VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS APRIL 18   17:21 Fertiliser companies expect higher earnings ahead Fertiliser companies reported profit up by 5-10 times in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2021, mainly thanks to the strong increase in average selling prices. Duc Giang Chemicals Group (DGC) achieved profit of VND1.5 trillion (US$65.5 million) in Q1 this year, 7.1 per cent higher than the figure of VND1.4 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021 and more than 5 times higher than the same period last year, at VND292 billion. According to estimates by SSI Research, this year, DGC's revenue will increase by 22 per cent and profit by 25 per cent. Last year, DGC's profit spiked by 352 per cent. On the market, DGC shares have increased 53 per cent since early this year. Petro Viet Nam Ca Mau Fertiliser JSC (DCM) and Phu My Fertiliser (DPM) have not announced business results for the first quarter of 2022, but according to SSI Research's estimates, in the first quarter of this year, DCM's pre-tax profit will reach VND1 trillion, up 6.6 per cent and Phu My Fertiliser's profit will reach VND1.8 trillion, up 10 times over the same period last year, mainly thanks to the strong increase in average fertiliser selling prices. Industrial equipment shipped to Malaysia The shipment of nine modules for the oil and gas pipeline system at the methanol plant of the Sarawak Petrochemical Refinery has left Republic of Korea’s heavy industries Doosan Vietnam (Doosan Vina)’s port for installation at the Sarawak Refinery located in the coastal Bintulu City, Malaysia. Doosan Vina said it’s the first cargo of the Sarawak project under the contract signed with Samsung Engineering Company last June for the fabrication and supplying of nearly 10,000 tonnes of equipment, including steel structures, pipes and racks of the power system that are formed into 34 modules for the methanol plant of the Sarawak Petrochemical Refinery complex. The Quang Ngai-based heavy industries producer said the Sarawak methanol project was the third order from Samsung Engineering company since both sides signed a cooperation agreement in 2018. Bac Ninh to develop 270-ha IT park An IT park covering an area of about 274 hectares will be built in the northern province of Bac Ninh, according to a decision by the provincial People’s Committee. The decision was recently made to approve the development of the park’s planning. The IT park is to have about 20,000 labourers and experts. According to the Bac Ninh People’s Committee, the planning will set the scene for the establishment of an IT hub in the province and the development of infrastructure for IT application and R&D activities, and accelerate the growth of the IT industry. A centre for R&D activities in the field is also expected to be set up to provide professional training, facilitate technology transfer, and offer support for IT startups. Ninh Thuan developing modern marine economy The central southern province of Ninh Thuan has been focusing on developing its marine economy in a comprehensive, sustainable, and modern manner. To improve the efficiency of offshore fishing, Ninh Thuan has been actively supporting fishermen to build or convert large-capacity boats to head offshore. In coastal Thanh Hai commune in Ninh Hai district, Dao Nhat Dinh is among fishermen to have accessed loans to build fishing boats under a decree from the Government. Thanks to the preferential loan, his vessel is equipped with modern equipment to conduct offshore fishing at higher economic efficiency. Ninh Thuan has targeted catching 119,500 tons of seafood this year, of which offshore fishing is to account for about 70 percent. Along with fishing, the province has also focused on activities to protect marine resources in a sustainable manner. Ninh Thuan province currently has 2,236 fishing vessels, of which 778 with a hull length of 15 meters or more can conduct offshore fishing. The province has targeted catching 119,500 tons of seafood this year, of which offshore fishing is to account for about 70 percent. Import-export turnover through HCM City ports rises 15% The total import - export turnover of goods through Ho Chi Minh City’s ports reached US$35.3 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 14.9% over the same period in 2021. Statistics from the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department show that the export turnover alone hit US$19.4, up 8.4% year on year. Notably, seafood products raked in US$0.99 billion, up 90.4%, rice fetched US$0.56 billion, up 16.7%, and textiles and garments brought back US$1.33 billion, up 54.7%. Computers, equipment and accessories topped export items in value, registering US$4.73 billion, up 15.1%. Meanwhile, businesses spent US$1.28 billion on importing petroleum products in the first quarter, a year-on-year rise of 64.1%, US$2.06 billion on machinery and equipment, up 30.4%, US$0.78 billion on iron and steel, up 36.8%, US$5.18 billion on computers and accessories, up 35.7%. Overall, businesses imported US$19.43 billion worth of goods through Ho Chi Minh City’s ports in the past three months. Taiwan increases tea imports from Vietnamese market The first two months of this year, Taiwan (China) imported the highest volume of tea from Vietnam, with 2,000 tonnes, worth US$3 million, up 3.5% in volume and 0.9% in value over the same period from last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). The Import-Export Department under the MoIT cited data from the Taiwan Customs Administration as saying that tea imports into the Taiwanese market throughout the reviewed period reached 419,000 tons, worth US$12.56 million. The average price of imported tea from Vietnam stood at roughly US$1,519 per ton. Tea imports from Vietnam accounted for 47.7% of total tea imports of the Taiwanese market, a rise of 5 percentage points on-year. Black tea and green tea are the two main types imported into the Taiwanese market. Vietnam, Sri Lanka and India are currently the three largest black tea suppliers to Taiwan. The opening two months of 2022 saw the Taiwanese market increase black tea imports from Vietnam, and reduce imports from Sri Lanka and India. The Taiwanese market imports green tea primarily from Vietnam and Japan. In which, the average import price of green tea from Vietnam is low priced at around US$1,639 per tonne, while that from Japan is high at US$11,719.4 per tonne. Cooperation with African markets could boost fashion industry Although there had been significant growth in recent years, the trade relationship between Viet Nam and Africa had not been commensurate with its prospects, especially in the fashion industry, said Le Hoang Tai, deputy director of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade). He noted that not many African businesses and consumers knew about Vietnamese fashion products. The agency co-operated with Vietnamese trade offices in African countries to organise the 2022 Viet Nam - Africa business matching webinar on fashion products last week. This was an activity to implement the National Programme on Trade Promotion this year to support Vietnamese enterprises in the production and trading of fashion products to promote advertising, seek partners, connect business opportunities and export to African markets. The event attracted 50 Vietnamese and African businesses manufacturing and trading in fashion to attend. Hai Phong seeks more investment from RoK An investment promotion conference with businesses of the Republic of Korea (RoK) was held in the northern port city of Hai Phong. The hybrid event, held by the Management Board of Hai Phong Economic Zone and Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, drew 150 South Korean investors and enterprises. Le Trung Kien, head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority (HEZA), said Hai Phong would welcome Korean investors to invest in the fields of electronics, high technology, supporting industry, and renewable energy in which South Korean businesses boast strengths. The city has 12 industrial parks, of which eight are located in the Dinh Vu – Cat Hai economic zone. In the 2021-25 period, it plans to build 15 new industrial zones with a total area of over 6,200 hectares. As of March 31, Hai Phong economic and industrial parks have attracted 102 projects invested by businesses from the RoK with a total investment of US$8.5 billion, accounting for 36.6 per cent of the total foreign investment capital of the city. Park Jae Hong, Deputy General Director of LG Display Vietnam Hai Phong Co Ltd said Hai Phong was a locality with many advantages in investment attraction, especially administrative reform, adding that the HEZA always stood side by side with investors and supported them during the implementation of their projects. On the occasion, the HEZA granted an investment certificate to Halla Electronics Vina Co Ltd which will pour $30 million in additional investment capital into a project at Trang Due Industrial Park in An Duong District. HCM City should allow public access to detailed land data HCM City should consider offering the public greater access to detailed land information such as long-term urban plans, which are not easily available now, experts have said. At a conference between the administration and information and communication businesses, Lam Nguyen Hai Long, chairman of the HCM City Computer Association, said the city should allow non-state entities to utilise data just like State authorities. They could be asked to pay for the data, he said. Urban construction works should submit their "digital profile” to relevant authorities well before they are completed so that the city could update its database quickly without having to digitise it themselves, he said. This would allow the data to be utilised promptly. Ngo Dien Hy, deputy general director of the Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunication Group, said, “Land information systems are being kept separately, but they should be incorporated into a shared database with detailed data on land planning and prices. Neighbouring countries such as Singapore allow the public to pay and access land data online as a public service, he said. Lam Dinh Thang, director of the Department of Information and Communication, said the city planned to develop an easily accessible open data source. People’s Committee chairman Phan Van Mai said the city’s digital transformation needed to ensure drastic development for the city as well as the country. Market likely to recover this week on bottom-fishing The Vietnamese stock market recorded a turbulent week with the VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) finishing the last trading session at 1,458.56 points, down 0.92 per cent. For the week, it lost 1.58 per cent, marking its second straight weekly loss. On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index closed last week at 416.71 points with a decline of 1.65 per cent. It posted the third straight weekly loss, down 3.54 per cent for the week. The market was closed on Monday. Trading value on HOSE decreased by 35.4 per cent compared to the previous week to VND83.5 trillion (US$3.65 billion), equal to a trading volume of nearly 2.54 billion shares, down 36.3 per cent. Similarly, the trading value on the northern bourse also posted a fall of 41 per cent to nearly VND9.2 trillion, equivalent to a trading volume of 314 million shares. According to Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS), the trading volume of the whole market in the last 12 weeks was below the average of the last 20 weeks. Analysts of Viet Dragon Securities Corporation (VDSC) said that the market failed to recover and continued in a cautious mode. However, the cash flow rose after some bargain hunting at the end of the last trading session, reflected in increased liquidity compared to the previous session and quite high liquidity near the end of the session. Although the market ended near the session low, it also retreated to near the support zone of 1,450 points for the VN-Index and of 1,480 points for the VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on HoSE. Meanwhile, SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) said that the extended loss of 0.92 per cent of the VN-Index in the last session, along with a strong increase in trading volume of 28 per cent, showed that selling pressure had increased significantly. However, the market benchmark is currently near the psychological support of 1,450 points and the strong support zone of 1,435 - 1,425 points. Therefore, the index is likely to recover after retreating to near support zones, according to SSI. On the other hand, SHS said that the trading week was quite negative as the VN-Index fell for the second week in a row. Although it only traded for four sessions, the average liquidity of each session went down, showing the hesitance of the cash flow at the moment. If bottom-fishing demand is good enough, reflected in improved liquidity, the VN-Index is likely to recover, according to SHS. Last week, bank stocks posted the largest loss, down 3.8 per cent in market capitalisation, followed by gas and oil stocks with a drop of 3.5 per cent. ACV and Fukuoka sign sister airport agreement Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), and Japan’s Fukuoka International Airport Co., Ltd (FIAC) on April 13 signed a sister airport agreement. The agreement is a premise for the resumption of Vietnam-Japan flights while expanding the flight network and promoting tourism activities between the two countries. Under the agreement, ACV and FIAC will intensify the exchange of experience and cooperation and promote an international flight network from and to airports under ACV and FIAC, thus contributing to the development of trade, tourism, and investment between cities and provinces. Over the past years, ACV has expanded cooperation with many airport operators in the world to expand its international flight network, as well as share management and operation experience to increase their service quality. At present, ACV has a relationship with Airports of Laos, Airports of Thailand, Narita International Airport Corporation, Incheon International Airport Corporation, and the Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG of Germany. Quickening site clearance for Long Thanh International Airport in April A working group led by Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan on April 13 visited Long Thanh International Airport located in the southern province of Dong Nai to examine the site clearance and its construction schedule. Currently, the total cleared land for the project stands at 83.36 per cent. The site clearance process remains slow compared to the target of completion set for April 20 earlier. Tuan said that the rainy season will come in one month and affect the construction. Thus, contractors should quicken the construction. "We expect Dong Nai People’s Committee and local authorities to quicken the site clearance for the first phase of the project within this month," he said. Long Thanh International Airport, which is expected to cost about $14.5 billion, will be built in three phases over three decades. In the first phase, one runway with a length of 4,000m, taxiways, an apron, and a passenger terminal with other auxiliary works sprawling 373,000 square metres will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo each year. Deputy minister stops PPP model for Hoa Binh-Moc Chau Expressway Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh on April 14 signed Decision No.465/QD-TTg on ceasing the public-private partnership (PPP) model for the development of Hoa Binh-Moc Chau Expressway. The DPM assigned the provincial people’s committees of Son La and Hoa Binh to work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Transport, and relevant agencies on studying an appropriate investment model, with public investment being included to continue the construction. The expressway project had its investment plan approved by the prime minister in May 2019, in a PPP model, aiming to meet the travel demand of the region and serve economic development. The project of 85 km length was met with a number of challenges during the construction, related to total investment, contracts, local project management capacity, and lack of attraction of investors and credit institutions, among others. Facing these challenges, Son La People’s Committee submitted to the prime minister the proposal to stop the PPP model for the project and use state funding for its construction instead. First-quarter investment disbursement in transport sector misses expectations The transport sector’s disbursement of public investment in the first quarter of 2022 was yet to meet the expectations, according to Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The. The minister stated at the meeting on April 13 to review the first quarter performance and set tasks for the second quarter. He asked leaders of project management boards to adjust their management and operation to fast-track their constructions, thus increasing public investment disbursement. According to the Ministry of Transport (MoT), one of the key tasks in April and the second quarter is to coordinate with central and local agencies to complete documents and submit them to the National Assembly for consideration in the investment plans of three national key projects, namely Khanh Hoa-Buon Ma Thuot, Bien Hoa-Vung Tau, and Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang expressways. Meanwhile, the MoT’s Department of Planning and Investment needs to perfect the master plan on aviation infrastructure and airport development in the 2021-2030 period for submission to the prime minister for approval. The other main task is to quicken the construction of the North-South Expressway while boosting public investment disbursement of underway projects. Besides this, the MoT will report to the prime minister on the deployment of the electronic toll collection system and deal with problems relating to build-operate-transfer projects. Under the public investment allocation plan from 2021 to 2025, the MoT will develop 64 new projects. In the first quarter, the ministry kicked off three projects and finished the construction of two. Dong Nai, BR-VT want to build ring road simultaneously Dong Nai Province and neighboring Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province have committed to building a ring road simultaneously to improve connectivity, Tuoi Tre newspaper reports. Chairman Cao Tien Dung of Dong Nai and Chairman Nguyen Van Tho of Ba Ria-Vung Tau yesterday, April 17, met to thrash out measures for implementing the 200-km Ring Road 4 project that links these two provinces with three other neighboring provinces: HCMC, Binh Duong and Long An. Ring Road 4 will have a total length of nearly 200 km, with 45 km in Dong Nai and 18 km in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The road will start at the planned Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway in Phu My Commune of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and end at Hiep Phuoc Port in HCMC. The project, which was approved by the Government in September 2011, would facilitate transportation and fuel growth in the localities it passes through, especially Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and HCMC where there are a lot of ports and industrial parks. An estimated VND7 trillion would be need to fund the project. New products launched in Da Nang to recover tourism post-pandemic The central coast city of Da Nang plans a variety of new tourism activities and events to boost travel demand and revive the smoke-free industry which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The district of Ngu Hanh Son will launch the An Thuong Tourist Streets connecting night-time beach activities at My An Beach at 6:30pm on April 28, said Ta Tu Binh, Vice Chairman of the district’s People’s Committee. The district will also host a street carnival to welcome the Visit Vietnam Year 2022 and plentiful promotional deals and discounts will be offered to tourists during the “Happy Hours” programme, he noted. Ngu Hanh Son will develop new products at the An Thuong Tourist Streets toward creating a highlight to attract both domestic and foreign visitors, he added. Van Phong set to be transformed into dynamic economic hub Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh has approved a master plan to develop the Van Phong economic zone in the southcentral province of Khanh Hoa into a dynamic economic hub moving forward to 2040, with a vision towards 2050. Under the master plan, the Van Phong dynamic economic hub will feature a range of new and high-level industries, a smart and sustainable urban area, as well as an international maritime tourism and service centre in the future. It will serve as the driving force for economic development for both the southcentral and the central highlands regions in the fields of marine economy, high-tech industry, science and technology, human resource training, and high-quality health care. The plan will also focus on developing the Van Phong economic zone through an environmentally-friendly model, effectively fully tapping into the region’s potential, thereby attracting greater foreign investment, and adopting advanced management methods as a means of giving fresh impetus for development in the southcentral and the central highlands localities. Vietnam’s economic growth driven by good recovery of sectors: WB Vietnam’s economic growth in the first quarter of 2022 was consolidated thanks to the solid performance of export-oriented manufacturing and recovering service sector, according to the Vietnam Macro Monitoring report recently released by World Bank. The country’s GDP grew by 5.0 percent year-on-year in Q1-2022, comparable to the growth rate in Q4-2021, yet still two percentage points below pre-pandemic rates. Industry and construction and services sectors grew 6.4 percent year-on-year and 4.6 percent year-on-year, respectively, contributing 4.3 percentage points to quarterly GDP growth. Growth of industry and construction was driven by strong external demand for manufactured products, while services sector performance varied across sub-sector. Finance, banking and insurance, and information and telecommunications have been exceptionally resilient over the past two years and maintained solid growth. On the other hand, accommodation and catering services were 1.8 percent lower than a year ago, and well below their pre-pandemic level, the report pointed out. Industrial production index grew by 8.5 percent year-on-year in March, comparable to pre-pandemic rates, while retail sales growth accelerated from 4.1 percent in February to 9.4 percent, the second-highest growth rate since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This rebound is partly due to the post-pandemic resumption of economic activities and was driven by a 10.7 percent growth in the sales of goods. The merchandise trade balance posted a surplus of 1.4 billion USD in March, while registered and disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) remained stable amid global uncertainties related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 2.4 percent in March, compared to 1.4 percent in February. This is the highest inflation rate in seven months but remains well below the 4.0 percent target. According to the World Bank, rising consumer and producer prices warrant close monitoring of domestic price developments as rising inflation would affect the recovery of domestic consumption and economic growth. While CPI increases have been subdued in 2021 due partly to slack in aggregate demand, accumulated increases in intermediate and producer price index in the last three quarters could impact production decisions and translate into higher consumer prices, especially food prices. Vietnam pushes for cashless payment in post-pandemic period In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shopping habits of Vietnamese consumers have changed remarkably, with more and more adopting cashless payment, a significant step toward a cashless society. Today instead of cash, consumers are turning to more practical methods such as chip-mounted bank cards, QR code payment, electronic wallets and mobile banking apps. According to Le Van Tuyen, deputy head of payment at the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), payment activities of people and organisations, especially young people have reached the global technological standards. Electronic payment methods combined with advanced encryption and authentication solutions are making them increasingly safe and secure. Notably, recent years have seen a strong push for electronic payment in the government’s delivery of public services, in which one of the important solutions was the launch of the National Public Service Portal in 2019. Many public services are now available on the portal, providing convenience and swiftness for people. According to the Deputy Director of Napas, which links payment systems in Vietnam, the company has completed connecting the payment infrastructure with 48 localities and 15 government agencies to provide online payment services for five groups of public services on the portal. To promote cashless payment in Vietnam, the SBV has taken various measures, one of which is finetuning the legal framework, mechanism and policy. Under the central bank’s digital transformation plan, Vietnam aims to develop the model of digital banks to increase service offerings, enhance customer experience and realise the goals of financial inclusion. To encourage customers to engage in more cashless payment activities, it is also necessary to focus on risk management. The standards of Vietnamese banks are now similar to international standards, so the task of risk prevention and security must come first to ensure the rapid and sustainable development of the payment market. Banks must meet global security standards and strictly comply with international regulations, especially in preventing card forgery when international travel rebounds following Vietnam’s full opening. Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes