VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS NOVEMBER 1816:00 Fee reductions extended until June 2022 The Government has approved the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to extend the reduction of fees which have been cut this year until the end of June next year. According to an announcement issued by the Government Office on November 15, the Government also agreed to simplify procedures when issuing circulars on fee cuts to support enterprises, residents and those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Thanh Nien newspaper reported. Under a report sent by the Ministry of Finance to the Government in late October, due to the fourth Covid-19 wave, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter of this year fell 6.17%, resulting in a 1.42% economic growth in the January-September period, the lowest since 2000. The country’s GDP growth has been forecast to reach some 3% this year, well below the 6% target. The country will continue facing difficulties in the rest of this year. Meanwhile, the pandemic will be raging on in Vietnam and elsewhere in the world next year. Many fees have been cut for residents and enterprises since last year, such as fees for licensing the establishment and operation of banks, issuing construction permits, appraising construction projects and some fees in the securities sector, among others. The fee cuts have amounted to some VND3 trillion since last year. The Ministry of Finance had also proposed issuing circulars on the fee cuts with simplified procedures and immediate validity to promptly support those affected by the pandemic. VinFast electric cars officially launched in US Vietnamese automotive manufacturer VinFast made the
global debut of its new electric vehicles VF e35 and VF e36 on November 18 at
the Los Angeles Auto Show 2021 in California, the United States. The German CEO also affirmed that the latest models are two remarkable SUVs that deliver premium features and standards in terms of safety, comfort, and entertainment, adding that these models are extremely competitive due to their amenities and price. He noted that the two latest VinFast models are part of the company's efforts to unite in the electric vehicle revolution and put forth solutions to the world’s climate crisis. David Gillet Lyon, design director of Vinfast, said that along with boasting advanced technology, VinFast’s EVs have high-end interior decoration materials which have been completed by the VinFast factory in Vietnam, thereby providing customers with a luxurious and pleasant experience. Both models have been integrated to have advanced driver assistance features (ADAS), such as lane keeping assist, collision mitigation, driver monitoring, automatic parking, and a smart summon feature. Moving forward, it is planned that VinFast’s VF e35 and VF e36 will be sold in the US market from next year with an estimated price range of between US$40,000 and US$60,000. VinFast is poised to open agents in at least seven European nations by 2023 for selling the two new models. E-commerce business helps boost domestic market, export: Experts The national plan for e-commerce development in the 2021-2025 period aims to turn e-commerce into one of the pioneering area of the digital economy, helping enhance the competitiveness of businesses and promoting the growth of both domestic market and export, according to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan. Speaking at a seminar in Hanoi on November 17 on market development for e-commerce firms in the digital transformation era, Tan said that digital transformation will help Vietnamese businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises seek a more flexible business model, saving cost and optimise resources to overcome difficulties. Over the years, Vietnam has continuously recorded strong growth in the ratio of Internet users as well as the number of online shoppers, he said, noting that the value of online shopping through e-commerce platforms has risen sharply in the past five years. The figure increased from 5 billion USD in 2016 to over 10 billion USD in 2019 and 11.8 billion USD in 2020. Notably, from the beginning of the pandemic to mid-2021, Vietnam had seen additional 8 million digital technology consumers, 55 percent of whom were not from big cities. Furthermore, 99 percent of Vietnamese digital technology consumers said that they will continue to use online services in the future, showing the close ties between Vietnamese consumers and digital services and products. At the event, many experts said that Vietnam remains an attractive innovation centre when the global capital resources have continued to flow to the country. The value of trade and investment deals surged to a record 1.37 billion USD in the first half of 2021. They held that e-commerce market has become a popular business model of businesses, which has a strong spreading capacity in the community. Particularly, amid COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce has enabled businesses to make transactions with customers in a safe manner. They agreed that in the time to come, e-commerce will be a new shopping trend with impressive growth speed. This is a good chance for production businesses to serve their customers at anytime and anywhere, bringing better experience to consumers, they added./. Reference exchange rate up 2 VND The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate on November 18 at 23,116 VND/USD, up 2 VND from the previous day. With the current trading band of +/-3 percent, the ceiling rate applicable to commercial banks during the day is 23,809 VND/USD and the floor rate 22,422 VND/USD The opening-hour rate at commercial banks stayed stable. At 8:25am, BIDV listed the buying rate at 22,550 VND/USD and the floor rate at 22,750 VND/USD, unchanged from November 17. Vietcombank also kept both rates unchanged at 22,520 VND/USD (buying) and 22,750 VND/USD (selling)./. Pepper exports likely to reach US$1 billion this year Vietnamese pepper exports are anticipated to witness robust growth ahead during the remaining months of the year, with export turnover expected to hit US$1 billion this year. According to statistics released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs, local pepper exports enjoyed an annual surge of 47% to rake in US$719 million during the opening nine months of the year. Most notably, the export value of Vietnamese pepper soared by approximately 50% throughout the reviewed period due to a high price recorded in the global market. The export price of pepper is predicted to rise further in the remaining two months of the year due to a growing demand from several markets, especially China, which will fuel pepper exports in future. Statistics show that Chinese pepper imports from Vietnam rose by 10.9% to US$12.52 million during the reviewed period, raising Vietnam’s pepper market share in China from 25.66% last year to 30.54% till the end of September 2021. However, the remaining pepper export volume remains modest, ranging between 25,000 tonnes and 30,000 tonnes in the last two months, according to data from the Vietnam Pepper Association. With the current export price of approximately US$4,000 per tonne, the total pepper export value in Nov.-Dec. 2021 is estimated at roughly US$100 million. FMCG companies quick to bounce back post-COVID-19 Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are quickly
bouncing back to capture the pent-up demand of customers, backed by an
increasing appetite and a more affluent population. These food and beverage products are distributed through the group's existing distribution system as well as at its newly-launched Chuk Chuk coffee and milk tea shops. The Chuk Chuk chain has started to sell beverages, milk tea, and cakes online since September. KIDO now plans to open 10 signature Chuk Chuk stores with the target of operating at least 100 outlets in Ho Chi Minh City by December. In addition, KIDO also ramped up the production of cooking oil by 30 per cent against the same period last year for the upcoming Lunar New Year. The group also unveiled new ice-cream products. KIDO is not alone in the FMCG segment in showing optimism post-COVID-19. Cetin Murat, general manager of Turkish FMCG firm Hayat Vietnam, is upbeat about the outlook for the FMCG market in the upcoming months. “Although some restrictions remain, we are hopeful that the uptake of the vaccine rollouts will lessen the impacts on businesses,” he claimed. At the moment, Hayat Vietnam has invested around $100 million and employs more than 500 people in Vietnam. The company continues to expand in accordance with its commitment to invest $250 million. In addition, the firm also announced the launch of its leading diaper brand Molfix in Vietnam. The decision was made as 90 per cent of the global population growth during the next 50 years will be in Asia and Vietnam, with the baby diaper market expected to grow by double-digits during 2021-2027. “Molfix is the fifth-largest diaper brand in the world, and Hayat is the fastest-growing company in this category. By launching Molfix in Vietnam, we are aiming high and hope to reach 30 per cent market share by 2025, a major goal for a brand fully made in Vietnam. However, the goal is based on our record of achievements in other markets,” Murat added. Hayat has already some brands in Vietnam’s FMCG markets, such as Papia, Familia, and Bingo. The Turkish FMCG firm plans further expand further. Meanwhile, Sakuko Store, a Japanese supermarket chain, has announced plans to expand from 33 to 60 stores by 2025. The company operates in seven FMCG segments, including mother and baby, cosmetics, food, healthcare, fashion, and stationery. According to Cao Thi Dung, CEO of Sakuko, food and healthcare are the fastest-growing segments at Sakuko, reflecting the increasing health awareness of Vietnamese consumers. Thus, the company plans to diversify its product portfolio with food. Meanwhile, the firm increases its items in healthcare, targeting different customer groups. Dung noted that customers’ consumption habits have changed significantly after a long period of social distancing. Customers slashed spending on family activities and luxury items while increasing purchases of necessities such as fresh food and packaged consumer goods. In addition, consumers’ shopping habits have shifted from traditional to modern retail channels such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, mini supermarkets, and e-commerce. “These changes have had a significant impact on the FMCG market, and created opportunities for businesses to change the structure of goods, expand their customer base, and complete customer care stages to create engagement,” Dung said. In October, Nestlé Vietnam invested $132 million to double its processing capacity of high-quality coffee lines at the Nestlé Tri An factory in Dong Nai province. The step is part of Nestlé’s vision to turn Vietnam into a production centre for packaged food and beverages because of the country’s skilled workforce and great work ethic. According to market research firm Statista, the FMCG industry in Vietnam has been growing fast in recent years. Thanks to the country’s rapid economic development, people have more disposable income and an improved living standard with an increasing consumption rate of FMCG products. Urbanisation has been another driver of the double-digit growth of the FMCG market. In 2020, the annual growth of retail sales of consumer goods in the country reached 6.8 per cent and was forecast to be at least nine per cent in 2021. BRG, Sumitomo to eye on Da Nang’s infrastructure projects Local property developer BRG Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Group have submitted investment proposals as part of their ongoing development of key infrastructure and logistics networks upgrades in the central city. The proposals were submitted during a meeting with the city's leaders as part of Da Nang's development towards becoming a 'smart' city. The city’s Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) said BRG and Sumitomo said they will strengthen logistics networks and the air and sea connections, to improve Da Nang’s resiliency and enhance economic growth. It said the two businesses are willing to jointly promote the Lien Chieu deep-sea port, Da Nang International Airport, logistics centre and seaport and airport connections. “It’s just a meeting in introducing the city’s capability and experience at investment promotion projects to key investors. The two investors have kept their eyes on infrastructure projects in Da Nang, but more details and further studies of projects are needed in the coming time,” said IPA Director Huynh Thi Lien Phuong. “Da Nang plans to develop four key infrastructure bases, including a seaport and airport system; hi-tech industry and smart city; information technology digital economy and hi-tech agriculture in the Master Plan,” she said. Last October, BRG Group commenced construction of the 36-storey BRG Da Nang Golf resort with a total investment of 71 million USD in Ngu Hanh Son district – three years after launching the five-star Sheraton Grand Da Nang resort. The banking-real estate-golf group and Sumitomo have been developing a series of industrial parks in Hanoi, Hung Yen and Vinh Phuc as well as Fiji Mart chains in Hanoi. BRG and Sumitomo have been developing a ‘smart’ urban area in the north of Hanoi, with a total investment of 4.2 billion USD. The BRG Group alone has been implementing a master plan for the development of Hoa Vang district northwest of Da Nang. BRG Group, Japanese Sumitomo Group, VNPT Group, Vietnamese Seabank agreed on cooperation deals in fintech, developing smart cities and other projects in Tokyo 2019. In 2020, experts from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) began a survey on the feasibility of the Lien Chieu Port construction project. The development of Lien Chieu Port aims to turn the central city into the main logistics centre of ASEAN and the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) that links Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The Universal Alloy Corporation (UAC) from the US launched the first stage of the 170 million USD Da Nang-based Sunshine Aerospace components manufacturing plant last year. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, Fujikin International Incorporated from Japan started construction of an R&D centre at Da Nang High-Tech Park worth 35 million USD, while Japanese Daiwa Vietnam also began building its third factory in the city with an investment of 40 million USD. Da Nang has been calling for investment from Silicon Valley and the US in health care, hi-tech industries, Artificial Intelligence, education, real estate and automation at Da Nang hi-tech park and industrial zones. Da Nang has drawn 503 projects, including 130 FDI worth 1.8 billion USD and 27.56 trillion VND (1.2 billion USD), from domestic investors./. CBU vehicle imports rebound sharply The import of Completely Built Unit (CBU) vehicles has
increased sharply in the first 10 months of 2021, according to the latest
data by the General Department of Customs (GDC). Due to the heavy impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, imports of CBU vehicles fell to 10,000 units in August and 8,700 units in September. As Vietnam reopened in October, CBU imports rebounded to over 15,000 units, the average firgure recorded before the fourth wave. It is worth noting that consumers have tightened their budget amidst the large outbreak. However, the volume of CBU cars imported to Vietnam still increased in the first 10 months of 2021. According to data from the GDC, Vietnam imported 130,000 CBU vehicles valued at $2.89 billion in the first 10 months, up 61.6 per cent in volume and 63.9 per cent in value over the same period last year. Thailand, Indonesia, and China were the top suppliers. Among them, Thailand took the lead in the number of improted cars with 65,600 units, followed by Indonesia (37,900 units) and China (16,300 units). According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), the sales of CBU imported cars are looking better than that of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) vehicles. Specifically, CKD sales in September reached 7,316 units, an increase of only 37 per cent compared to the previous month while the CBU segment posted a 76 per cent increase to 6,221 units in the same month. The Ministry of Finance is collecting feedbacks for a draft decree to reduce registration fees by 50 per cent for CKD cars for six months. If approved, this fee cut will be a major boost for the year-end auto sales season for domestic auto assemblers. Quang Tri proposes to adjust operation schedule for Hai Lang LNG power plant Quang Tri is proposing the government to adjust the
operation schedule for the $2.35 billion Hai Lang LNG power plant, set in the
draft of National Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8). Meanwhile, the investor – a consortium of Vietnamese conglomerate T&T Group, Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), Hanwha Energy Corporation, and Korea Southern Power (KOSPO) – estimates the project could be put into commercial operation in 2026-2027. Vo Van Hung, Chairman of Quang Tri People’s Committee stated that the earlier launch would make an important contribution to the province’s socio-economic growth and national energy security. Hung added that the schedule proposed by the investor could help address power shortages as the other two power plants in the province (an LNG power plant invested by Gazprom and Quang Tri 1 thermal power plant invested by Thailand’s EGAT International Co., Ltd.) are running behind schedule. Previously on October 20, Quang Tri People’s Committee sent a document to the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposing the adjustment of the project timeline. Quang Tri People's Committee has already approved the first phase of the Hai Lang LNG power plant. The project, which spans 120ha, is located in Hai Lang district's Hai An and Hai Ba communes. The project would include an LNG port capable of handling LNG carriers of 170,000-226,000 cubic metres, carrying 1.5 million tonnes of LNG per year, and Hai Lang Power Centre phase 1 with a capacity of 1,500MW. Which banks are allowed to increase their credit growth? 11 of 13 Vietnamese commercial banks have been given permission to increase their credit lines by the State Bank of Vietnam. TPBank has the greatest credit growth rate of 17.4 per cent thanks to the bank’s strong capital adequacy ratio (CAR) according to Basel II standards and diverse investment portfolio. Moreover, banks that do not focus on hazardous and vulnerable businesses, with favourable interest rates are gaining the upper hand in terms of credit quota. In addition to TPBank, a number of other banks were allowed to expand their credit room by 13-16 per cent, including Techcombank (17.1per cent), MSB (16 per cent), MB (15 per cent), VIB (14.1 per cent), ACB (13.1 per cent), LienVietPostBank (13.1 per cent). The remaining six banks were allotted 9.5-12.5 per cent room for growth, including Vietcombank (12.5 per cent), VPBank (12.1 per cent), SHB (10.5 per cent), Sacombank (10.5 per cent), OCB (10 per cent), and VietinBank (9.5 per cent). Nguyen Tuan Anh, head of the Credit Department at the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), emphasised that credit growth rates were granted based on the particulars of each credit institution. The SBV stated in its monetary policy management solutions for the last three months of the year that it will periodically assess and modify credit growth objectives for each credit institution based on its operational status, financial capacity, and stability of credit expansion. As a result, credit institutions that lower lending interest rates to support affected clients will be given priority consideration. Over 450 billion VND for Nhu Nguyet bridge on Hanoi-Bac Giang expressway In order to deal with traffic congestion, mitigate accidents, and improve the capacity of tapping Hanoi – Bac Giang – Lang Son expressway, contributing to drawing more capital to Bac Giang’s industrial parks and socio-economic development, the provincial People’s Council recently issued a resolution on the policy of investment in Nhu Nguyet bridge in the province. Accordingly, Bac Giang will build Nhu Nguyet bridge across the Cau River, which is located next to the current bridge downstream. The length of the bridge and the road on its both sides is expected to stretch as far as about 1,240 metres. Its starting point is at Km 131+580 in Quang Chau commune, Viet Yen district while the end point is at Km 132+820 on National Highway 1 in Dap Cau ward, Bac Ninh city. The land area for use is about 0.96 ha, including around 0.78 ha in Bac Giang and some 0.18 ha in Bac Ninh. Investment will be put on reinforced concrete and prestressed reinforced concrete bridge. The bridge will be roughly 445 metres long and 16 metres wide. The road section at both ends of the bridge has a total length of about 800 metres. Therefore, Nhu Nguyet bridge will be expanded from two to four lanes, and has a total width of 33 metres. The total cost of the project will be more than 456 billion VND sourced from local budget. The project will be carried out during 2022-2024 by the management board of the provincial transport and agriculture projects, with preparations from 2021-2022 and implementation from 2022-2024. Earlier on October 18, the Prime Minister issued the document No.1390/TTg-CN approving Bac Giang’s investment on expanding Nhu Nguyet bridge using the local budget. Nhu Nguyet is a road bridge across Cau River, lying on the Hanoi - Bac Giang - Lang Son expressway linking Bac Ninh with Bac Giang province. However, on this route, there are still two positions at Xuong Giang bridge and Nhu Nguyet bridge (Bac Giang) which are being narrowed in size. At present, traffic density on Hanoi – Bac Giang route has kept increasing. Those around Xuong Giang and Nhu Nguyet bridges have become traffic bottlenecks, directly affecting traffic safety, especially investment environment in Bac Giang. Authorities of the northern province of Bac Giang have set a target to develop 20 urban areas by 2025, and due attention will be paid to infrastructure development. Since 2016, the province has mobilised dozens of trillions of Vietnamese dong for urban development programmes. The province’s Bac Giang city will build its urban development plan until 2035, vision to 2050 and complete its infrastructure network to meet standards for Class-1 urban area. From now to 2025, the city will step up the construction of some urban residential areas as well as transportation projects. It is to attract investment in new housing areas and apartments and improving quality of existing ones along with public services and malls. Meanwhile, the province will issue urban development mechanisms and policies to attract investment in the field and work to enhance urban management capacity. Bac Giang’s urban population had neared 400,000 as of the end of 2020, or 21.7 percent. It currently has 16 urban areas. It implemented 47 urban and urban service development projects with total investment of over 13.59 trillion VND (589 million USD), along with 14 housing development projects with total investment of more than 8.45 trillion VND. Of note, investment in water and transportation infrastructure exceeded 33.5 trillion VND. Bac Giang is among the first localities to build a provincial development master plan, which serves as the foundation for its future socio-economic development, including urban expansion./. BVSC raises 2021 profit plan after impressive results The Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) has just approved a resolution to increase its profit plan for 2021. Previously, in the first plan of the year, BVSC set a revenue target of 661 billion VND (29.2 million USD), with profit before tax of 157 billion VND. However, as of September 30, BVS recorded revenue of over 784 billion VND, 2.2 times higher than that of the same period last year. Therefore, the securities firm’s profit after tax rose 118 percent year-on-year to 185.1 billion VND. Accordingly, BVSC has completed up to 139 percent of the profit target for the whole of 2021, which is 133 billion VND. Based on the company's business activities and the actual situation of the stock market in the first ten months of 2021, BVSC’s management board decided to adjust the business plan. The company raises its revenue plan in 2021 from 661 billion VND to 880 billion VND, equivalent to an increase of 33 percent. Its profit before tax is also adjusted higher to VNĐ241 billion, equivalent to a climb of 54 percent. With the adjusted plan, the securities company has completed 89 percent of the revenue target and 91 percent of the profit target. Recently, BVSC Board of Directors approved October 12 as the last registration date to exercise the right to receive 2020 cash dividend at the rate of 8 percent, meaning a shareholders owning one share will receive 800 VND. The payment started from October 20. With more than 72.2 million shares listed and in circulation, BVSC will spend nearly 58 billion VND to pay dividends this time to shareholders. Of which, Bao Viet Group (BVH) is expected to receive nearly 35 billion VND with the ownership rate of 59.9 percent in BVSC. BVSC is listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) with ticker symbol BVS. On the stock market, BVSC shares closed Monday at 41,500 VND per share, up 3.75 percent compared to the previous session and more than double the price of the beginning of 2021./. Forum seeks ways to promote Vietnam - US trade in a new context Trade has become a pillar of the growing bilateral relationship between Vietnam and the US, Hoang Quang Phong - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on November 16. Speaking at a forum on promoting Vietnam-US trade in the new context, Phong said that Vietnam has been attractive to US businesses with a market of nearly 100 million consumers, positive growth, open policies, close connection with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations market. Despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and its complicated developments which disrupted the supply chains, 2020 was the first year that the total trade turnover between Vietnam and the US has exceeded the 90 billion USD benchmark, reaching 90.8 billion USD. Vietnam has become the 10th largest trading partner of the US, while the US is also the largest trading partner of Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the first countries in Asia to sign a trade agreement with the US./. Cotton Day Vietnam online forum to help Vietnamese textile enterprises revive after COVID-19 Cotton Day Vietnam 2021, a forum on trends and solutions to help Vietnamese textile enterprises revive after COVID-19, will be held online on December 1. The fifth annual event themed “Sustainability and Transparency You Can Trust” will be organised by the Cotton Council International (CCI) and the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS). The event will include a seminar with presentations and updated information on the situation of the cotton industry in Vietnam and the world, and trends and perspectives from the world’s leading brands and retailers relating to sustainable cotton. It will also provide solutions that textile and garment companies in Vietnam need to adapt to market demands after COVID-19. Speaking at a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City early this week, Vu Duc Giang, chairman of VITAS, said that, despite the pandemic, garment and textile exports in the first 10 months of this year reached 32 billion USD, an increase of 10.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Fibre and yarn exports soared by 52.65 percent year-on-year to 4.5 billion USD, but cotton imports reached more than 2.7 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 41.86 percent. Giang said: “Cotton is still the priority of Vietnamese enterprises because it meets sustainable development goal.” Vo Manh Hung, CCI Representative in Vietnam, said: “The world textile and fashion industry is making strong changes towards environmental protection and sustainable development. Brands are increasingly focusing on materials that are both fashionable and environmentally friendly. Cotton is a very good material for the environment.” Cotton Day Vietnam 2021 will be organised on 6Connex platform from 8am-12pm on December 1. Dong Nai’s industrial parks attract 46 FDI projects Industrial parks in the southern province of Dong Nai attracted 46 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth 358.85 million USD from the beginning of this year to November 11. Le Van Danh, deputy head of the Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority, said during the period, the parks lured eight domestic projects with total investment of 1.13 trillion VND (49.88 million USD). Meanwhile, 94 valid FDI projects increased their capital by 736.64 million USD, and seven domestic projects added 1.24 trillion VND to their investments, he added. Notably, the authority on November 15 granted the investment licence to KSM ENG Vina manufacturing and processing factory in Giang Dien IZ, Trang Bom district, with total registered capital of 10 million USD that comes from the Republic of Korea (RoK). Despite COVID-19, Dong Nai has still attracted investments worth over 1.19 million USD so far this year, of which some 1.09 million USD has been poured into FDI projects, surpassing the yearly target by 56 percent, and 2.38 trillion VND in domestic projects, exceeding the target by 19 percent. Dong Nai continues calling for large-scale projects that use high-tech and employ skilled labourers, and those operating in the support industry, Danh said./. Largest energy, environment technology exhibition opens in Hanoi The Hanoi International Exhibition of Environment and Energy Technology (ENTECH HANOI 2021) opened in the capital city on November 17, gathering 45 businesses with 70 physical and 120 virtual exhibition booths. During the three-day event, the businesses have introduced thousands of products and technologies in new and renewable energy and environment industries. According to the organising board, due to COVID-19 impacts, along with the direct exhibition, the virtual exhibition is also available at www.entechhanoi.vn. Participants will have chances to talk to experts energy saving and environmental protection technologies and products during activities on the exhibition’s framework and follow-up events until November 26. Held for the first time in 2009, ENTECH HANOI has drawn of a large number of domestic and foreign firms, becoming the largest of its kind in Vietnam. This year, as part of efforts to implement the national programme on effectively and economically use of energy, Hanoi has applied a number of measures to improve energy efficiency. So far, the city has saved over 1.9 trillion VND worth of energy, while assisting energy auditing in 53 facilities and businessed, evaluating energy efficiency in 12 buimdings, supporting 32 facilities to apply energy effectiveness forecast system, and developing 45 models of green energy use with more than 1,000 technical solutions./. VinFast officially launches US headquarters in Los Angeles VinFast, a smart electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer from Vietnam, officially put its headquarters in the US into operation on November 16 (local time). VinFast's headquarters is located in the Playa Vista region which is dubbed the "Silicon Beach" of Los Angeles – the home to many technology companies. Los Angeles and California state are also promoting their commitment to greening the transportation system, and this is a favourable condition for VinFast to realise its goal of becoming a global smart electric vehicle maker. Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti said Los Angeles is the world's transportation innovation capital, where companies often choose to test and introduce new technologies. The city is continuing to be at the forefront of making transport better, cleaner and more sustainable, he said. Nguyen Thi Van Anh, CEO of VinFast US, said California in general and the Southern California region in particular are rapidly becoming the epicenter of the revolution in the transportation industry, where innovative ideas, talented and determined workforce to accelerate the electrification of vehicles are gathered. She thanked Governor of California state Gavin Newsom and Mayor Garcetti for their great support for VinFast. Along with setting up the headquarters, VinFast US will open its offices, customer service centres, and a network of showrooms and service workshops in order to introduce electric vehicles to American consumers, and promote its future investment plans. Previously, on November 5, the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced that it grants VinFast 20.5 million USD worth of tax credit after the firm committed to investing more than 200 million USD in establishing its US subsidiary in the state and creating at least 1,065 full-time jobs for local labourers. The granted sum comes from the California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) – an income tax credit available to businesses that want to locate or stay and grow in California. Recently, VinFast, established in 2017, has announced its plan for the global debut of VF e35 and VF e36 electric SUV models at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show, which runs from November 17 to 28. This global premiere marks the official introduction of the VinFast electric vehicle brand to the North American market, with pre-order beginning in the first half of 2022./. Policy revision hoped to help supporting industry thrive after COVID-19 Boosting the development of the supporting industry is considered an important solution to help improve the quality and competitiveness of the Vietnamese economy and better serve the processing-manufacturing sector. To promote the supporting industry’s growth, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is building a draft decree on amendments and supplementations to the current regulations on the development of the industry in a synchronic, comprehensive and strategic manner. Vu Thu Nga, Deputy General Director of Deloitte Vietnam, held that a number of recent decrees as well as efforts in completing the legal corridor for the development of the supporting industry have brought about positive effects. However, a number of regulations have still shown limitations in the implementation process, requiring adjustments. According to Nga, in order to help the sector thrive, it is necessary to apply preferential policies on outsourcing activities for industries prioritised for development, while reviewing and re-evaluating supply and value chains to add products of the supporting industry to the list of development priorities, and amending a number of regulations of relevant decrees to make them coherent with investment and tariff regulations. Besides, authorised agencies should consider providing additional preferential and support policies for businesses, as well as adjusting and supplementing conditions of receiving incentives to attract more high-quality and effective projects in the field of supporting industry towards the goal of “green” and “clean” development set by the Government. At the same time, businesses should actively review their conditions to evaluate their eligibility to enjoy incentives, and clearly understand changes in policies and impacts on their chances to receive preferential policies, she said. Nga also advised businesses to report obstacles and difficulties facing them in the implementation of the policies and make proposals on new policies to the MoIT and business associations./. Agritourism to be added to new-style rural area building programme The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has been assigned to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to make agritourism development part of the National Target Programme on new-style rural area building in the 2021-2025 period. Agritourism is expected to become one of the motivations for the creation of jobs and improvement of incomes for rural people, helping speed up rural economic structure shifting, preserve traditional cultural values and protect the environment. Effective promotion of agritourism is hoped to contribute to making tourism a spearhead sector and strengthening sustainable rural development. So far, rural and ecological tourism has accounted for 10 percent of the global tourism sector with revenue of about 30 billion USD per year. The annual growth of agritourism is about 10-30 percent, much higher than 4 percent of traditional tourism. Currently, Vietnam has seen three forms of rural tourism – community-based tourism, farm tourism and ecotourism. The country has about 365 agritourism destinations and more than 2,000 traditional craft villages with high potential for tourism development. The digital transformation in rural tourism is expected to help agritourism to attract more visitors and support holiday-makers in making plans for their trip more easily, while providing better services to tourists and explore customers’ habits./. Hanoi clears up businesses’ tax concerns Enterprises, especially foreign-invested firms affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, had their tax-related concerns cleared up by the Hanoi Department of Taxation during an online conference on November 16. The conference, at http://hanoi.gdt.gov.vn, provided information about solutions to remove difficulties facing businesses, as Hanoi has entered the “new normal”, according to head of the department Mai Son. Enterprises and household businesses got an insight into policies and procedures regarding tax payment extension, tax exemption and reduction, and implementation of e-invoices. Son said similar conferences would be organised in the time ahead to address emerging issues. At the conference, a representative from Yamaha Motor Vietnam raised questions on forms of e-invoices, while Stanley Vietnam suggested tax agencies guide enterprises how to access the aid package under the National Assembly’s Resolution No. 406. Last July, the department also responded to queries relating to taxes and administrative procedures, raised by nearly 17,000 firms through its website./. Agro-forestry-aquatic product exports rake in 38.75 billion USD Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic product exports surged 13.1 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2021 to 38.75 billion USD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Agricultural product shipments reached nearly 17.4 billion USD during the period, a year-on-year increase of 12.7 percent. Exports of forestry and animal husbandry products earned 12.8 billion USD and 379 million USD, up 22.3 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively. Exports of aquatic products, meanwhile, declined 0.8 percent to 6.9 billion USD in the January-October period. The US remained Vietnam’s largest importer, buying over 10.8 billion USD worth of agro-forestry-aquatic products, accounting for 27.9 percent of the total. A majority of the US’s imports from Vietnam (68.4 percent) were wood and timber products. China came second, with 7.5 billion USD, representing a market share of 19.3 percent. China spent mostly on Vietnam’s vegetables and fruits. Japan ranked third with 2.6 billion USD worth of products imported from Vietnam, accounting for 6.8 percent of the total./. Vietnamese, RoK SMEs look to beef up trade links A pitching day to promote trade connection between small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Vietnam and the Chungcheong region of the Republic of Korea (RoK) took place both in face-to-face and online forms in Daejeon city on November 16. Jointly held by the Taejon Broadcasting Corporation (TJB) and the Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ), the event attracted the participation of representatives from over 50 businesses in the region. Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung expressed his belief that the event will contribute to expanding trade promotion activities and economic cooperation between the business communities of the two countries. He emphasised that as one of the leading administrative - scientific - industrial centres in the RoK, the Chungcheong region gathers all favourable elements to pioneer in promoting trade and investment activities, and people-to-people exchange between the two countries. As the COVID-19 pandemic causes negative impacts on life, socio-economic situation, especially production and business activities of enterprises, the event is hoped to help connect and create market access opportunities for both Vietnamese and Chungcheong SMEs. At present, a large number of Vietnamese expats are living, studying and working in the RoK locality. Cooperation and twinning activities between Chungcheong and Vietnamese localities are very substantive. In recent times, Vietnam’s agricultural products, processed food, and consumer goods have been more and more consumed in Chungcheong. In 2019, the TJB also organised a similar event in the Chungnam region, which covers Chungcheongnam province, Daejeon and Sejong cities./. E-commerce business helps boost domestic market, export: Experts The national plan for e-commerce development in the 2021-2025 period aims to turn e-commerce into one of the pioneering area of the digital economy, helping enhance the competitiveness of businesses and promoting the growth of both domestic market and export, according to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan. Speaking at a seminar in Hanoi on November 17 on market development for e-commerce firms in the digital transformation era, Tan said that digital transformation will help Vietnamese businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises seek a more flexible business model, saving cost and optimise resources to overcome difficulties. Over the years, Vietnam has continuously recorded strong growth in the ratio of Internet users as well as the number of online shoppers, he said, noting that the value of online shopping through e-commerce platforms has risen sharply in the past five years. The figure increased from 5 billion USD in 2016 to over 10 billion USD in 2019 and 11.8 billion USD in 2020. Notably, from the beginning of the pandemic to mid-2021, Vietnam had seen additional 8 million digital technology consumers, 55 percent of whom were not from big cities. Furthermore, 99 percent of Vietnamese digital technology consumers said that they will continue to use online services in the future, showing the close ties between Vietnamese consumers and digital services and products. At the event, many experts said that Vietnam remains an attractive innovation centre when the global capital resources have continued to flow to the country. The value of trade and investment deals surged to a record 1.37 billion USD in the first half of 2021. They held that e-commerce market has become a popular business model of businesses, which has a strong spreading capacity in the community. Particularly, amid COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce has enabled businesses to make transactions with customers in a safe manner. They agreed that in the time to come, e-commerce will be a new shopping trend with impressive growth speed. This is a good chance for production businesses to serve their customers at anytime and anywhere, bringing better experience to consumers, they added./. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/SGGP/Nhan Dan |
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