Cnbc business news

Vietnamese textile industry sees huge export opportunities

March 8, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

A production line at the The Ky Yarn Joint Stock Company (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNS/VNA) – The textile and apparel industry , which managed to survive three waves of COVID-19 thanks to its decision to produce face masks and personal protective equipment, will focus on sportswear and yarn, according to the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group .

Le Tien Truong, its general director, said demand for face masks and personal protective equipment will shrink rapidly.

Armed with their experience of coping with the pandemic, many textile and footwear enterprises are quietly confident of altering plans when required and finding new markets to cope with new situation after COVID-19 is under control.

Sportswear has arguably been the most successful segment during the pandemic as awareness of physical exercise rose.

According to Euromonitor International, in 2020 the demand for sportswear world-wide decreased only about 8 percent, the lowest in an industry which saw an overall decline of 16 percent.

The compounded annual growth rate for the sportswear market in the last five years was 6.5 percent, 1.5 times the industry average, and it is expected to be worth 479 billion USD globally by 2025.

The Thanh Cong Textile Garment Investment Trading JSC is considered one of the most successful businesses in 2020 thanks to seizing opportunities to export COVID-19 related apparel products such as fabric masks and PPE.

But Tran Nhu Tung, its deputy general director, said the demand for cloth masks and protective gear is returning to pre-COVID levels with the advent of vaccines. This year his company has stopped taking orders for medical protective gear and antibacterial masks.

It is focusing on traditional products such as T-shirts and sportswear, demand for which would continue to increase, and there are already enough orders for sportswear for the first 6 months of the year, he said.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, many businesses now have orders for until the end of April, mainly for sportswear.

Dang Trieu Hoa, general director of the The Ky Yarn Joint Stock Company, said his company plans to focus on yarns with high quality and competitive prices.

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) that took effect on August 1 last year has reduced tariffs on Vietnam’s garment exports by more than 70 percentage points.

The footwear and textile sectors also benefit significantly from tariff cuts, according to Bao Viet Securities Joint Stock Company.

With most other countries that export textile and garment to the EU not having a trade deal with the bloc, the EVFTA has opened up a great opportunity for Vietnam’s footwear, textile and garment exports if companies meet origin requirements, it added./.

VNA

Vietnam sees uptick in women’s empowerment

March 8, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

Vietnam sees uptick in women’s empowerment

By Thuan An

A representative of the HCMC Association of Women Entrepreneurs joins a charitable program. The number of women holding senior leadership positions in midmarket businesses in Vietnam has risen sharply over the past few years – PHOTO: HAWEE

HCMC – The number of women holding senior leadership positions in midmarket businesses in Vietnam has risen sharply over the past few years, making Vietnam one of the Asia-Pacific countries with the highest proportion of women in leadership roles.

Up to 60% of women hold positions of chief financial officers at Vietnamese firms, double the 2020 figure, taking Vietnam to the No. 1 spot in the region, according to Grant Thornton International’s annual Women in Business report.

The position of Human Resource Director ranked second with 59%, which was also a very common position in the rest of the region. Vietnam made significant strides in the number of women holding the position of chief executive officers with an increase from 7% in 2020 to 20% in 2021.

Vietnam exceeded the global average with 39% of women in senior roles and ranked No. 3 amongst the 29 countries surveyed, behind the Philippines and South Africa, an increase of 6% over 2020. Vietnam’s position was on par with Brazil and India and it ranked second in the Asia Pacific region.

The report also indicated that the number of women holding senior leadership positions in midmarket businesses globally had hit 31% despite the coronavirus pandemic affecting economies around the world. Seeing the proportion of women leaders rise to 31% is encouraging, given that the global figure remained at 29% for the previous two years (2019 and 2020).

The proportion of female CEOs rose from six percentage points to 26%, while the proportion of female CFOs also upped six percentage points to 36%.

While the number of women in leadership roles has grown, questions remain over the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women, particularly working mothers.

Data from the United Nations showed that before the pandemic, women did three times as much unpaid housework as men. Besides this, mounting evidence indicates that Covid-19 is increasing this disparity, as well as adding the extra responsibilities of childcare and home schooling while schools are closed.

Meanwhile, as for the ecommerce sector, the survey by iPrice Group showed that Vietnam had taken the lead in Southeast Asia by the proportion of women in manager-level positions at 46%, up from 37% in 2018. Thailand and the Philippines came second and third, with the respective proportions of 44% and 39%.

HCM City continues closure of discos, bars, karaoke parlors

March 8, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Discos, bars, karaoke parlors in HCM City will continue to be closed (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City will continue the closure of discos , bars , karaoke parlors to ensure safety amid COVID-19 pandemic, while other service business types will be resumed from March 9.

Under a dispatch issued by the Chairman of the city People’s Committee on March 8, the city leader asked heads of departments, sectors and agencies to localities to continue strictly implementing directions of the Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control as well as the Health Ministry and the city in pandemic prevention and control measures, including the “5K message”.

Locals are advised to strengthen COVID-19 prevention and control measures, especially in wearing facemask in public places, washing hands, and keeping safe distance.

The city leader asked the Department of Information and Communications to strengthen communications on measures to prevent the spreading of COVID-19, especially the “5K message” – khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering) and khai bao y te (health declaration).

So far, HCM City has seen 210 COVID-19 infections, including 68 domestically-transmitted cases. The city has spent 26 days without any new infections./.

VNA

Central Party Committee discusses whole-term working agenda, personnel work

March 8, 2021 by en.nhandan.org.vn

In the morning, members of the committee discussed in groups the working agenda of the committee throughout the 13th tenure after listening to a proposal on the agenda, which was presented by Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Vo Van Thuong.

In the afternoon, they attended a plenary session to listen to the Politburo’s proposal on the completion of the nomination of candidates for a number of leadership positions in State agencies in the 14th tenure of the 2016-2021 term and the 15th tenure of the 2021-2026 term.

The plenum of the Party Central Committee is scheduled to conclude on March 9.

Vietnam provided with US$86.3 million to boost energy efficiency investments

March 8, 2021 by en.nhandan.org.vn

The total support from GCF also includes a US$75 million guarantee. US$8.3 million from the grant will be used to build capacity in the private sector to identify, appraise and execute energy efficiency projects.

It will also provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the relevant authorities to further strengthen policy frameworks and regulations and create a helpful environment aimed at accelerating the energy efficiency market in Vietnam.

The remaining grant funds and guarantee will be used to establish a risk-share facility to provide partial credit guarantees to local banks who may risk potential default on loans for energy efficienct projects.

By reducing lending risks, the facility is expected to mobilize around US$250 million of commercial financing, to be provided to industrial enterprises and energy service companies at competitive terms and with low collateral requirements.

Scaling up energy efficiency is the single best and lowest cost option to achieve multiple goals at once: meeting energy demand, preventing pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also increasing industry competitiveness, Carolyn Turk, Country Director for Vietnam said.

In a context of limited public financing for energy, the risk-share facility is an innovative financial instrument in private sector investment financing for a greater uptake of industry-wide energy efficiency measures, she added.

The grant and guarantee are to be executed under the Vietnam Scaling up Energy Efficiency Project which aims to support Vietnam in achieving the energy efficiency targets set out in the Green Growth Strategy as well as emission reduction objectives pledged under the National Determined Contributions.

The World Bank’s Low Carbon Study estimates that Vietnam could save up to 11 GW of new generation capacity by 2030 if comprehensive demand-side energy efficiency investment takes place. The energy efficiency investment need for key industries in Vietnam has been estimated at around US$3.6 billion.