Corporate bond market

M&A appetite robust in textile and garment sector

April 21, 2021 by www.vir.com.vn

Short- and long-term weaknesses of painting the M&A target on select Vietnamese textile and garment producers

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, general secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, said that foreign investors are purchasing shares and making capital contributions into Vietnamese textile companies to capitalise on the global textile and garment market. Given the impact of COVID-19 and their long-standing weaknesses, several Vietnamese textile enterprises are struggling, setting them up as potential M&A targets.

At present, Vietnam is home to 7,000 textile and garment companies. Over 80 per cent of whom are small- and medium-sized enterprises limited by a lack of capital, technology, skilled workforce and good governance. Meanwhile, foreign-invested companies are equipped with modern technology, experts, strong financial capability, and have a stable market for their projects.

Meanwhile, Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the Vietnam High-Quality Goods Association said that Vietnamese textile and garment firms have yet to catch up with the digitalisation trend. Many are confused about digital marketing and online sale. Due to their small scale, local firms cannot fulfil large orders. They remain weak in design and branding, making it difficult to increase added value and raise the competitiveness in the market.

She expected that the participation of strategic investors via M&A will help Vietnamese firms address the challenges and scale up in the future.

E-Land, Korea’s first and largest integrated fashion and retail company, has been a strategic partner of Thanh Cong Textile Garment Investment Trading JSC for over the past 10 years by holding a 30 per cent stake at the local firm.

E-Land has steadily increased its ownership to 43.26 per cent to become the largest foreign strategic investor in Thanh Cong Textile, making significant contributions to improving corporate restructuring and governance. Thanh Cong Textile has seen its after-tax profit growing six-fold since E-Land’s investment.

In 2018, Japanese trading house Itochu has increased its stakes in Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) to nearly 15 per cent by investing $46.9 million with an aim to turn the country into a textile export hub for Europe. Itochu is now the second-largest stakeholder in Vinatex after the Vietnamese government.

Itochu exports a little over ¥60 billion ($553 million) worth of apparel from Vietnam a year, half of which is produced by Vinatex. The company aims to raise outsourced production and exports to ¥100 billion ($922 million) by 2021.

The outlook for Vietnam’s textile and garment exports is brighter in 2021 as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has taken effect. There is also a higher demand for “Made in Vietnam” fabrics as big brands are increasingly sourcing fabrics from Vietnam than China. The fabric prices are steadily increasing this year, improving the profit margins of local firms.

In the past two years, there have not been so many M&A deals in the textile and garment industry. The majority of buyers scooped up around 10-15 per cent stake in Vietnamese companies as an investment rather than holding a controlling stake.

By Thanh Van

Land clearance compensation for Long Thanh airport project to finish in late June

April 20, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

A route in the Loc An-Binh Son resettlement area serving the Long Thanh airport project.

Dong Nai (VNA) – The southern province of Dong Nai has planned to complete ground clearance compensation and resettlement support for households affected by the construction of Long Thanh International Airport by the end of June, according to Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Cao Tien Dung.

All the 5,000 hectares of land, including more than 3,000 hectares owned by more than 5,500 households in the locality, will be handed over to the project’s investor in late June, Dung said.

At a working session with representatives of the provincial People’s Committee on April 19, Deputy General Director of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) Do Tat Binh said in early April, relevant units began building barriers and removing bombs and mines at the site. These works are scheduled to be completed in September 2021 and January 2022, respectively.

In the first quarter of 2022, ACV will start the construction of terminals at Long Thanh airport, while the construction of connection transport systems and infrastructure works will begin in the fourth quarter of the year.

Other items such as runway, taxiway, parking areas, intra-port traffic system, technical infrastructure, and other auxiliary works will be commenced in 2022.

The first phase of the project is scheduled to finish and put into operation by the fourth quarter of 2025.

Addressing the working session, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan praised local efforts in site clearance and building of resettlement areas serving the project, saying that the on-time land handover is an important premise for the investor to complete the project on schedule.

He asked ACV to closely coordinate with the provincial authorities in site clearance compensation and resettlement support .

Meanwhile, the local authorities were requested to take measures to accelerate the disbursement of investment for the project./.

VNA

2021 National Tourism Year launched in Ninh Binh

April 21, 2021 by vov.vn

As part of his opening address at the function, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam noted that this year’s ceremony is being held at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage many countries worldwide, with tourism being one of the hardest-hit sectors.

According to the Deputy PM, due to the swift response and drastic measures put in place during the initial phases of the pandemic, Vietnam has been able to successfully control numerous COVID-19 outbreaks, making it easier for several economic sectors to recover, including the local tourism sector.

“When Vietnam is yet to open its doors to international travelers, this is a good opportunity for visitors to discover more about the natural beauty and cultural tradition of the country, fostering love for the homeland and national pride,” said Deputy PM Dam.

He therefore requested that State agencies and tourism service providers work to perfect their policies and design fresh products aimed at welcoming back international travelers when the international tourism market reopens.

It remains imperative to support coronavirus hit travel firms, deploy digital transformation in tourism, develop a safe, friendly, and cultural tourism environment, alongside preserving the unique traditional values of the nation, he stressed.

At the opening ceremony, delegates, tourists, and local people enjoyed a special art programme which was performed by more than 500 artists, models, and people. Following the conclusion of the art show a high-altitude fireworks display was also put on.

The northern province of Ninh Binh has been selected to host this year’s national tourism year, as it is home to the UNESCO-recognised Trang An tourism complex, the imperial city of Hoa Lu, Bai Dinh pagoda, Cuc Phuong National Park, Phat Diem Church, and various other tourist destinations.

Ninh Binh has made numerous breakthroughs in tourism development over the years, making it one of the leading travel destinations nationwide.

E-commerce grows steadily despite Covid-19

April 21, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

E-commerce grows steadily despite Covid-19

By Van Ly

E-commerce has grown sturdily amid the Covid-19 pandemic – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – Although the Covid-19 pandemic led to the downturn of most sectors, e-commerce grew steadily in Vietnam last year and would maintain its solid growth momentum this year, according to the E-Business Index 2021 Report of the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom).

The E-business Index was based on three criteria comprising human resources and infrastructure in information technology, e-commerce transactions between businesses and consumers, and e-commerce transactions among businesses.

Data of Vecom showed that Vietnam’s e-commerce market grew 15% last year to some US$13.2 billion. Of this, online retail grew 46%, ride-hailing and food delivery rose 34% and online marketing and games rose 18%.

Online marketing revenues increased to US$820 million in 2020 from US$329 million in 2015 and US$716 million in 2019. Online marketing revenues are expected to reach nearly US$1 billion in 2021.

Online transactions by domestic payment cards through the National Payment Corporation in 2020 rose 185% in volume and 200% in value compared with 2019.

Momo, the biggest e-wallet in the country, recorded 403 million transactions worth some US$14 billion last year, a 3.5-fold increase in both volume and value compared with 2019. The number of new users in 2020 reached 23 million, nearly doubling that of the previous year.

HCMC still led the E-business Index with 67.6 points, followed by Hanoi with 55.7 points. Danang trailed far behind in third place with 19 points.

Binh Duong Province ranked fourth, while Dong Nai Province climbed two notches from last year to the fifth place this year. Haiphong City moved down to sixth place from third last year.

Most of the provinces with the weakest growth of e-commerce are located in the North or the Mekong Delta.

A representative of Vecom said the e-commerce development gap between HCMC, Hanoi and other cities and provinces remained very large. The two biggest cities accounted for half of the country’s total business-to-customer e-commerce transaction value.

According to Vecom, businesses in Vietnam have become more dynamic and gradually adapted to e-commerce. The growing number of online consumers has resulted in growth in many e-commerce industries such as ride-hailing, food delivery, online payments, online training and online marketing.

The E-Business Index 2021 Report was released by Vecom within the framework of the Vietnam Online Business Forum on April 20.

Complete security screening at HCMC airport in 45 seconds: deputy minister

April 21, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

Tuan issued this directive at a Tuesday meeting with Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and the airport’s management board in Ho Chi Minh City.

He said the agencies must prepare to cope with the influx of air passengers and take steps to avoid congestion in the security screening area.

“The airport’s security area must increase its maximum capacity and mobilize more employees to serve passengers to avoid overcrowding that recently happened in the area,” Tuan said.

The domestic terminal at the country’s largest airport has seen frequent overcrowding over the past week, forcing passengers to queue up for hours at the security screening area . Between April 14 and 19, the airport saw up to 80,000 passengers a day.

Tuan also asked the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) to check the number of hourly flights at major airports as the passenger congestion was also triggered by carriers accumulating or canceling flights.

Passengers’ medical declarations was another reason. Tuan agreed that security forces are not tasked with checking passengers’ medical declaration as has been done so far. Instead, this should be the responsibility of the airline staff.

Nguyen Duc Hung, deputy general director of ACV, explained that the recent overcrowding at Tan Son Nhat was related to the limited capacity in the security screening area.

In the A and B lobbies, the airport is equipped to handle over 3,300 passengers an hour. However, from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. last Saturday, the number of passengers waiting for security checks in the two lobbies was more than 5,100, exceeding the capacity by 25-35 percent.

Another factor in the recent overcrowding was a policy to random check 10 percent of passengers. Dinh Viet Thang, head of CAAV, said the random checks were meant as an additional security and safety measure.

To resolve the issue, ACV has been operating the security screening system to their maximum capacity and moved five security scanners from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. Airport authorities have also adjusted the number of flights during the peak hours to reduce congestion at the airport.

The Tan Son Nhat airport has been serving 36 million passengers a year since 2017, well above its capacity. Construction of a third terminal will begin this October.

With Vietnam having contained its latest Covid-19 outbreak, domestic air travel has returned to normal. The latest outbreak occurred in late January, just a few weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday, forcing many people to cancel travel plans.

Malaysia focuses on drone development

April 21, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Malaysia is strengthening talent development in the drone industry via the Centre of 9 Pillars (Co9P). (Photo: Bernama)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Malaysia n Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) has partnered with SG Akademi Sdn Bhd (SGA) to strengthen talent development in the drone industry via the Centre of 9 Pillars (Co9P).

The Co9P houses I4.0 partners and relevant ecosystem companies and facilitate networks to collaboratively develop local I4.0 technologies, services and solutions.

MTDC chief executive officer Datuk Norhalim Yunus told the media after the signing of the MoU on the cooperation on April 20 that the partnership will see both parties identifying more participants for training, workshops, and seminars to be trained in Drone and IoT.

During the MoU signing event, both MTDC and SGA presented a sponsorship of 100,000 ringgit (24.300 USD) to strengthen talent development in the drone industry.

The MoU covers collaboration in the areas of capacity-building, training, technology development, and other specific activities such as providing technological services related to Industry 4.0 (I4.0), with specialities in drone technology and Internet of Things (IoT)./.

VNA