the yellow card may be changed to a red card. A red card
is something no country wants because the consequences are grave. We stand to
lose the EU market, and it is estimated that Vietnam's seafood industry
will lose about US$480 mn per year if it loses the EU market. In particular,
the estimated loss from caught seafood, which includes tuna, swordfish,
molluscs, squid, octopus and many other seafood species, is about USD 387 mn
per year. Indirect impact on farmed seafood caused by the loss of reputation,
the increasing burden of customs control, and the failure to take advantage
of preferential tariffs of the Vietnam Free Trade Agreement-European
Union (EVFTA) will prove disastrous. The aquaculture industry could lose
about US$93 mn due to such indirect impact. Measures taken to reduce damage to Hano's tourism Hà Nội's
tourism sector has been implementing various strict measures both to curb the
spread of the coronavirus in the community and to minimise the effects caused
by the pandemic. Specifically,
the Hà Nội Department of Tourism has called on tourism-related
businesses, organisations and individuals to strictly comply with
regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control under the
government and local authority, especially those on social distancing. The
department has cooperated with relevant agencies to ensure that these
regulations have been properly implemented at 20 hotels that are serving as
paid quarantine facilities in the city. The
Department of Health, the Capital Army Command, the Vietnam Airlines
Corporation and related organisations have been requested to coordinate in
receiving and transporting people from pandemic-hit localities to authorised
quarantine facilities. Immigrants,
Vietnamese returning from pandemic-struck spots and other related individuals
who are quarantined at authorised hotels are required to comply with
regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control by consulting the information
and support services that are jointly provided by the Hà
Nội Department of Tourism and the Vietnam Tourism Joint Stock Company
VNTravel. At the same
time, the tourism sector of the city authorities plans to promote awareness
about pandemic prevention and control rules at tourist accommodation in
general and quarantined hotels in particular via inspection and guidance,
while maintaining inter-departmental briefings with quarantined facilities
and the authorities of relevant districts. The Hà
Nội Department of Tourism continues to closely control and monitor the
effects caused by the pandemic on the tourism sector, ensuring service
quality and tourists’ benefits; developing solutions to handle losses and
risks in tourism business during and post-pandemic. Meanwhile,
tourism businesses will be guided to register for COVID-19 safety assessments
at the request of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The city's tourism authority will monitor and forecast the ongoing
situation to proactively offer consultation to the city's People's Committee
to effectively control the pandemic. In the first
seven months of 2021, the number of tourists to Hà Nội, all of whom are
domestic ones, reaches 2.92 million, reducing by 43,1 per cent compared to
the same period last year. The total
revenue earned from tourism is estimated at VNĐ8.17 trillion, reducing 63.6
per cent. Particularly, Hà Nội had no domestic tourists in August due to
social distancing measures taken since late July to prevent the spread of the
pandemic. Thai Binh keeps yearly economic targets unchanged The northern
province of Thai Binh has targets its gross regional domestic product (GRDP)
growth of 13 percent in the second half of 2021 to fulfil its goal of at
least 9.1 percent of expansion for the whole year. Amid the
COVID-19 pandemic, completing all goals set for the year is a tough task for
the province in the rest of the year, requiring the locality’s high
determination and efforts as well as the engagement of all departments,
sectors and localities. To realise
the goal, in the remaining months of the year, the agro-forestry-fishery
sector need to ensure the growth of 4 percent to fulfil the yearly target,
while the industry and construction sectors expand 23 percent, and service
7.7 percent. While
COVID-19 is developing complicatedly, especially in southern localities and
Ho Chi Minh City, Thai Binh defines pandemic prevention and control as its
core mission in the rest of the year. In reality,
over the past more than one and a half years, Thai Binh has shown strong
performance in COVID-19 prevention and control, helping local businesses and
resident stabilise their production and business, thereby maintaining and
boosting economic development. In the first
six months of this year, the industrial sector still enjoyed the largest
growth with an estimated production value of 36.1 trillion VND, up 10.8
percent year-on-year and equal to 45.3 percent of the yearly plan, in which
the mining industry grew by 10.6 percent, and processing industry expanded by
11.4 percent. The number of newly-established enterprises and branches and
representative offices rose by 14 percent over the same period last year with
a total of more than 420 enterprises, branches and representative offices and
a total registered capital of 3.8 trillion VND, up 13.8 percent year-on-year. In the total
local budget revenue in the period, domestic revenue reached 67 percent of
the estimate with an amount of more than 4.56 trillion VND, a year-on-year
jump of 50.1 percent. Disbursement of construction investment during
January-June reached 77 percent of the yearly estimate, making Thai Binh rank
second in the country, after Hai Phong city, in terms of construction
investment disbursement in 2021. The
agro-forestry-fisheries and services sectors also posted growth with 1.71
percent and 4.35 percent, respectively. Total retail sales of goods and
revenue from consumer services were estimated at 24.4 trillion VND, up 7.6
percent over the same period in 2020. Along with
efforts to control the pandemic, departments, sectors and localities across
the province have built their own plans for the rest of the year in a bid to
complete the targets set for the whole year. Dinh Vinh
Thuy, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development, said that although the agro-forestry-fishery sector only
recorded 1.71 percent rise year on year in production to over 6.57 trillion
VND in the first half of this year, the sector considers it as a positive
result. As a
“leverage” of the economy, in the rest of the year, the agricultural sector
will concentrate on implement restructuring measures in a strong,
comprehensive and effective manner to enhance the added value and promote its
sustainable development. Meanwhile,
it will strengthen the application of high technology into production towards
value chain development, while increasing trade promotion activities to
expand market and build trademark for local farm produce, thus boosting
production value growth of the whole sector and complete set targets, he said. With is high
determination and efforts as well as comprehensive solutions, Thai Binh pins
a high hope to not only control COVID-19 effectively but successfully
implement all socio-economic development targets for the year, paving the way
for the successful completion of goals set in the resolution of the 20th
provincial Party Congress./. Proposed registration fee cut for domestic cars sparks
controversy A recent
Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) proposal to halve
registration fees for domestically-manufactured automobiles has stirred
debate between local manufacturers and importers. If approved,
the move will give domestic vehicles a price advantage over imports. So,
while it has found support among domestic manufacturers and assembly
companies, who see it as an opportunity to increase sales amid the pandemic,
importers believe it is unfair. The fee cut
is part of a decree drafted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI)
to support the industry amid the pandemic. Last year,
the MPI developed a draft to submit to the Government, proposing a 50 per
cent reduction in registration fees for Vietnamese people to buy cars. This
year, the Ministry on August 16 also made a similar move with a draft
resolution to support local car manufacturers. The
reduction was one of many VAMA proposals to the Government aimed at removing
difficulties for the local automobile market which has been hit hard by the
prolonged pandemic. They fear the global effects of the virus will have a
long-term impact on people's incomes and auto demand. The Finance
Ministry has been told to complete the task soon. The draft is now in
consultation with ministries and agencies before being submitted to the
Government. The draft
also proposes the Ministry of Finance assess the impact so that it can
consider and propose to continue reducing the registration fee for CKD
(completely knocked down) automobiles for an additional period of time in
line with the developments of the pandemic. In addition
to the above draft, on August 16, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai also
assigned the Ministry of Finance to evaluate and calculate the impact of the
50 per cent reduction. The decision
was based on a petition to the Prime Minister by Thanh Cong Motor Vietnam,
the company that currently holds the right to assemble and distribute Hyundai
automobiles in the country. In a letter
sent to the Government and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Laurent
Genet, general director of Audi Vietnam, said that the 50 per cent reduction
in registration fees for domestically assembled cars last year had shown
effectiveness, but was discriminatory. Laurent
noted that reduction of registration fees should apply to both
locally-assembled and imported vehicles. He cited
that car sales figures in Viet Nam last year rose by 3 per cent in comparison
with 2019. In the second half of 2020, the Government issued Decree No.
70/2020/ND-CP, regulating registration fees for automobiles manufactured and
assembled locally through December 31, 2020. The fee reduction helped
increase domestic car sales volume by 19 per cent while sales volume of
imported Completely Built Up (CBU) vehicles was down by 33 per cent in 2020. In 2021, as
the pandemic became more complicated and tougher social distancing measures
were taken in many cities and provinces, business activities were disrupted
and heavily affected. Car
importers such as Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Porsche, Volvo, Subaru and
Volkswagen are suffering from great financial losses in terms of showrooms,
taxes, storage charges, human resources and tax contribution to the State
budget. Le Thanh
Hai, general director of Motor Image Viet Nam (MIV) - the exclusive
distributor of the Japanese Subaru brand - said amid the pandemic, her
company was temporarily closed and there was no revenue, but the company and
its dealers still had to pay employee’s salary and cover the cost of renting
the premises, bank loan interest and car storage. Therefore,
MIV wants the Government to consider and offer a support policy to reduce
registration fees for all types of automobiles, so that businesses can
survive the pandemic. Other
importers of major brands such as Volvo and Volkswagen have also called for a
level playing field, noting that incentives will be better if they are for
both assembled and imported cars. This will give customers more options to
buy cars and creates fairness for businesses in Viet Nam. Meanwhile,
representatives of a Japanese automobile company, and member of VAMA, said
that it was very difficult for both CKD and CBU cars to receive incentives. Economist
Ngo Tri Long said a 50 per cent cut in registration fees would stimulate
consumer demand, while boosting production and circulation of goods, while
recovering economic growth. He noted
that the reduction of registration fees for domestically assembled cars
should be carefully considered to create a fair business climate and avoid
discrimination between domestic and foreign businesses. Automobile
imports and sales In the first
seven months, Viet Nam’s imports of CBU vehicles posted a year-on-year surge
of 111.2 per cent in volume despite the pandemic. Statistics
from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that in this period,
Viet Nam purchased 95,525 CBU vehicles worth US$2.1 billion, surging 107.1
per cent compared to the same period last year. Thailand and
Indonesia were the main providers to Viet Nam, holding the lion’s share of 80
per cent. Some 47,493 vehicles were imported from Thailand and 28,362 units
from Indonesia, growing 134.8 per cent and 60 per cent respectively, compared
to the same period last year. In July
alone, 14,407 units worth US$290.8 million were imported, down 5.9 per cent
in volume and 13.3 per cent in value compared to June. Meanwhile,
members of VAMA sold 166,516 vehicles of all types in January-July, up 27 per
cent compared to the same period last year. Of this figure,
domestically-assembled cars made up 15 per cent, or 94,109 units. In the first
seven months, TC Motor of Hyundai Thanh Cong revealed that it sold 38,066
vehicles, while VinFast sold 19,720 cars in the same period. Combining
the sales volume published by VAMA, TC Motor and VinFast in the first seven
months of 2021, a total of 224,302 vehicles were sold domestically. These
numbers do not fully reflect the car market in the country. In addition to
VAMA members, the local market attracted foreign brands including
Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Subaru, Volkswagen and
Volvo, whose business results were not revealed. According to
industry insiders, the strong surge in CBU vehicles imported to Viet Nam in
the first seven months came as a surprise, as purchasing power in the car
market plummeted in recent months. This can be attributed to automobile
business anticipation of possible improvement in purchasing power once the
pandemic is under control, particularly during peak season at the end of the
year when Tet nears. Representatives
of big brands such as Audi, Subaru and Volkswagen said car imports had not
been disrupted despite the impact of the virus at a global and regional
level. However, the
pandemic has caused car assembly and sales to slow. Due to the Government’s
strict social distancing and lockdown orders, many car dealerships are
temporarily closed. Sales
specialists also believe that cultural factors might play a role in the
reduction of purchasing power in August. In addition to the continued impact
of the pandemic, August in the Gregorian calendar coincides with the seventh
month in the Lunar calendar; the latter is considered an unlucky time for
business and trade, and many delay major purchases at this time. The domestic
car market is likely to return to normal after the seventh Lunar calendar
month, as the pandemic is expected to be controlled across the country and
the vaccination rate increases. Hà Giang focuses on forestry economic development The
northernmost mountainous province of Hà Giang has identified the development
of afforestation as a strategy in the long-term socio-economic development
process, which was also the basis for effective and sustainable economic
development. Accelerating
the afforestation progress not only helps to increase the rate of forest
cover, but also contributed to raising people's income from forest economic
development in Hà Giang, said Nguyễn Trung Hiếu, Deputy Director of the
provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department. As of August
16, 2021, the province had about 5,200 hectares of forest, reaching a forest
coverage rate of 58 per cent, compared to 51 per cent in 2018. The
development of the forestry economy is seen as a breakthrough for Hà Giang to
become a developed province. “The stable
income from the forest plantation has helped local families escape poverty.
Thanks to afforestation, local people have developed economically,” Hiếu said. In order to
effectively implement afforestation and forest economic development, local
authorities have implemented the State's policies in forest planning and
protection. Additionally, the province supported forest growers with rates
from VNĐ5 million/ha to VNĐ7 million/ha. Quang Bình
District, located in the west of Hà Giang Province, has the advantage of
developing economic forests. The district has planted 1,913 hectares of
forest compared to the target of 2,330 hectares. According to
Deputy Director, Nguyễn Trung Hiếu, in recent years, afforestation and forest
protection is not only a goal to increase forest cover rate but also a
sustainable development criterion in hunger eradication and poverty
alleviation in Quang Bình District because forests are a source of livelihood
to create stable incomes for local people. In 2012, Lê
Thành Nam’s family in Thượng Bằng Village, Bằng Lang Commune of Quảng Bình
District started growing acacia trees on 12 hectares of their entire
farm, which brought his family a stable income of VNĐ100 million
(US4,300) per ha per growing cycle of eight years. “Growing
acacia trees is not effective immediately, but after eight years, it brings
higher economic efficiency than other crops,” Nam, 50, said. “Local
people see the effectiveness of forest economic development, so they have
planted more acacia trees. We want to have access to Government’s funding for
afforestation to develop economically." Because the
topography is divided by hills, mountains, and small and fragmented fields,
for years, Quang Bình District has focused on forestry trees. Thanks to
afforestation, many families in the province have escaped poverty,
contributing to helping the district fulfil the criteria for building a new
countryside. In order to
implement forest plantation development in the coming years, the agricultural
department has advised the Provincial Party Committee to issue solutions on
sustainable forest development. “Solutions
focus on synchronous and comprehensive development, from afforestation to the
management, protection, and development, linking forest economy with
ecotourism development,” said Hiếu. “For
effective implementation, it requires the participation of local authorities
from communes, districts, State agencies, social organisations, and at the
same time, through policies, it calls on people to participate in
afforestation, gradually changing people's awareness of forest
management and protection.” The province
strives for the forest cover rate to reach over 60 per cent in the next year. Anti-COVID-19 tech platforms to be put through security test Some 20
digital platforms developed by the National Technology Centre for COVID-19
Prevention and Control will be submitted to BugRank, a joint cooperation
between the National Cyber Security Centre and VNSecurity that employs
security researchers to help identify security vulnerabilities, according to
the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) and the NCSC. The
platforms, including the widely-used COVID-19 tracking app BlueZone, have
played a key role in the country's effort to fight the virus. They have
helped inform citizens of newly discovered virus clusters, track infections,
fill in health declaration forms and produce QR codes. The centre
has also introduced additional programmes to assist health experts to sort
and manage COVID-19 test results, operate quarantine zones and connect
citizens with health workers on the front line. According to
a representative from the centre, protection of private and personal data is
among the highest priorities, especially since the platforms have been often
used to collect confidential health information of citizens. In order to
better safeguard user information, the platforms, prior to their official
releases, must have been put through rigorous tests designed by cyber
security experts from the Ministry of Public Security, the Minister of
Defense, the MIC and the Vietnam Information Security Association. Even after
release, the platforms must be regularly checked for security risks by said
agencies. However, due
to the dynamic and fast-changing nature of cybercrimes, it has become a
matter of great importance for software developers and system managers to
anticipate and carry out quick responses in the event of cyberattacks. This
challenge is especially daunting as all it takes is often just one security hole
for hackers to compromise a whole system. "We
fully understand the importance of and the cyber threats to Viet Nam's
anti-COVID-19 platforms. That's why we have started an initiative to seek out
their security vulnerabilities and hopefully to address them before they
could be exploited," said an NCSC's representative. BugRank is a
bug bounty programme, which employs a competitive model that leverages the
use of ethical hackers (or security researchers) to detect and submit bugs or
vulnerabilities within an organisation's digital assets with the potential
for rewards if found and validated within a predefined scope. Grid management recommendations for optimal operation of
renewable energy Vietnam
should consider adopting major solutions for its grid management if the
country wants to optimise the operation of renewable energy sources and make
the best of these clean sources in its power system Participants
were representatives from affiliated entities under the MoIT, the Commission
for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises, Electricity of Vietnam,
as well as experts from the Vietnam Electrical Engineering Association, the
Vietnam Energy Association, and universities and non-profit organisations. “All
measures that we proposed in today’s workshop will support Vietnam to make
the best use of its enormous potential for renewable energies, as well as the
efficient and optimal use of its grid systems. As a result, the country can
achieve its dual goals on promoting renewable energies and maintaining stable
electricity supplies to move towards a sustainable future,” said Markus
Bissel, director of GIZ’ Smart Grids for Renewable Energy and Energy
Efficiency (SGREEE) project. At the
workshop, the participants were updated with analyses of the country’s
current electricity system and grid management situation. An overview of
international best practices was presented, so that local experts could learn
from these lessons in dealing with relevant issues. A GIZ-coordinated
consultation group put forward the following key measures for Vietnam: Planning
measures: The most essential proposal is the issuance of a reasonable feed-in
tariff (FiT) which may vary according to region, time, and demand. Other
promising solutions are energy storage systems, grid digitalisations,
automations, and expansions. Grid-related
measures: High voltage direct current transmission is recommended as a
long-term solution. Other short- and medium-term measures are the application
of advanced software to optimise the grid topology, equipping phase shifting
transformers, and on-load tap changers. Market-related
measures: Major solutions should be considered to enable participation
of new business models and players in the power market, for example, energy
storage systems and virtual power plant models, as well as the implementation
of demand side management, response programme, the application of re-dispatch
measures with involvement of decentralised small-scale renewable energy-based
power plants, and the ability to conclude an opposite electricity trade
transaction (countertrading) to optimise the operation of renewable power
plants. Renewable
energy feed-in management: Limiting the generation capacity of renewable
energy sources should be conducted as a last resort after the above-mentioned
measures are applied and exhausted. The compensation for the lost revenues
will be paid later to developers at certain levels. In recent
years, Vietnam has witnessed a boom of renewable energy projects as a result
of attractive incentives for solar power and wind power. However,
most projects are located in hotspots with high renewable energy potential
while the grid infrastructure is not sufficient to release the capacity.
Along with this, the instability of grid systems caused by a large gap
between peak load and off-peak load has also led to serious grid congestion.
The limiting of renewable energy-based generation is unavoidable as a result,
affecting the projects’ revenue and investment efficiency. The measures
proposed at the workshop, therefore, are expected to support Vietnam in addressing
the problems. The event
was part of the SGREEE project, which is implemented by the ERAV/MOIT and
GIZ. The project is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Under the
SGREEE project, the first group of experts on smart grid has been established
in Vietnam and can be visited following this link
(facebook.com/groups/smartgridvn/). Information about the project is
available on the Smart Grid Vietnam Knowledge Hub
at smart-grid.vn and the ESP’s website bit.ly/3mS1lIM. Room remains for Viet Nam's exports to Italy There
remains room for Vietnamese enterprises to promote their exports of farm
produce such as rice and seafood to Italy besides other export items,
according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Italy. Italy is
currently Việt Nam's fourth-largest trading partner in the EU behind only the
Netherlands, Germany and France while Việt Nam is Italy's largest trading
partner in ASEAN with bilateral trade turnover continuously increasing over
the years, the office said. Over the 11
months since the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) officially took
effect (from August 2020 to the end of June 2021), Việt Nam's export turnover
to Italy reached US$7.8 billion, up 22.8 per cent over the same period
before the effectiveness of the EVFTA (from August 2019 to the
end of June 2020). In the first
half of 2021 alone, two-way trade saw a yearly rise of 29.3 per cent to hit
$2.29 billion. Of which, Việt Nam exported $1.5 billion worth of goods to
Italy, up 32 per cent over the same period last year while its imports from
the market topped $759 million, up 25 per cent year-on-year. Vietnamese
major export staples to the Italian market included computers, electronics
and parts, phones and components, machinery, spare parts, seafood, coffee,
textiles and garments and footwear. Notably,
Việt Nam is the leading provider of peeled cashew nuts for Italy, accounting
for about 60-70 per cent of the country's total cashew imports. However, the
volume of rice Italy imported from Việt Nam is still lower than that of other
countries, the office noted. For example,
Italy imported only 7,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice for a turnover of $5
million in 2019, accounting for 3.1 per cent of Italy's rice import market
share. Meanwhile, the European country imported 70,000 tonnes of rice from
Pakistan for a value of $64 million, 19,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand
for $21 million and 16,000 tonnes of rice from India for $18 million. Despite huge
potential available in the market, Vietnamese businesses needed to
comply with strict technical standards, regulations on certification and
packaging as Italy is a member of the EU bloc, the office warned. A
complicated legal environment and high technical regulations and standards
for products related to health or the environment could cause trouble
for Vietnamese exporters, it said, adding that harsh competition from foreign
rivals in terms of the prices and model of export products was also
problematic. It suggested
the firms study the tastes of Italian consumers and survey
their demands for the products they intended to export and learn
about the market share of competitors if they wanted to effectively tap into
this lucrative market. Measures sought to remove obstacles in agricultural trade The Ministry
of Agriculture Rural Development (MARD) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have
collaborated closely to seek ways to remove obstacles facing Vietnam in
bolstering agricultural trade with China. At a working
session on August 25 to prepare for the upcoming meeting of the Vietnam-China
Steering Committee on bilateral cooperation, MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc
Doanh and Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu agreed that Vietnam has
great advantages in exporting farm produce to China. However,
Doanh said that the current biggest barrier in the work is the changing
border trade regulations of China. Deputy
Minister Vu affirmed that the Foreign Ministry will work closely with the
MARD to deal with difficulties in promoting farm produce exports to China,
and suggested that the two ministries increase the exchange of information
and specific ideas. The ministry
will also work with the Chinese side to ask for collaboration in creating
mechanisms for smooth border trade between the two countries. Vietnam
currently exports nine types of fresh fruit to China via official channels,
which are dragon fruit, watermelon, lychee, longan, banana, mango, jackfruit,
rambutan and mangosteen. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
(MARD) is seeking authorisation for eight more agricultural products to be
shipped to China via official channels. Data from
the MARD shows that the total value of import and export of agricultural,
forestry and fisheries products reached 53.2 billion USD in the first seven
months of 2021, of which exports stood at 28.6 billion USD, up 26.7 percent
from the same period last year. The
country’s trade of agri-forestry-fisheries products with China rose by 38.8
percent year on year to 8.67 billion USD in the first half of the year, with
exports hitting over 6.17 billion USD, up 35.8 percent./. ICT plays crucial role in fight against COVID-19 Information
and communication technology (ICT) has played an important role in the fight
against the COVID-19 pandemic, Nguyen Huy Dung, deputy minister of
Information and Communications, said during the video talk “Ket Noi Trong Dai
Dich” (Connections during the Pandemic) on Tuesday. “Technology
is helping to connect hospitals and doctors with patients, and needy people
with donors, so we can together repel the pandemic," he said. Telehealth
services were launched at the beginning of the pandemic for remote
consultations in Viet Nam. About 2,000 central hospitals are now connected to
all district-level hospitals across the country. Since the
fourth wave of the pandemic, the telehealth system has opened new connections
with COVID-19 treatment hospitals in HCM City, and with Binh Duong and Long
An provinces for transfer of emergency cases among hospitals. As for other
IT uses, HCM City has piloted a search engine at website
http://tracuuf0.medinet.org.vn/ to help families of COVID-19 patients look up
information about their health status. COVID-19
patients can also connect with medical staff on apps such as VOV Bacsi24,
Giup toi! and Zalo Connect. Vong Thanh
Cuong, a representative of Giup toi!’s development staff, said it took only
30 seconds to connect doctors with people through the app. “That’s what
people expect. When they need help, they need support from experts
immediately to feel at ease.” Nguyen
Truong Nam, deputy head of the Information and Technology Department at the
Ministry of Health, said the application of ICT in COVID-19 prevention and
control has earned achievements in telemedicine, tracing, testing and
vaccination. It has also
helped connect charity organisations with the needy and people affected by
COVID-19. The
Vietnamese messaging application Zalo recently introduced a new feature Zalo
Connect, which received more than 320,000 messages in 15 days. Nam said
that although the application of technology solutions had brought results,
local authorities should send accurate instructions to people so that
technology solutions are used more effectively. Webinar reviews one-year implementation of EVFTA A webinar
reviewing the one-year implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement
(EVFTA) was jointly held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(VCCI) and the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) on August
27. Participants
to the event looked at difficulties in carrying out the deal and proposed
solutions to maximise the benefits brought by it. VCCI
Chairman Vu Tien Loc said that taking effect in August 2020, when the
economies of the two sides and the whole world are struggling to overcome
difficulties from the COVID-19 pandemic, the agreement has other
expectations, becoming one of the drivers for businesses and economies of
both sides. He
underlined the need to have solutions from both State policies and strategies
from businesses to handle all the risks at present and in the future. Besides
Vietnam, the EU has FTAs with three economies in Asia, including Japan, the
Republic of Korea and Singapore. Vietnam has no direct competitors among
these, Loc said. The EVFTA
has contributed significantly to Vietnam's aquatic export achievements in
recent times. Up to 50 percent of tariff lines were reduced to zero percent
before 2020, including tax rates for key exports. However, the
COVID-19 pandemic is strongly affecting raw material production, reducing the
opportunity of Vietnam to take advantage of preferential tax lines, he noted. In the
remaining months of 2021, Vietnam's aquatic exports to the EU is forecast to
be severely affected by the pandemic, possibly down at least 9 percent over
the same period last year, reaching 3.66 billion USD. Vietnam is
predicted to earn 8.6 billion USD from exporting aquatic products this year,
up 2.7 percent compared to the figure of 2020./. Vietnam looks to expand cooperation with Hong Kong The
Vietnamese Consulate General in Hong Kong (China) will give priority to
promoting investment and tourism ties between Vietnam and the region after
the COVID-19 pandemic is put under control, with the aim of fully tapping
cooperation potential between the two sides in the time to come, a Vietnamese
diplomat has said. Vietnamese
Consul General to Hong Kong Pham Binh Dam mentioned the work in an interview
granted to the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Hong Kong on the
occasion of the 76th founding anniversary of the diplomatic sector. The diplomat
stressed that there is great potential for localities and enterprises of
Vietnam and Kong Kong to expand cooperation and exchange after the COVID-19
is under control, saying that the cooperative ties between the two sides is
still not commensurate with potential. Hong Kong is
the fifth largest foreign investor in Vietnam, after the Republic of Korea,
Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan (China) with over 2,000 projects worth nearly
26.9 billion USD, but the figures are modest considering the fact that Hong
Kong is a leading international financial centre, according to Dam. He said many
Hong Kong businesses have plans to move their factories in China to Vietnam
in the future, hence the priority given to investment promotion. The second
priority is tourism promotion as Hong Kong is also an important tourist
market with high spending capacity, Dam said, noting that Vietnam is a
favourite destination for Hong Kong people. Hong Kong is
also an international trade hub. In the first six months of 2021, the total
import-export turnover between Vietnam and Hong Kong reached 13.3 billion
USD, up 25.2 percent year-on-year. Vietnam is the 7th largest trading partner
of Hong Kong. Statistics
of Hong Kong show that Vietnam is enjoying a trade surplus with the region in
the period. Vietnamese
startups enterprises also have huge opportunities to develop in the Hong Kong
market, he said. According to
the diplomat, the Consulate General will also pay attention to increase
education cooperation between the two sides./. Soc Trang’s export up 19 percent in eight months The Mekong
Delta province of Soc Trang exported close to 850 million USD worth of goods
in the first eight months, meeting 85 percent of its yearly plan and
increasing 19 percent year-on-year. According to
the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, key export earners with good
growth during the period included processed seafood - frozen shrimp and rice
products that reeled in 660 million USD and 157 million USD, up 27 percent
and over 43.5 percent annually, respectively. From the
beginning of the year, the COVID-19 epidemic has greatly affected the
production and business of large enterprises in Soc Trang, particularly those
working in seafood farming, processing and export. Since mid
July, the province has applied restriction measures under the Prime
Minister’s Decree 16/CT-TTg, resulting in difficulties in travel and harvest.
Firms have been facing human resources and materials shortage. Most large
companies operate at just 50 percent of their capacity. Local
authorities have so far worked to ease such difficulties via such activities
as giving priority in vaccination for workers at industrial parks and
assisting enterprises to re-organise production in accordance with pandemic
prevention measures. In 2021, Soc
Trang strives to push its export turnover to over 1 billion USD./. Measures sought to remove obstacles in agricultural trade The Ministry
of Agriculture Rural Development (MARD) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have collaborated
closely to seek ways to remove obstacles facing Vietnam in bolstering
agricultural trade with China. At a working
session on August 25 to prepare for the upcoming meeting of the Vietnam-China
Steering Committee on bilateral cooperation, MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc
Doanh and Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu agreed that Vietnam has
great advantages in exporting farm produce to China. However,
Doanh said that the current biggest barrier in the work is the changing
border trade regulations of China. Deputy
Minister Vu affirmed that the Foreign Ministry will work closely with the
MARD to deal with difficulties in promoting farm produce exports to China,
and suggested that the two ministries increase the exchange of information
and specific ideas. The ministry
will also work with the Chinese side to ask for collaboration in creating
mechanisms for smooth border trade between the two countries. Vietnam
currently exports nine types of fresh fruit to China via official channels,
which are dragon fruit, watermelon, lychee, longan, banana, mango, jackfruit,
rambutan and mangosteen. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
(MARD) is seeking authorisation for eight more agricultural products to be
shipped to China via official channels. Data from
the MARD shows that the total value of import and export of agricultural,
forestry and fisheries products reached 53.2 billion USD in the first seven
months of 2021, of which exports stood at 28.6 billion USD, up 26.7 percent
from the same period last year. The
country’s trade of agri-forestry-fisheries products with China rose by 38.8
percent year on year to 8.67 billion USD in the first half of the year, with
exports hitting over 6.17 billion USD, up 35.8 percent./. Source:
VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/SGGP/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes |
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