Digital healthcare

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said the Covid-19 pandemic poses a great challenge ad many activities have been delayed. But challenges come with opportunities. The Covid-19 pandemic helps us to rethink about many things. It is a breaking point in development. Many values and habits will change.

The Covid-19 pandemic reminds us that the world is more fragile than we think. Whenever humanity is too confident in themselves, that is the time of problems.

Globalization, cross-border flows of people, capital, goods and data have also brought a free flow of epidemics and crimes.

Only when a crisis occurs do we see the shortcomings of states and institutions. When things are going well, the worst case must still be taken into account.

Recent crises are often dual crises, not but also triple or more. Dual crises is the nature of a world in which everything is connected.

The world has more experience in dealing with economic crises than health crises. Non-traditional crises are more likely to occur, and often globally. That will be the great challenge for humanity.

Opportunities rise

Bluezone application helps identify suspected Covid-19 cases.

The Covid-19 pandemic offers the opportunity to accelerate digital transformation across the entire nation: the economy, the society; the state, the enterprises; the whole community, the entire people.

Vietnam has a comparative advantage in digital transformation. Vietnam has the advantage of having many strong telecommunications and IT enterprises, and this is the time to bring into full play the advantage to change the country’s rankings. Vietnam can take this opportunity to invest heavily in digital transformation and develop digital technology enterprises.

This is also an opportunity for developing the domestic market of 100 million people is the market, the largest resource in Vietnam. It is only during the pandemic that this value becomes apparent. Vietnamese businesses must consider the domestic market as the cradle to grow, mature and go global. It is also the time for the State is to pay attention to developing the domestic market, as a long-term plan.

Opportunities to build a self-reliant

“Make in Vietnam” economy. When the country has an emergency, it can only see the meaning of a self-reliant economy. Despite globalization and the opening, isolation must still be taken into account. Isolation without self-reliance means a higher risk.

This is a good opportunity to invest in healthcare, increase the use of technology in healthcare, remote medical examination and treatment, promote domestic production of medical equipment, to fight epidemics and create long-term capacity for the healthcare sector.

This is an opportunity to decide on issues that have been discussed but not yet decided, because when it is difficult, it is easier to make a decision. The State and enterprises can also take advantage of this opportunity to promote digital transformation, decide to apply new governance models, new business models, expand space, and create new products and services, based on new technology.

The Covid-19 pandemic also offers an opportunity to shift investment globally to disperse risks. Vietnam could be a destination for that shift. After 30 years of attracting foreign investment (FDI), we have had a new generation of FDI, which is conditional FDI, attracting high technology, large technology corporations, focusing on research and development.

In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic has aroused the core cultural values of Vietnam, the preeminent of the regime. And this is the strength for Vietnam to make breakthroughs. Countries develop based on spiritual and cultural strength. And this is also the lasting difference for Vietnam to compete for development.

Another opportunity from the Covid-19 pandemic is the effective and successful fight against epidemics in Asia, marking the rise of Asia. Asian values, from regime, institution to culture, will be affirmed after the pandemic, as the beginning of the Eastern era, which will create a new foothold for Vietnam. The world will look east more. This is an opportunity for us to stand shoulder to shoulder with other countries and contribute to the development of mankind.

The two-handed model, a free market and a strong state, have been confirmed in the Covid-19 prevention. Vietnam is more confident in its model, a strong market and a strong state model, to go up strongly. Market oriented, rapid development, innovation must go with good governance, modern governance. Scattering has to go toward focus. We will move towards these directions.

Covid-19 also makes us rethink excessive material consumerism, devastation of nature, and the disregarding of spiritual life. Digital transformation urges reduction of material spending, increase of time spent in spiritual life, and this is also a strength of Asia, a strength of Vietnam. Digital transformation has a new mission.

“Home-based economy” trend

Youth Union members come to each family to help people install and use Bluezone application.

Some economists have introduced the concept “home-based economy”. Maybe this is not a really new concept. But the Covid-19 pandemic gives the “home-based economy” a new launch pad to truly come to life, even when the epidemic is over. Many economic activities in the past were still limited by the habits of the user, but Covid-19 has and will break those habits.

Although the home-based economy will not completely replace the traditional economy, if the home-based economy is fully utilized, it will help society operate more optimally and reduce stress on traffic and energy costs as well as save traveling time.

For example, if traditional education emphasizes the element of community, then the present period is an opportunity for digital education to manifest excellence. These are not just lectures delivered via online television, but with the latest technologies such as virtual reality, which make lessons more vivid.

In the field of healthcare, the Covid-19 epidemic has shown many advantages such as remote medical examination, which reduce pressure on hospitals and also reduce the possibility of cross-infection for patients.

From another perspective, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a crisis not only in terms of health, but also an economic crisis for a number of businesses. Then as a consequence, the unemployment rate will increase, there will be more people idle, so we also need to immediately think of a digital platform that helps these people quickly switch skills to rejoin into the labor market.

The Vietnamese digital technology business community should together provide many services on online platforms, from education, to healthcare, shopping, entertainment…

Usually, success often comes in the midst of crises. And this is a rare opportunity for digital technology businesses so that the lives that Covid-19 have taken and the effort that we are all making together against the epidemic will not be wasted.

VietNamNet

Vietnam launches its COVID-19 inoculation drive on March 8 morning, administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to medical workers in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and northern Hai Duong province – the country’s biggest pandemic hotspot at present.

The vaccination is conducted at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and two medical centres in Hai Duong.

As many as 100 staff members of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases are expected to receive the shots in the morning of March 8. The hospital is allocated 450 doses among the first batch of 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine the country has received.

In Hai Duong, 50 medical workers at Hai Duong city’s medical centre, and 30 others at Kim Thanh district’s medical centre will be the first in the province to be injected.

The Ministry of Health has allocated the vaccine to 13 localities, along with the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security and 21 hospitals during the first phase.

Among the localities, all having reported COVID-19 cases since the latest wave of outbreaks since January 27, the Hanoi Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is given 8,000 doses, Hai Duong CDC 32,000, and HCM City CDC 8,000.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security each receive 30,000 doses.

At a meeting on March 6, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long stressed the need to ensure equality in vaccine access as suggested by the WHO, UNICEF and COVAC.

The localities excluded in the first phase should continue to prepare for the inoculation, with training programmes, he said, adding that they would receive the vaccine after the next shipment arrives in Vietnam in March.

The ministry will roll out the vaccination in all COVID-19 treatment hospitals, prioritising those involved in frontline work, and those who participate in the pandemic combat in the community like contact tracers.

Vietnam plans to import about 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines./.

14th Red Spring Festival blood donation drive surpasses set target

The 14th Red Spring Festival, the largest blood donation drive in the country, collected more than 8,300 blood units during one week from March 1, announced the organising board on March 7.

The result is 60 percent higher than the initial target of over 5,000 units.

The drive, launched by the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT), together with the Hanoi Youth Association for Blood Donation and the Hanoi Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation, aimed to address blood shortage in hospitals after Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays.

This year, due to the impacts of COVID-19, the festival was held at four venues, including at the NIHBT, to create optimal conditions for donors and at the same time follow preventive measures.

The pandemic triggered a steep decline in the number of donors and blood supply for treatment and emergency, said Chairman of the Hanoi Youth Association for Blood Donation Trinh Xuan Thuy.

The organising board has made thorough preparations to welcome donors so as to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control, he added.

The festival, first launched in 2008, had collected in excess of 93,000 blood units in total, and become the annual biggest blood donation event./.

HCM City wants to set up district-wise construction management teams

HCM City has sought the Government’s approval to set up a team in each district to manage urban construction comprising inspectors and urban development officials.

According to a report by the city Department of Construction, there were some 15,000 instances of violation of construction regulations between 2014 and 2019, including more than 8,500 cases of unauthorised construction.

It is difficult to completely prevent unlicensed and illegal construction works due to inconsistent regulations, Lê Minh Đức, the vice-captain of the Bình Thạnh District inspection team, admitted.

For instance, district People’s Committees are not tasked with monitoring or penalising illegal constructions, and two different agencies manage urban construction and the environment but lack clear instructions from city authorities, leading to a lack of efficiency, he explained.

The city People’s Committee has therefore sought approval to set up the team to manage urban construction directly under district administrations.

With the city gradually transforming the administration model, experts said the team’s remit is to grant construction permits, supervise construction works and plan projects but also assist in other areas like social order and sanitation.

The People’s Committee wants the team to inspect, detect, prevent, and handle construction violations that do not fall under the authority of the Department of Construction or industrial park and export processing zones management.

The Government has approved the proposal in principle, but Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has instructed HCM City to get the opinion of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Pre-feasibility study for HCM City – Can Tho high-speed rail commissioned

The Ministry of Transport has instructed the Railway Project Management Board to do a pre-feasibility study for the high-speed HCMC-Cần Thơ railway by 2022.

Recently the Southern Institute of Science and Technology (PNSTI), which is in charge of the project, submitted to the HCM City People’s Committee and the Ministry of Transport recommendations for the project after seven years of studies.

It will run along the HCM City-Trung Lương and Trung Lương-Mỹ Thuận expressways instead of passing through crowded residential areas and industrial parks to reduce the difficulties related to acquiring lands and cost.

The route will be 140km long, start at Tân Kiên Station in HCM City, pass through the provinces of Long An, Tiền Giang and Vĩnh Long and end at Cái Răng Station in Cần Thơ City. It will have nine stations.

Passenger trains will run at 200km per hour and freight trains at 120km.

It will enable people to travel between Cần Thơ and HCM City in just 45 minutes while it takes three hours by road now.

It will reduce the cost of transporting goods from the Mekong Delta to ports in HCM City and Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu and improve the competitiveness of the country’s exports.

According to PNSTI the project has attracted interest from more than 20 international investors in the US, Europe and elsewhere. It is expected to cost US$10 billion.

According to the Japan International Cooperation Agency, by 2030 the volume of passenger and freight traffic between HCM City and Cần Thơ will increase by 4.8 and three times compared to 2008.

HCM City is the centre of the southern key economic region while Cần Thơ is its Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta counterpart.

The rail link is expected to have a positive impact on the socio-economic development of the two cities as well as provinces such as Long An, Tiền Giang and Vĩnh Long.

It is included in a master plan that comprises five high-speed rail links between HCM City and provinces to ensure smooth transport of goods and improve logistics services and links between major ports.

The others are to Tây Ninh Province, Long Thành International Airport in Đồng Nai Province, Nha Trang City in Khánh Hòa Province, and Long An Province’s international port.

HCM City releases priority list for receiving COVID-19 vaccine

Frontline health workers, non-medical personnel who are potentially exposed to Covid-19 patients and samples and police and military personnel will be the first to get vaccines in HCM City, according to its Department of Health.

On Friday it submitted to the Ministry of Health’s general department of preventive medicine its COVID-19 vaccination priority list.

More than 44,000 people will be vaccinated now, including 2,270 health workers, 388 contact tracing personnel and 1,362 people in COVID-19 surveillance groups.

The rest include 600 army personnel, 1,042 police officers, 513 personnel at government-designated quarantine facilities, 38,000 individuals in community groups for COVID-19 monitoring, prevention, and control.

The vaccination, comprising two AstraZeneca shots, is expected to begin on Monday.

The first batch of 117,600 doses arrived on February 24.

Dong Nai develops more concentrated slaughterhouses

The south-eastern province of Đồng Nai plans to increase the number of its slaughterhouse clusters to 58 in the next five years.

Under a plan approved by its People’s Committee, they will have a capacity of slaughtering 360 buffaloes and oxen, nearly 7,400 pigs and 178,000 chickens a day.

They will be located far from residential areas, schools, hospitals, rivers, and springs, meet certain sanitation standards and have facilities to treat liquid and solid wastes.

The province will encourage co-operatives and companies to set them up with advanced technologies and link up with livestock farms, and offer them tax, land rent and credit incentives.

After developing the slaughterhouse clusters, it will cancel the licences of abattoirs that are not in the plan and crack down on illegal ones.

It now has 41 clusters though most are of small capacity, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Yet they do not operate at full capacity since they cannot compete with the dozens of illegal slaughterhouses that exist around the province and offer lower prices.

The province, which has the country’s largest livestock population, has many large companies which have linked up with farming households that raise animals.

Many livestock co-operatives operate on an industrial scale but also buy livestock from non-members.

Đồng Nai had 1.9 million pigs and 26.18 million chickens, among its key agricultural products, as of last month, according to its Statistics Office.

Those injected with Covid-19 vaccines abroad allowed to enter Vietnam

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has asked the Ministry of Health to coordinate with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture, Sports and Tourism to urgently issue guidelines to create conditions for those who have been injected with Covid-19 vaccines in other countries to enter Vietnam to ensure safety and serve the economic development and pandemic control efforts.

At a meeting of the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control on March 5, the deputy minister, also head of the steering committee, asked the healthcare sector to research and improve the production of quick test kits.

To prevent the Covid-19 spread, Vietnam has not allowed tourists from other countries to enter the country since March 2020.

As Vietnam has announced its Covid-19 vaccine injection plan and citizens in many countries have been injected with Covid-19 vaccines, many entrepreneurs expected the local Government would allow them to welcome tourists again.

At the meeting, Deputy PM Dam also required healthcare centers, schools, lodging facilities, factories, supermarkets and coach stations to seriously employ pandemic prevention and control measures. Those failing to comply with regulations on fighting the pandemic will have their operations suspended.

Central province to develop key river route

The central province of Quảng Nam plans to upgrade the inner waterway on the Trường Giang River as a key traffic system in line to boost transport options from Quảng Nam to National Express systems and the Central Highlands region.

Chairman of the provincial people’s committee Lê Trí Thanh said construction work would be slated for 2022-27 with an estimated investment of VNĐ2 trillion (US$87 million), of which 70 per cent funded by the World Bank.

He said the project will include dredging the 67km river section from Cửa Đại to Cửa Lở estuaries winding through the districts of Duy Xuyên, Thăng Bình, Núi Thành and Tam Kỳ City.

Thanh said the two-lane river route was designed for access of 100 dead-weight tonne (DWT) ships while serving as a major flood release.

Nguyễn Thanh Tâm, director of the provincial traffic investment and construction management board, said the river traffic project would include dredging of 4 million cubic metres of sludge and mud and building an 11.5km concrete dyke and five bridges.

Tâm said the project would complete dredging works in 2025.

Earlier, the province commenced dredging the Cổ Cò River to boost tourism links between Hội An and Đà Nẵng.

According to Quảng Nam authorities, the river route will help boost smooth traffic systems including the coastal road connecting Tam Kỳ city with Chu Lai Airport and Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in the linkage with Chu Lai Economic Zone, the Đà Nẵng-Quảng Ngãi Expressway and the Dung Quất Economic Zone in neighbouring Quảng Ngãi Province.

Chairman Thanh said Quảng Nam would continue to invest in traffic infrastructure to lure more investment projects.

Localities not allowed to directly buy Covid-19 vaccines

As the injection of Covid-19 vaccines is an extremely sensitive issue, the Ministry of Health will coordinate the purchase, distribution and injection of the vaccines to prevent localities from directly negotiating with enterprises to buy them, said Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long.

At a meeting of the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control on March 5, the minister said besides the import of Covid-19 vaccines, Vietnam needs to focus on the research and production of its own vaccines. This is a long-term strategy.

It is hard to access the Covid-19 vaccines of other countries as supplies are limited, while many countries have registered to buy a large volume of vaccines.

Since May 2020, the Ministry of Health has negotiated to buy Covid-19 vaccines. However, it is impossible to ensure a sufficient supply immediately. They are newly-developed vaccines, so their quality and effectiveness have yet to be determined.

COVAX Facility will provide Vietnam with five million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine this year and 25 million doses next year.

Minister Long also warned of fraud in the local Covid-19 vaccine supply. The news that some companies had affirmed that they could supply AstraZeneca’s vaccine was inaccurate, the minister said, adding that all Covid-19 vaccines are now licensed by the Ministry of Health.

As for more than 117,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine which has arrived in Vietnam, the minister said on March 3, Vietnam received certificates of the quality of the batch from South Korea and other independent testing agencies.

Local residents are eligible to receive the vaccine, Minister Long said.

Those directly participating in the treatment of Covid-19 patients at 18 treatment facilities will be injected first, followed by residents in pandemic hotspots in 13 localities reporting Covid-19 patients, especially Hai Duong.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said the injection of the vaccine must be fair. Residents must be sufficiently provided with necessary information. Further, the Ministry of Health must be prepared for possible problems during the injection.

Chinese nationals entering Việt Nam illegally test negative for SARS-CoV-2 once

Thirty-five Chinese nationals who illegally entered Việt Nam and stayed at a hotel in HCM City have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 for the first time, HCM City’s healthcare centre said on Sunday.

The group were spotted by local police when they hired rooms at a hotel located on Lý Tự Trọng Street, District 1, HCM City on Saturday morning.

They have been quarantined at the Củ Chi Field Hospital and will have samples taken for further testing.

Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh Triều, chairwoman of Bến Thành Ward, said after receiving the first set of results, the lockdown has been lifted at the hotel.

Authorities will continue to test people returning from social distancing areas and ask them to make health declarations at airports, coach stations, healthcare centres and industrial parks.

As of Sunday morning, the city has taken 25,853 random samples at crowded places like airports, train stations, bus stations. As many as 25,637 samples were negative and the remaining 216 samples are waiting for results.

Prosecution proposed against former HCM City Vice Chairman

Tran Vinh Tuyen, former Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee (Photo: VNA)

The Investigation Police Agency under the Ministry of Public Security on March 6 said it has suggested prosecuting 16 people, including a former senior official of Ho Chi Minh City, found to play a role in a law violation case in the State-owned Saigon Agriculture Incorporated (Sagri).

Investigations unveil that the mastermind of the case is Le Tan Hung. In his capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Members and General Director of Sagri, Hung ordered the building of 10 fake dossiers for Sagri officials and employees to visit 16 countries, aiming to appropriate more than 14 billion VND (607,120 USD).

Notably, aware of the ineligibility of a housing project in Residential Area No. 4 in Long Phuoc B Ward, District 9, HCM City, Hung still instructed his subordinates to complete procedures and signed documents proposing the municipal People’s Committee give a nod to the transfer of the project to Phong Phu JSC with a cost of 168 billion VND, causing losses worth hundreds of billions of VND to the State.

The agency found that Tran Vinh Tuyen, former Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee, signed Decision No. 6077/QD-UBND dated November 17, 2017 that gave the green light to the transfer of the project, invested by Sagri, although he knew its ineligibility./.

No COVID-19 infections logged on March 8 morning

Vietnam reported no COVID-19 cases in the past 12 hours to 6:00 am on March 8, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The country documented 1,585 domestically-transmitted infections, including 892 cases since the latest outbreak hit Hai Duong province on January 27.

As many as 45,219 people who came in close contact with COVID-19 patients or arrived from pandemic-hit areas are under quarantine nationwide, including 506 at hospitals, 14,266 at other quarantine sites, and 30,446 at home.

Among the patients under treatment, 65 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, 57 twice, and 137 thrice.

The Treatment Sub-committee said that 1,920 patients have been declared clear of the coronavirus so far.

Hanoi has gone through 20 days without new local transmission of COVID-19, while other ten cities and provinces has logged no new cases in 23 days, including Hoa Binh, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Binh Duong, Hung Yen, Bac Giang, Gia Lai, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam begins COVID-19 vaccination on March 8, 2021, using recently-imported AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine was granted Emergency Use Listing by the World Health Organisation for active immunisation to prevent COVID-19 in individuals aged from 18.

In a bid to live safely with the pandemic, people should strictly follow the Ministry of Health’s 5K message: khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering) and khai bao y te (health declaration)./.

New Year gathering hosted for adopted Vietnamese children in Italy

A virtual gathering was hosted by the Embassy of Vietnam in Italy on March 7 for adopted Vietnamese children on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.

The event was attended by Director General of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Adoption Nguyen Thi Hao and adoptive families of Vietnamese children from more than 70 locations across the European country.

Speaking at the gathering, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Thi Bich Hue said with over 2,000 Vietnamese children adopted by Italian couples so far, and these adoptive families have become a major part of the Vietnamese community in Italy. They have contributed to strengthening the relations between the two countries, she said.

Many adoptive families in Italy want their Vietnamese children to know more about their roots, she continued, many Italian parents have also encouraged the kids to learn and speak their mother tongue. This has motivated the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy to host the gathering, she added.

Hue also took the occasion to thank the adoptive families for not only taking care of the Vietnamese children and providing them with a real home, but also giving an opportunity to preserve their traditional culture.

Representing the adoptive Italian families of Vietnamese children, Cinzia Fabrocini said the gathering offers a good chance for the children to have a better understanding of their fatherland’s culture and for the families to meet and talk about their shared interest in helping the children experience their birth culture.

Hao, for her part, said she hopes the Embassy of Vietnam and adoptive families in Italy will come up with more initiatives and activities to bring the children closer to their homeland.

Vietnam always welcomes the children and their adoptive parents to return to the country to explore Vietnamese culture and identity, she noted./.

40 illegal immigrants found in HCM City

Ho Chi Minh City’s police have detected 40 foreigners, all Chinese, who entered Vietnam illegally on March 5-6.

Of the people, five were found staying at a hotel and confessed that they came illegally to Vietnam from China’s Fujian province via unofficial channels in Vietnam’s northern border region, and caught a bus to the city.

Thirteen others were found on a bus parked in front of another hotel where the remainders were staying in.

The local police have instructed competent forces to collect samples of the people for COVID-19 testing, and put them into quarantine in line with pandemic prevention and control regulations.

Their illegal immigration is also under further investigation./.

HCM City to expand cultural activities

The cultural sector in HCM City should focus on developing resources, infrastructure and arts activities from now to 2030, experts have said at a recent workshop held in the city.

The city’s Department of Culture and Sports is focusing on a long-term project to develop film, performing arts, fine arts, photography, exhibitions, advertising, cultural tourism and fashion.

It aims to increase gross regional domestic product (GRDP), create jobs involved in producing diverse high-quality cultural activities, and meet residents’ cultural needs.

Another goal is to burnish the city’s image by creating signature cultural products and turning HCM City into the cultural centre of the country and region.

Speaking at a workshop held recently by the department, Nguyễn Thị Hậu, general secretary of the city’s Association of Historical Sciences, said the project should target “high culture”, saying that a big city should have such activities.

“It means a high level in art quality, infrastructure and human resources. The project should focus on signature performing arts forms of HCM City and the South like tài tử music, cải lương (reformed opera) and drama,” she added.

Except for the film sector, which has private investment, other sectors have not received sufficient investment to meet the people’s cultural needs.

Trần Hoàng Ngân, director of the HCM City Development Research Institute, pointed out that many theatres are in poor condition and theatrical works are not widely advertised.

Lâm Nhân, deputy principal of the HCM City University of Culture, said: “The city should build cultural policies to promote the development of performing arts programmes.”

For the film sector, scripts highlighting national cultural identity should be encouraged, he added.

Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Liêm, director of the HCM City Conservatory of Music, said that cultural authorities should meet with artists “to learn about their needs and seek solutions and policies to help them develop their careers”.

Võ Trọng Nam, the department’s deputy director, said that after the workshop the department would work with the Development Research Institute to complete the project and then submit it to the city’s People’s Committee.

Under the project, the city targets revenue from cultural industries making up 5 per cent of its GRDP in the 2020-25 period and 6 per cent in the 2025-30 period.

Earnings from the city’s film industry will reach VNĐ10 trillion ($432 million) by 2030, with earnings from Vietnamese films making up 50 per cent.

The city plans to reach revenue of VNĐ1.7 trillion ($73.5 million) by 2030 from the performing arts sector, VNĐ550 billion ($23.8 million) from fine arts, and VNĐ3.3 trillion ($142.5 million) from photography.

The exhibition and advertising sectors are expected to earn VNĐ11 trillion ($475 million) and VNĐ57.2 trillion ($2.47 billion), respectively, by 2030.

As for cultural tourism, the city targets revenue of VNĐ8.6 trillion ($351.6 million) by 2030, while fashion sector revenue will reach VNĐ5.5 trillion ($237.7 million).

31 lawyers to protect 12 defendants involved in the Ethanol Phu Tho case

Thirty-one lawyers have registered to protect 12 defendants involved in the case of violations of regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences, at an ethanol plant in the northern province of Phu Tho, for which a 10-day trial will be opened by the People’s Court of Hanoi on March 8.

Prominent among the 12 defendants are former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) Dinh La Thang; former Chairman of the Board of Directors and former General Director of the PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) Trinh Xuan Thanh; and former General Director of the PetroVietnam PetroChemicals and Biofuel JSC (PVB) Vu Thanh Ha

Trinh Xuan Thanh has been charged with “violating regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences”, under Article 224, Clause 3 of the Criminal Code 2015, and “abusing position and power while performing duties” under Article 356, Clause 3.

Thang will have three lawyers to protect him, Thanh four, and Ha six. One defendant has not asked any lawyer to defend him at the court.

The court will summon six inspectors and a number of witnesses as well as those having relevant obligations and rights.

According to the indictment, Thang signed a resolution to approve the investment in the project in October 2007. With Thanh’s support, PVC/Alfa Laval/Delta-T joint contractors, who had no previous experience in carrying out ethanol projects, were assigned to be in charge of the project.

As a result, the project was continuously behind schedule and stopped in March 2013 with no construction items done.

Wrongdoings of the defendants were said to cause a loss of more than 543 billion VND (23.49 million USD)./.

Popularising Vietnamese culture through social media

The first personally-funded YouTube channel specialising in content promoting Vietnam’s tourism and culture was the result of the enthusiasm of a culture lover. In the year since the first episode aired, Sunny Vietnam has now posted 20 high-quality videos warmly supported by viewers.

The first video debuted in December 2019, featuring ox eye daisies – a typical image of Hanoi in autumn – and received a bunch of likes from viewers.

Last September, the channel won third prize in a video clip competition called “Vietnam NOW” run by the Ministry of Tourism./.

Ukrainian President hails Vietnam socio-economic, integration achievements

Vietnamese Ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Hong Thach has presented his credentials to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who lauded Vietnam’s achievements in the “Doi Moi” (Renewal) cause as well as economic development, international and regional integration and improvement of locals’ living conditions.

At a reception for the diplomat following the presentation, the host expressed his pleasure at the positive growth of the Vietnam-Ukraine partnership, and thanked Vietnam for supporting Ukraine in the COVID-19 prevention and control.

He showed his hope that the bilateral cooperation will be further expanded in various areas, especially in vaccine production, trade and culture.

President Zelensky wished Ambassador Thach a successful office tenure, and many contributions to the acceleration of the ties between the two Governments and peoples.

He took the occasion to invite President Nguyen Phu Trong to visit Ukraine in August this year on the occasion of the 30th independence anniversary of the country.

For his part, Ambassador Thach extended regards and best wishes from Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong to President Zelensky as well as people and Government of Ukraine.

He expressed his delight to take office as an ambassador to Ukraine, a beautiful country that is rich in historical tradition and culture.

The diplomat thanked the State and people of Ukraine for supporting Vietnam during the past struggle for national independence and current national construction and defence.

He affirmed that Vietnam always attaches great importance to developing ties with Ukraine.

At the reception, Ambassador Thach proposed that President Zelensky and Ukrainian authorities assist him in completing his tasks and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the host country.

He also conveyed Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong’s invitation to President Zelensky and his spouse to visit Vietnam. President Zelensky accepted the invitation with pleasure./.

100 local food specialties announced

The organisation aims to discover unique and strange specialties and gifts from 63 cities and provinces nationwide in order to help promote local culture to the world.

After receiving nominations from various localities nationwide, the organisers have selected the top 100 food specialties and gifts which showcases the true diversity of Vietnamese culture.

Pho (noodle soup), Bun Cha (noodles with grilled meat), and Cha Ca La Vong (La Vong fried fish), from Hanoi, along with Mi Quang (Quang noodles), and Com Ga Hoi An (Hoi An chicken rice), from the central province of Quang Nam, are among the leading 100 Vietnamese food specialties.

Banh Com (green sticky rice cake) from the capital, and Banh Phu The (conjugal cake), of Bac Ninh province have also been named in the list of 100 Vietnamese gifts.

First COVID-19 vaccination drive to be launched in 13 pandemic-hit localities

Medical workers directly involved in treating COVID-19 patients at 18 medical facilities and prioritised categories of people in 13 pandemic-hit localities will be among the first to be vaccinated throughout March and April, with the COVID-19 epicentre of Hai Duong being given the highest priority.

The localities include Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Hung Yen, Hoa Binh, Gia Lai, Binh Duong, Dien Bien, and Ha Giang.

The objective of the plan is that 95% of all individuals who are at risk and the community have a sufficient number of doses for the inoculation process.

Moving forward, the vaccinations will be deployed based on actual vaccine supply progress.

In addition to pandemic-hit localities, provinces and cities that have large urban areas, high population densities, industrial zones, and are important traffic hubs, will also be granted priority to be vaccinated.

Ahead in April, the country will receive a further 1.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through Covax, a global mechanism for developing, manufacturing, and procuring COVID-19 vaccines and supply for member countries.

The nation has reported a total of 885 community transmissions across 13 cities and provinces since the reccurence of the outbreak on January 27.

360 Vietnamese citizens repatriated from Singapore

A total of 360 Vietnamese citizens, including minors under the age of 18, sick people and other specially difficult cases were repatriated from Singapore after touching down at Can Tho International Airport on March 7.

A range of measures on security, safety, and hygiene were strictly enforced throughout the flight as a means of protecting the health of citizens and to prevent the possible spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

All flight crew members and passengers underwent medical check-ups and were immediately transferred to quarantine facilities in line with regulations relating to COVID-19 prevention and control.

Colonel Phan Van Chuong, deputy director of the Logistics Department of Military Zone No 9, said that there have been many flights to repatriate Vietnamese citizens based on their wishes in recent times, with the enforcement of strict anti-pandemic measures to ensure the safety of passengers and crew members.

Earlier on March 6, Can Tho International Airport also welcomed a flight to bring home  as many as 300 Vietnamese citizens from Malaysia, and all the passengers were put in quarantine in concentrated isolation facilities according to COVID-19 prevention and control regulations.

Ban flowers blooming under northwestern skies

March is a nice time of year to visit Vietnam’s northwest, when the beautiful Ban (Bauhinia) flower season peaks, painting the region white.

A symbol of love between a girl named Ban and a boy named Khum in an ancient Thái ethnic minority legend, the flower signals the arrival of spring in Dien Bien with its pure white petals and gentle, sweet aroma.

Many local boys and girls take the opportunity to capture a special moment of their youth during the bloom.

Ban flowers normally bloom in mid-February and show off their best in March.

2021 was the second year the Ban Flower Festival has been cancelled due to COVID-19, but the ubiquitous sight of Ban flowers still provides a romantic and tranquil atmosphere to Dien Bien province./.

Overseas Vietnamese’s song expresses love for national islands

Though living far from home, many young Vietnamese people working and studying in the Republic of Korea have expressed their love for Vietnam’s sea and islands.

With musical talent and a love for Vietnam’s sea and islands, Kien composed the song “Hoang Sa, Truong Sa belong to Vietnam” in just a short period of time. The music video was viewed and shared by thousands of people in the 10 days it has been on YouTube.

Kien’s friends who heard the song after it was filmed had good things to say.

Kien said he will continue to compose songs about the country and the people of Vietnam, to spread love for the homeland among Vietnamese expats.

Contributing to the nation is a common desire for every overseas Vietnamese. For Kien and his compatriots, no matter who you are or what you do, every Vietnamese citizen has the responsibility to protect the national/.

New Year gathering hosted for adopted Vietnamese children in Italy

A virtual gathering was hosted by the Embassy of Vietnam in Italy on March 7 for adopted Vietnamese children on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.

The event was attended by Director General of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Adoption Nguyen Thi Hao and adoptive families of Vietnamese children from more than 70 locations across the European country.

Speaking at the gathering, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Thi Bich Hue said with over 2,000 Vietnamese children adopted by Italian couples so far, and these adoptive families have become a major part of the Vietnamese community in Italy. They have contributed to strengthening the relations between the two countries, she said.

Many adoptive families in Italy want their Vietnamese children to know more about their roots, she continued, many Italian parents have also encouraged the kids to learn and speak their mother tongue. This has motivated the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy to host the gathering, she added.

Hue also took the occasion to thank the adoptive families for not only taking care of the Vietnamese children and providing them with a real home, but also giving an opportunity to preserve their traditional culture.

Representing the adoptive Italian families of Vietnamese children, Cinzia Fabrocini said the gathering offers a good chance for the children to have a better understanding of their fatherland’s culture and for the families to meet and talk about their shared interest in helping the children experience their birth culture.

Hao, for her part, said she hopes the Embassy of Vietnam and adoptive families in Italy will come up with more initiatives and activities to bring the children closer to their homeland.

Vietnam always welcomes the children and their adoptive parents to return to the country to explore Vietnamese culture and identity, she noted./.

Two Filipino nationals test positive for coronavirus in Vietnam

Two Filipino people and a Vietnamese citizen have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Vietnam, raising the total number of patients in the country to 2,512, the Ministry of Health reported on Sunday evening.

According to the ministry’s report, the Filipino patients are a 30-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman who arrived from the Philippines to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on February 22. They were both sent to a local quarantine area upon arrival and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on March 7.

The two patients are now being treated at the Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 2,512, including 892 locally-transmitted cases reported since the new outbreak started in Hai Duong on January 28. Hai Duong Province alone has recorded 708 cases.

As of 6 pm on March 7, a total of 1,920 Covid-19 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital. There have been 35 deaths, most of them being the elderly with serious underlying diseases.

At present, 45,219 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or returned from virus-hit areas are being monitored at hospitals, quarantine facilities, and at home.

HCMC lists over 44,000 people prioritized for Covid-19 vaccination

The HCMC Department of Health has sent the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health and the HCMC Pasteur Institute a list of 44,175 people prioritized for the Covid-19 vaccination.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Huu Hung said that the priority list includes 285 medical workers who are treating Covid-19 patients at hospitals, 388 members of contact tracing teams, 1,362 employees joining the epidemiological investigation, 600 soldiers and 1,042 police officers.

Some 38,000 members of Covid-19 prevention teams, 1,710 workers who are in charge of taking samples for testing, over 500 quarantine workers and 257 staff members in charge of injecting residents with the Covid-19 vaccines have also been prioritized.

HCMC has no active coronavirus hotbeds, so the city is not identified as a prioritized locality for vaccination, the local media reported.

Vietnam is set to start the Covid-19 vaccination on March 8, using the first 117,600 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by British drugmaker AstraZeneca that arrived in the country on February 24.

Party Committee discuss key solutions to turn Thu Duc into smart city

The executive party committee of newly-established Thu Duc City discussed key tasks and solutions to turn Thu Duc City into a smart, innovative and sustainable city in 2021 in its yesterday meeting.

One of significant tasks in 2021 is the continuity of the city’s stable state machinery to ensure the effectiveness in management for the city development. When it comes to this task, the city must enhance re-structuring of the machinery and re-arranging of administrative staffs as well as grading of levels and powers along with supervision for transparency.

The party committee said that it would also focus on spreading the information of the 13th National Party Congress and the 11th Ho Chi Minh City Party Congress as well as applying these congresses’ resolutions into reality.

With regard to building up a strong party, meeting participants emphasized on the continuous implementation of Resolution No.4 on Party building and rectification adopted at the fourth plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee. They also emphasized on improvement of the managerial skills and abilities of leaders.

Speaking at the meeting, Thu Duc City Party Chief Nguyen Van Hieu ordered staffs in state organizations in the city to actively take part in the building up of the party and the government to improve residents’ living conditions.

First of all, Party Chief Hieu stressed that Thu Duc City must intensify application of IT and digitalization in management tasks which are important steps to move toward building smart city and urban administration.

Besides, each organization must set their own specific goals with the aim to benefit locals in the field of economy, culture, education and medicine.

Additionally, Mr. Hieu required state-run organizations and agencies to inform residents about governmental policies and mechanisms to get dwellers’ consensus during the building and development of Thu Duc City with orientation towards a smart and sustainable city.

Before, the People’s Committee in Thu Duc City submitted its paper in which set 26 goals for 2021 including collection of VND8,327 billion (US$359,344,016) for the city state budget, the proportion of disbursement for basic construction investment of 95 percent against the assigned plan and growing 250,000 trees.

Last but not least, the newly-established city will focus on site clearance in major projects comprising of Saigon Hi-tech Park, Thu Thiem new urban area, Ethnic Cultural History Park and urban renewal in Long Binh Ward. Especially, the city proposed specific mechanisms for its future growth.

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes

Vietnamese shares trimmed early gains on Monday with the VN-Index closing lower as banking stocks came under selling pressure towards the final minutes of trading.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange edged down 0.04 per cent to close at 1,168.27 points.

It had risen 0.02 per cent last week.

More than 652.7 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND15.6 trillion (US$673.9 million).

Market breadth was positive with 274 gaining stocks and 183 losers.

After the lunch break, the market fluctuated in a quite negative direction as many banking stocks dropped sharply and pushed the VN-Index down to the reference level.

Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) fell 2 per cent to VND31,800 per share, VPBank (VPB) lost by 1.1 per cent to VND41,350 per share, Vietcombank (VCB) declined by 1.5 per cent to VND95,200 per share and Techcombank (TCB) dropped by 0.9 per cent to VND38,850 per share.

On the opposite side, the oil and gas sector increased, becoming one of the best-performing sectors in Viet Nam on Monday, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Vietnamese oil and gas stocks grew well, including PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX), PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD), PetroVietnam Power Corp (POW), and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS).

“The market was moving sideways around 1,168 points. Liquidity increased slightly from the previous session and market breadth was positive, showing that investment cash flow is spreading,” said BIDV Securities Co.

“Foreigners were net sellers on both HoSE and HNX. The VN-Index is likely to consolidate in the range of 1,160-1,200 points in the coming sessions,” said the company.

Foreign investors net sold VND1.25 trillion on HOSE, including PVPower (POW) (VND212.8 billion), Vinamilk (VNM) (VND203.9 billion) and Hoa Phat Group (HPG) (VND171.5 billion). Foreigners were net sellers on the HNX to the tune of VND9.56 billion.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index gained 0.33 per cent to stay at 1,170 points.

Seventeen of the 30 large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket decreased while 12 climbed.

In the VN-30 basket, Masan Group (MSN) was the biggest decliner with a 2 per cent drop, Vinhomes (VHM), Vietcombank (VCB), VPBank (VPB), Mobile World Group (MWG) and Khang Dien House (KDH) all lost more than 1 per cent.

In contrast, PVPower (POW) maintained its uptrend momentum of a more than 5 per cent increase, PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) advanced 2 per cent, while Novaland (NVL) and The Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE) both climbed 1 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rallied 1.39 per cent to end Monday at 263.42 points.

More than 144.7 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VND2.1 trillion.

Vietnam continues slapping safeguard duty on fertilizer imports

The trade ministry is coordinating with relevant units to closely monitor the price fluctuation in the world fertilizer market, prices of input materials and the business performance of domestic enterprises.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has continued to slap safeguard measures on diammonium phosphate (DAP) and monoammonium phosphate (MAP) fertilizers imported to Vietnam, rejecting proposals by some importers to temporarily cancel the decision due to a recent shortage and the increasing price of the items in the domestic market.

The ministry’s temporary safeguard duty is based on a trade defense agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and after a comprehensive investigation and assessment of the impact of those items to the Vietnamese market in accordance with the relevant regulations. Safeguard measures will be applied as a substantial increase in imports causes serious injury for the domestic sector.

According to the ministry, DAP price fluctuations are mainly due to external factors such as the increase in the prices of some input materials and transportation costs. The domestic demand for DAP has basically not increased compared to the previous years.

The safeguard duties are applied at a lower rate, with an application time shorter than the one permissible under WTO regulations, the MoIT said, adding that relevant ministries and branches have carefully considered the current situation of the domestic fertilizer market, the impact of the safeguard measures on local producers and farmers, and the impact on the costs of rice cultivation, according to the MoIT.

At the time  the decision to apply safeguard measure takes effect, the safeguard duty is only equivalent to a maximum of 0.66% of the total cost of rice production. This rate may be even lower because the safeguard  tariff would be  gradually reduced along the roadmap while many other costs of rice production increase.

The imposition of the safeguard tariff under a gradual reduction creates a fair environment for domestic production, and bring benefits to fertilizer users. For an agricultural country like Vietnam, reducing dependence on imported fertilizers is an important issue, the MoIT emphasized.

The ministry said that the current law does not provide temporarily canceling safeguard measures according to temporal changes. The MoIT will continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and related units to evaluate and review the application in accordance with the provisions of law.

Women in banking leadership: an exciting challenge

Working in the financial field, particularly the banking sector, is not only challenging, but also interesting for Vietnamese women as it affects many aspects of their personal lives as they pursue higher positions.

More and more women are taking part in banking work now since the businesses are growing stronger in Vietnam and around the world.

Dang Chau Giang, head of Small and Middle Enterprise (SME) Marketing and Customer Service Department at VPBank, said that many female employees work for banks now, and more and more are promoted to middle management as they tend to be more careful and have unique ideas.

“It provides decent jobs, decent incomes, and also an interesting experience. In this field, women are more careful and even more decisive,” Giang added.

Research on listed companies in Asia and China conducted by International Finance Corporation (IFC) showed that companies with at least 30 percent of women on the board of directors see rates of return that are 2 percentage point higher than companies with all male boards.

“We know that diverse leadership teams make better decisions. Diverse teams have a better ability to assess risk and a stronger record of innovation, leading to better business results,” Amy N. Luinstra, Gender Lead in East Asia Pacific of IFC, said.

But not many get to senior positions and the board of directors. Women account for approximately 60 percent of banks’ entry-level workforce, and as they progress along the career ladder, women hold one-fifth of top executive positions.

“We face a lot of pressure. As entry-level employees, we have to finish our tasks on time. As managers, we have to reach business targets without violating internal regulations and creating conflicts,” Giang, who has 17 years of experience in banking and 11 years in management, said.

“In general, the workload is always high so it is normal for employees to go home at 7 – 8pm. Not to mention if you work in sales, you have to go out often to interact with customers.

“This makes things difficult for women, especially married women, as they can not spend time with their families.

“If they cannot manage to strike a balance between personal lives and work, they might struggle and it prevents them from reaching higher positions.”

The ‘leaky pipeline’ of women in leadership is hurting the banks, Luinstra said.

Another key factor influencing female workers’ ambitions in pursuing leadership roles is the working environment.

“If you work in organisations which are open to changes, new ideas and initiatives, you also have a mindset for changing and improving your value,” Giang said.

“Employees, especially women, who work in that environment are motivated to grow and strive for new challenges.

“And of course, female employees will have a feeling of being satisfied if they work in quiet and safe environment. They might easily be pleased with their current jobs and positions.”

This will be a challenge for both banks and women themselves, Luinstra noted.

“To find solutions and answers for these questions, IFC is cooperating with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to promote innovative, impactful initiatives to open doors for women into leadership positions in banks,” Luinstra said.

The partnership includes three phases. The first is to research the current status of women and men in banks, what barriers prevent more women from being in leadership and what are some promising practices among banks.

In the second phase, IFC and SBV will sponsor an awards programme to acknowledge individual high achieving women in banking as well as prominent banks working to promote gender equality in their hiring and promotion practices.

And the last phase is a peer learning platform that brings together private-sector banks to exchange knowledge on the best practices in talent development, leadership and succession planning, and creating more flexible and inclusive workplaces for women and men.

Gender diversity in leadership brings another advantage, Luinstra added.

“When there are more women in decision-making roles in finance, they tend to lend more to women-owned businesses, who are currently underserved by banks in Vietnam,” Luinstra said.

“This contributes to the growth of the economy as whole and is good for the bank. In emerging Asia, loans to women-owned SMEs had a 3.2 percent non-performing loan (NPL) ratio compared to 4.5 percent NPL for the SME segment.”/.

WB helps drive on efficient energy investments in Vietnam

The World Bank (WB), acting on behalf of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), has signed a US$11.3 million grant with the State Bank of Vietnam to support the development of a commercial financing market for industrial energy efficient investments, with the total financing support from the GCF also including a US$75 million guarantee.

Of the total, a sum of US$8.3 million from the grant will be used to build capacities for the private sector in order to identify, appraise, and execute energy efficiency projects. This will also provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, along with relevant agencies aimed at strengthening policy frameworks and regulations whilst creating an enabling environment that can accelerate the domestic energy efficiency market.

The remaining grant and the guarantee will subsequently be used to establish a risk sharing facility that can provide partial credit guarantees to support local banks, many of whom may risk potential defaults on loans by getting involved in energy efficiency projects. By reducing lending risks, the facility is therefore expected to mobilise approximately US$250 million of commercial financing that will be provided to industrial enterprises and energy service companies at competitive rates along with low collateral requirements.

“Scaling up energy efficiency is the single best and lowest cost option to achieve multiple goals at once by meeting energy demand, preventing pollution and reducing greenhouses emission while also increasing industry competitiveness,” said Carolyn Turk, country director for Vietnam of the WB.

“Against the context of limited public financing for energy, the risk sharing facility is an innovative financial instrument to crowd in private sector investment financing for a greater uptake of industry-wide energy efficiency measures,” Turk noted.

The grant and guarantee will be executed under the Vietnam Scaling up Energy Efficiency Project which aims to support the nation in meeting its various energy efficiency targets set out in the Green Growth Strategy, as well as emission reduction objectives pledged under the National Determined Contributions. Boasting a level of energy intensity and emission intensity which is among the highest in the region, Vietnam is actively embarking on a green energy transition and decarbonisation pathway.

The WB’s Low Carbon Study estimates that Vietnam could save up to 11 GW of new generation capacity by 2030 providing that comprehensive demand-side energy efficiency investments are carried out. Indeed, the energy efficiency investment need for key domestic industries was estimated to be at roughly US$3.6 billion.

Vietnam gold market freezes as global prices set to plunge

“Never before have the gold market been such quiet in the first few months of the year,” said a representative of SJC.

While the global gold prices for the first time in months fell below the US$1,700 per ounce, the domestic market of this precious metal came to a standstill as result.

At the final trading session of last week, selling and buying prices for gold bars quoted by Doji, Vietnam’s largest jewelry company, stood at VND54.95 million (US$2,376) and VND55.5 million (US$2,400) per tael.

Vietnam’s largest gold and gold jewelry production and distribution Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) listed the gold selling and buying prices at VND55.1-55.5 million (US$2,382-2,400). As a result, domestic gold prices last week were down by VND700,000 (US$30.27) against last week.

Such decline came as the global gold prices fell below the US$1,700-per-ounce-mark to a nine-month low of US$1,695, equivalent to VND47.2 million (US$2,041) per tael [a tael is 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces].

Chief Currency Analyst at HYCM Giles Coghlan attributed the Covid-19 vaccine roll out to the trend of  selling out gold at the moment.

Meanwhile, the fact that a hike in prices of Bitcoin (surpassing US$50,000) and crude oil on the global market to nearly US$61 per barrel, has been luring investors into the cryptocurrency and the oil market.

Chief Market Strategist at Blue Line Futures Phillip Streible said if the gold price could not hold on to the US$1,675 per ounce this week, there is a high chance that the price will further go down to the US$1,600 per ounce mark.

Despite a bleak outlook for global gold prices, the domestic price for gold remained high and kept the difference at nearly VND8.2 million (US$354.87) per tael.

Director of the New Partner Jewelry Company Nguyen Ngoc Trong said there were almost no gold-related transactions for the past few days.

“Investors were supposed to sell gold  when the prices remain high, but in fact, this was not the case,” said Trong.

When the domestic gold prices were around VND56-62 million (US$2,422-2,682) per tael, or a difference of up to VND8.5 million (US$367.77) per tael from world prices, people were still buying in gold.

Therefore, at this present, many are suffering losses of around VND5 million (US$216.38) per tael.

Those buying golds at high prices are forced to wait and keep monitoring the market situation, while the risky nature of a big gap between domestic and global prices is keeping new investors from coming in.

“Never before have the gold market been such quiet in the first few months of the year,” said a representative of SJC.

Amid suggestion that the central bank should issue license for importing gold from abroad and thus narrow the price difference from international and domestic markets, experts urged local authorities to be cautious as the market is at a standstill at the moment, not to mention potential impacts to inflation and current exchange rates.

State budget revenue up in first two months

State budget collections were estimated at 286.7 trillion VND (12.4 billion USD) during January and February, or 21.3 percent of the annual estimate and up 0.6 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Finance reported on March 8.

Domestic revenue stood at 246.65 trillion VND, equivalent to 21.8 percent of the estimate and marking a year-on-year rise of 2.8 percent.

After conducting 3,400 inspections and checking 16,500 corporate tax filings, tax agencies proposed 3.4 trillion VND in fines be imposed, including 780 billion VND for the State budget. Some 345 billion VND has been collected, together with 5.1 trillion VND in tax debts.

State budget expenditure reached 207.3 trillion VND in the first two months, or 12.3 percent of the estimate and down 6 percent year-on-year. Of this, 23.49 trillion VND was for development, or 4.9 percent of the estimate and down 32.4 percent.

According to the ministry, debt interest payments fell 14.3 percent to 21.88 trillion VND while regular expenditure was up 1.2 percent year-on-year to 161.8 trillion VND.

Some 12,760 tonnes of rice from the national reserve were provided for residents in disaster-hit areas. Up to 27 trillion VND worth of Government bonds were issued.

In the remaining months of this year, the ministry will continue using the national reserve, as requested by the Prime Minister, and implement bids to buy rice for the reserve./.

Agricultural co-operatives benefit hugely from investment in technology: experts

Preliminary processing of hydroponic vegetables at Tuan Ngoc Agriculture Cooperative in HCM City’s District 9.

According to Lam Ngoc Tuan, chairman of the Tuan Ngoc Agriculture Cooperative in HCM City’s District 9, his members use hydroponic vegetable cultivation techniques and achieve high yields, are not afraid of inundation during rains and high tides, grow plants evenly compared to those grown in soil, and plant the next crop right after harvest without waiting to prepare soil, increasing the number of crops in a year.

The average yield of hydroponic vegetables is VND500 million (US$21.500) per hectare per year, 45 per cent higher than soil.

Experts say new technologies are key to advancing the agriculture sector since they could boost value to make produce more competitive in the global market.

In recent years there has been increasing investment in advanced farm technologies, resulting in aquaculture farms breeding high-quality and high-yield fish varieties like crayfish and tilapia and flower and fruit farms using net houses, greenhouses, hydroponics, and microbiological fertilisers and pesticides.

But farms find it hard to expand due to the lack of agricultural land in HCM City amid the rapid urbanisation.

Besides, many are stymied by the Land Law, which does not allow any construction on agriculture lands.

Huynh Van Thanh, director of the Can Gio Tuong Lai Cooperative in Can Gio District, said that he proposed the competent authorities to allow cooperatives to construct on agricultural lands.

Viet Nam seeks to be among the 15 top agricultural countries in the world by 2030 and top 10 agri-processing countries.

To achieve them, the Government issued a resolution in 2019 with measures to encourage businesses to invest in effective, safe and sustainable agriculture to integrate globally.

Farm exports are expected to reach US$50-51 billion by 2025 and $60-62 billion by 2030.

To implement the target, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will recommend policies to attract investment in the agricultural and fishery processing industries.

Ha Van Thang, chairman of the Viet Nam Agriculture Businesses Association, said most businesses want a clear legal framework for high-tech farming, incentives such as simplifying loan procedures to easily borrow from banks.

Experts said to attract investment in agriculture it is necessary to drastically cut administrative procedures and improve the business environment.

Vietnam a strategic destination for Samsung’s R&D activities

Samsung Vietnam plans to expand its investment in Vietnam by setting up a research and development (R&D) centre, strengthening cooperation with domestic enterprises, and taking part in public infrastructure projects, its General Director Choi Joo Ho has said.

In an interview with “Tuoi tre” (Youth) newspaper, Choi said Samsung launched the construction of a new R&D centre in Hanoi in March last year, which is scheduled for completion in December 2022.

This is Samsung Electronics’ first R&D centre outside of the Republic of Korea and the largest of its kind by a foreign-invested enterprise in Vietnam, Choi said.

Vietnam is not only an important global production hub but also a strategic destination in Samsung’s R&D activities, he added.

Looking back on 2020, Choi said it was a memorable year for Samsung. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it suffered a fall in exports in the first half before recovering in the second half. In the year as a whole, it posted some 57 billion USD in export revenue, a little below its target of 60 billion USD but a positive result amid the pandemic.

He said that, in 2021, the company will continue to strictly implement COVID-19 prevention and control measures set by the Vietnamese Government and the Samsung Group, thus completing the twin target of ensuring safety for the company and maintaining production stability while fulfilling its export goals.

Regarding the movement of multinational groups in global supply chains to Vietnam, Choi held that Vietnam’s advantages in abundant skilled workers, stable socio-political situation, smooth investment environment, diverse infrastructure networks, and effective and successful pandemic prevention and control measures have had a positive impact on such movements.

Samsung is now operating six factories in Vietnam, with about 130,000 employees. According to Choi, since the pandemic broke out Samsung Vietnam has abided by pandemic prevention and control regulations defined by the Vietnamese Government and Samsung has applied prevention principles in factories worldwide.

Noting that Vietnam has won global praise for its fight against COVID-19, Choi believed it will continue to successfully control the current outbreak and become a global model in the effort./.

Rice exports to see bright outlook this year

Increasing global demand, stable domestic production, and better rice quality count among the reasons Vietnam can be confident its rice exports will prosper again in 2021 and surpass the 3.1 billion USD in revenue posted in 2020, despite a significant decline in the first two months of this year.

According to figures from Vietnam Customs, Vietnam earned 192 million USD from shipping nearly 348,000 tonnes of rice overseas in January, down 34.2 percent in value and 36.4 percent in volume against December and 2.4 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively, year-on-year.

As the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday fell in February, the month’s export turnover is expected to be down.

Nguyen Van Don, Director of Tien Giang province’s Viet Hung Limited Company, said the beginning of the year is never the peak time for trade, as consumers have already purchased rice for the long holiday period at the end of the previous year. Rice prices in the Mekong Delta are also at a high level, so purchasing businesses and foreign customers are all waiting for them to fall.

General Director of the Trung An Hi-tech Farming JSC Pham Thai Binh said that transportation problems have also hampered rice exports in recent times. He pointed out that the country is facing a serious shortage of empty containers and cargo ships for exports.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), there are high hopes being pinned on Vietnam’s rice exports in 2021, with major export markets such as the Philippines and Africa continuing to sign contracts, while many others have significant demand for fragrant rice and sticky rice, in which Vietnamese enterprises hold an advantage.

VFA Vice President and General Secretary Nguyen Trung Kien said that bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the EU-Vietnam FTA and the UK-Vietnam FTA, which contain preferential tariffs, will create favourable conditions for Vietnamese rice to compete with foreign exporters.

Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries have pledged to provide a tariff quota of 10,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam in 2021 under the Vietnam-EAEU FTA, while the EU’s quota of fragrant rice from Vietnam is 80,000 tonnes each year under the EVFTA.

The UK-Vietnam FTA, which came into effect at the beginning of this year, cuts tariffs to zero and has no quotas.

Binh said that rice exports this year will not only sustain the value growth seen in 2020 but also increase in volume.

Saying there are reasons for optimism, he noted that the country’s policy of intensive and extensive integration into the world has created a number of competitive edges for its economy via multilateral and bilateral FTAs.

Under the integration policy, Binh said, the rice sector has gradually restructured itself towards higher quality rather than primarily focusing on output, and is growing more diverse varieties, with high-grade grains meeting demand among both domestic and foreign consumers.

Vietnam exported 6.15 million tonnes of rice worth 3.07 billion USD in 2020, down 3.5 percent in volume but up 9.3 percent in value against 2019, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development./.

Southern provinces attract FDI as existing investors vote with their feet

The southern key economic zone is increasingly attracting investments from foreign investors who have already tasted success there.

Most of the investment is in hi-tech and supporting industries.

In Dong Nai Province, dozens of foreign businesses have been expanding or investing in new projects.

Some of the notable ones approved this year include two electronic part and component factories by Korean companies Hansol Electronics Viet Nam and Platel Vina at a cost of US$100 million and $30 million.

The two already have successful projects in HCM City and Dong Nai.

Cao Tien Dung, chairman of the Dong Nai People’s Committee, said there are around 372 projects from Korea and 253 from Japan in local industrial parks.

Companies from the two countries have been investing anew and expanding in the province in a wide range of industries such as footwear, textile and garment and supporting industries, and this is expected to continue, according to Dung.

Binh Duong Province has attracted $301 million, including $253 million in existing projects.

In HCM City, US giant Intel Products is set to invest an additional $475 million in its existing plant to increase production of 5G products and Intel Core processors.

With the availability of land shrinking, the HCM City Hi-tech Park is focusing on the expansion of existing projects rather than new ones, according to its management.

It plans to build a 160ha science and technology park in the future to attract investment in hi-tech.

Hua Quoc Hung, head of the HCM City Exporting Processing and Industrial Zone Authority, said the aim is to attract $550 million worth of FDI, especially in key sectors and supporting industries.

The first two months of the year saw $5.46 billion worth of FDI coming into Viet Nam, a 15.6 per cent drop from the same period last year.

Japan, Singapore and South Korea have been the three largest investors.

Total retail sales of goods and services up 5.49% in two months

Total retail sales of goods and services in the first two months of this year reached VND904.5 trillion, an increase of 5.49% over the same period in 2020.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday and the outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic in several localities in February 2021 slowed down trade and service activities in February compared to the previous month.

Total retail sales of goods and services in February was reported at VND439.7 trillion, down 5.4% from the previous month but up 8.2% over the same period in 2019.

During the two-month period, total retail sales of goods was reported at VND722.1 trillion, up 7.8% over the same period last year, accounting for 79.8% of total retail sales of goods and services in two months.

Meanwhile, total retail sales of accommodation, catering, travel and tourism services all decreased in the first two months of this year, with a 4.3% decrease in the revenue of accommodation and catering services and a 62.1% decrease in the revenue of tourism and travel services.

Retail sales of other services was posted at VND91.5 trillion, up 3% over the same period in 2020, accounting for 10.1% of the total retail sales of goods and services.

Bringing Vietnamese goods into foreign distribution channels

For Vietnamese products to enter foreign distribution channels, it was necessary to be more professional and stable in product quality, said experts.

Foreign supermarkets such as Aeon, Lotte or MM Mega Market, which are operating in Viet Nam, are effective distribution channels to help consume and export Vietnamese goods. However, it seems that Vietnamese businesses have not taken advantage of it.

In order for Vietnamese products to be sold through foreign distribution channels, the criteria for product quality and food safety and hygiene are a priority.

In addition, goods put on supermarket shelves need to be supplied in a large quantity, uniform quality and high stability, however, many products of domestic companies have not met these criteria, according to experts.

Consumers around the world are interested in many Vietnamese agricultural products, such as mango, banana, lychee, longan, and dragon fruit. However, in order to get into foreign supermarkets like Aeon or Lotte, it was quite difficult, said experts.

For example, Viet Nam’s bananas, according to Lotte Mart, are popular among Korean consumers, but the criteria for bananas of Vietnamese farmers to put on the shelves of the supermarket systems are to be uniform in quality, and must be delivered continuously and steadily.

However, the factors were difficult to implement not only for Vietnamese banana but also for many other agricultural products, according to experts.

Although Vietnamese agricultural products have many delicious varieties, which are popular among both domestic and foreign consumers, the country could not produce them in a chain to ensure safety and stability as well as other factors related to international standards, therefore, it was very difficult to enter foreign supermarkets.

Data of the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that Central Group exported goods of Vietnamese enterprises through this system only reached US$21 million in 2012 but soared to over $200 million last year.

Japanese Aeon has also contributed to the export of Vietnamese enterprises from $200 million in 2017 to over $500 million last year.

Market expert Vu Vinh Phu said in order to increase the amount of Vietnamese goods consumed through foreign distribution channels, Vietnamese enterprises had to improve their production capacity to be able to supply products that meet the criteria and standards of partners.

“This is the challenge of the globalisation game that forces every Vietnamese enterprise to strive to assert themselves,” Phu told Dai Doan Ket (Great Unity) newspaper.

HCM City to keep land prices unchanged for next 5 years

The HCM City People’s Council has kept the official land prices unchanged since market prices did not change between 2019 and last year.

The price list, which is adjusted every five years, serves as a basis for calculating land-use rights fees, administrative sanctions, fines, and paying compensation for land the city acquires.

According to Nguyen Toan Thang, director of the city Department of Natural Resources and Environment, this is the first time the framework remains unchanged.

The price coefficient is adjusted annually.

Anyone seeking land-use rights or change the purpose of land use has to pay a fee based on the prevailing coefficient.

In the list, the highest land prices of VND162 million (US$7,000) per square metre are in Nguyen Hue and Le Loi streets in the downtown area but this is only a fifth of the estimated market price of around VND800 million.

The lowest rate on the list is VND1.5 million.

The prices of land for commercial purposes are 80 per cent of residential land prices, while non-agricultural lands used for purposes such as healthcare and education cost 60 per cent.

The highest rate for agricultural lands used for rice, annual crops or aquaculture is VND205,000, and VND300,000 in the case of perennial crops.

The People’s Council has increased the coefficient at the High-Tech Park in District 9 and Thu Duc new City.

District 9 is a property hotspot where land prices are climbing daily.

The district People’s Committee is always packed with people coming to complete administrative procedures related to land like adjusting and extending land-use rights, according to media reports.

Many also crowd notary offices to mortgage their lands to borrow from banks or sell them.

Land plots that have the certificate of land-use rights are being traded at a brisk pace at high prices, attracting many speculators, real estate agents said.—

Map for national innovative startup ecosystem makes debut

In the middle of the map is the part for 30 outstanding startups with impressive achievements lately. Around it are five sectors of network, talent, capital, support, and service.

The map is expected to help international partners easily locate and contact prominent organizations in the current ecosystem. It is frequently updated to precisely reflect the sustainable growth of the national ecosystem in the upcoming year.

At present, National Program No.844 is aiding intermediary organizations in their activities to support startups like incubation, business promotion, investment attraction, necessary service provision (media coverage, human resources training).

ISEV is formed in accordance with Decision No.844/QD-TTg by the Prime Minister, clearly affirming that innovative startup is a new business model based on exploiting Intellectual Property, advanced technologies, and with an operation time of less than 5 years from the first business permit certificate date.

This national program aims at creating a favorable environment for the creation and growth of new enterprises with high growth potential based on Intellectual Property, technologies, new business models; quickly perfecting the legal system to support innovative startups; and forming a national innovative startup portal.

The program estimates that in 2025, there will be 2,000 startup projects incubated, 600 startup businesses created, and 100 enterprises successfully attracting investment from venture capitalists via purchasing or merging, with a total value of around VND2,000 billion (approx. US$86.8 million).

Statistics from Echelon Magazine (Singapore) reveal that in 2020, Vietnam owns 3,000 innovative startups, a double of the quantity in 2015.

High-tech park incentives under review

Despite enjoying special incentives, foreign investment flows into Hoa Lac High-tech Park are yet to meet expectations – and possible moves to align all such parks with the same policies will only increase the competition between them as they try to persuade investors to pour money into  digital transformation ventures.

While the figure is higher than that of 2019, when the park lured in just four domestically-invested projects registered at VND7.46 trillion ($324 million), it was far lower than 2018, when it attracted 11 projects registered with VND17 trillion ($739 million), a record high over the past 20 years. Notable names involved included Nidec, Mitsubishi, and Hanwha Group.

The result is lower than expected though the HHTP itself enjoys Decree No.74/2017/ND-CP which came into effect in 2017, governing special mechanisms and policies for the park only. Few social infrastructures such as workers’ housing, hospitals, trade centres, and other services have been licensed there.

Industry insiders said that in the context that the country is promoting high-tech foreign investment and the trend of making business and investment in the local market among technology groups, the lacklustre foreign investment attraction of the HHTP has raised questions over how attractive it actually is. While COVID-19 is an obvious reason, others should be included, some added.

Established in 1998, the filling rate of the park is now 40 per cent of its over 1,500 hectares. The HHTP boasts the longest history among the country’s three high-tech parks, and has the advantages thanks to Decree 74, which includes unique incentives such as the 10 per cent corporate income tax (CIT) within the first 30 years for a new investment project of at least VND4 trillion ($174 million).

Looking to the south where Saigon High-tech Park (SHTP) is located in Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Anh Thi, head of its Management Board said that it has licensed two foreign-invested projects early this year – the $19.5 million US-invested Arevo 3D printer factory and the $1 million office for lease project by South Korea’s SNST & Finger Vina.

“Due to the land funds left for new projects, the park plans to attract $200 million worth of investment this year, and the production value of high-tech products hit $25 billion, while disbursement of the capital there is $700 million,” Thi said.

In 2020, the SHTP lured over $35 million worth of foreign investment, meeting half of the yearly target due to COVID-19 impacts and limited land funds left.

In the central region, Danang High-tech Park (DHTP) lured in $150 million worth of foreign investment and $108.7 million of domestic funding in 2020. Established in 2010, the fill rate in the park is now at 30 per cent.

Similar to the HHTP, the government issued Decree No.04/2018/ND-CP in 2018 on incentive policies for the DHTP, making it a motivation for the park to increase its attraction.

Competition among the three high-tech parks is expected to increase as the Ministry of Science and Technology is working on a draft decree in which incentive policies should be applied commonly for all three. Thus far the draft decree has received differing opinions, with some saying that the highest incentives in the decrees should be kept for certain parks, while others recommended that the policies should indeed be applied for all.

If the latter option gets the go-ahead, the high-tech parks will no longer have their own specific advantages and will be required to improve themselves and build other advantages to make them more attractive to investors.

For Hoa Lac, the groundbreaking of the National Innovation Centre (NIC) in early 2021 will be a new driving force. According to the project’s draft plan drawn up by the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s (MPI) Central Institute for Economic Management, the NIC will be developed with the total investment of VND1.9 trillion ($82.6 million), including VND1.7 trillion ($73.9 million) for the physical construction and VND200 billion ($8.7 million) for operating capital. The NIC is expected to lure 40 big technology companies, 150 startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises, and 15 venture investment funds, thereby creating more than 5,000 jobs.

Government policies are in place to accelerate digital transformation across sectors, thus promoting domestic businesses and international ventures to make more investment in the sci-tech sector in the months to come.

As shown in statistics from the MPI, sci-tech was the fifth-biggest sector for overseas investors last year, and the fourth-biggest in the first two months of 2021.

Securities firms rake in revenues after bumper year

Foreign and local stock brokerages closed 2020 with a blast, turning around the nosedive that opened the year due to optimism over vaccines, low interest rates, and appealing commission fees.

The momentum is expected to expand substantially this year, given the promise of Vietnam’s equity landscape. In the early part of last year, market volatilities and aggressive broad-based sell-off crippled the stock market, with the total after-tax profit of Vietnamese securities companies dropping 77 per cent on-year. However, hopes of an economic recovery have boosted brokerages’ profits, with the year seeing the highest number of new account openings.

Viet Dragon Securities Corporation recorded a record loss of VND88 billion ($3.83 million) in the first quarter of 2020, mainly from proprietary trading. However, the prospect of effective vaccines returning life to normal is injecting hope into the global and domestic equity market.

By the end of 2020, Viet Dragon Securities recorded total revenues of VND456 billion ($19.83 million), up 45 per cent against the initial plan. The firm’s after-tax profit reached VND144 billion ($6.26 million), equal to 400 per cent of the yearly plan and 424 per cent of the figure from 2019. This was also the highest profit that it had achieved since its establishment.

Meanwhile, Saigon Securities Corporation, Vietnam’s largest brokerage in terms of market share, reported 43.4 per cent higher revenue growth in 2020 than the year before. Its pre-tax profit also rallied by 54.4 per cent, reaching VND1.565 trillion ($68.04 million)

After several COVID-19 vaccines proved effective in recent months, almost the entire stock market started showing signs that an economic recovery is on the way.

As the State Bank of Vietnam remains firm on keeping a low interest rate to help the economy weather the storm, investors vigorously seek for higher returns from riskier assets, such as stocks or corporate bonds. In addition, both Vietnamese and foreign brokerages have provided customers with attractive margin lending rates, as well as low or zero commission fees.

Vu Nam Huong, CFO of VNDIRECT Securities, said the company has achieved positive results for its core revenue segments like transaction fee collection, margin lending, proprietary trading, and derivative securities. In the fourth quarter of 2020, VNDIRECT generated revenues of VND721.6 billion ($31.37 million), up 96 per cent against the corresponding period in the previous year. Its after-tax profit reached VND242.9 billion ($10.56 million), an increase of 73 per cent on-year.

Elsewhere, VPS Securities JSC achieved revenues of VND1.22 trillion ($53 million) and after-tax profit of VND133.5 billion ($5.8 million) in the fourth quarter of 2020 alone, slight increases of 0.62 and 15.03 per cent on-year, respectively. This has led to VPS recording stable income from securities brokerage in the quarter, especially in derivative securities.

Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC also posted positive performance. According to its fourth-quarter financial statement, the company achieved operating revenues in 2020 of VND683.8 billion ($29.73 million), more than three times the figure of 2019. Meanwhile, its after-tax profit reached VND348.6 billion ($15.16 million), more than 9.6 times than a year earlier.

Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation recorded a net revenue of VND514 billion ($22.35 million) and after-tax profit of VND137 billion ($5.96 million) in the fourth quarter, up 54 and 8 per cent, respectively. In 2020, the firm achieved VND1.59 trillion ($69.13 million) in revenues, an increase of 26 per cent compared to the whole of 2019.

Agribank Securities JSC (AGR) also achieved more than VND120 billion ($5.2 million) of profit, equalling 140 per cent of its initial forecast. Along with that, AGR shares also surged by more than 300 per cent since the furious fall into a bear market in March, making it one of the five stocks with the strongest increase during the year.

VietinBank Securities JSC meanwhile recorded a profit of VND128.18 billion ($5.57 million) for the whole year thanks to a sudden bump in the final quarter.

Elsewhere, an influx of foreign-invested brokerages, especially from South Korea and Taiwan, has also pushed the expansion of international know-how and standards as demand increased dramatically. For instance, Mirae Asset Securities Vietnam is currently the largest margin-trading brokerage, the second-largest firm in terms of charter capital and total assets, and among the top 7 in terms of market share. Its profit in 2020 reached VND500 billion ($21.7 million), from VND376 billion ($16.3 million) in 2019.

KB Securities Vietnam – a subsidiary of South Korean financial behemoth KB Group – reported its profit in 2020 reaching VND168 billion ($7.3 million), up around 60 per cent on-year.

Meanwhile, KIS Securities from South Korea also achieved VND207 billion ($9 million) in profit last year, equivalent to a nearly 63-per-cent-increase compared to 2019.

Kwangju Bank also plans to raise JB Securities Vietnam’s charter capital to VND 600 billion ($26.1 million). In 2019, the South Korean lender Kwangju Bank purchased Morgan Stanley’s Vietnam-based subsidiary Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities JSC for VND382.4 billion ($16.63 million).

After acquiring An Nam Securities, Shinhan Vietnam Securities also boosted its activities with a capital hike to VND812.6 billion ($35.3 million). Shinhan is now planning to raise more funds to capitalise on the Vietnamese market. Experts said ultra-low interest rates in South Korea have pushed brokerages to find another promising land.

Steel, mechanical firms in struggle for survival amid COVID-19

Vietnamese steel and mechanical enterprises have felt a critical impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a gloomy market and sharply declining orders, and are in need of further support from the Government.

A wide range of steel companies reported sluggish manufacturing and low transaction numbers due to project delays as a result of social distancing measures.

The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) said that steel consumption has fallen as the construction sector has cooled, while the transportation of goods and materials to northern localities like Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Hung Yen, and Quang Ninh has faced challenges from new virus epicentres in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh.

Preparations for pandemic prevention and control and the arrangement of logistics at steel plants, particularly the Hoa Phat steel complex in Kinh Mon district, Hai Duong province, are costly and have affected production.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industries Dao Phan Long said auto makers are manufacturing at a moderate pace as they have received fewer orders than previously but are paying more for transportation.

In a bid to remove bottlenecks facing local manufacturers, VSA recommended that the State Bank of Vietnam and commercial banks provide credit support to companies, such as extending payment deadlines or cutting loan interest rates.

Along with helping business owners with quarantine costs for foreign experts, Long suggested the Government create the conditions necessary for companies to bid on domestic projects so they can expand markets and gain more orders during these tough times.

General Director of Hyundai Thanh Cong, Le Ngoc Duc, said registration fees on locally-manufactured and assembled cars should be cut until the end of this year.

Car sales plummeted 35 percent when COVID-19 hit Vietnam during the first half of 2020, he added, but sales then bounced back in the second half following a Government move to halve registration fees.

Most recently, the Ministry of Finance recommended the Government consider allowing the cost of COVID-19 prevention and control to be deductible for tax purposes.

It is evaluating measures introduced and studying suitable tax and fiscal solutions to carry out the Government’s dual task of pandemic prevention and control and economic recovery while ensuring balance in the macro-economy./.

HCM City Tet consumption slumps

The resurgence of COVID-19 has hit demand for consumer goods and services in HCM City, with revenues in February falling by 6.4 per cent, according to Government data.

The Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays, usually the most lucrative period for the consumer market, were in February.

Retail sales of consumer goods and service amounted to VND110.6 trillion (US$4.78 billion), a year-on-year increase of 4.7 per cent, a report by the city Department of Industrial and Trade said.

Sales of consumer goods were estimated at VND69.9 trillion ($3.02 billion), a rise of 10.3 per cent compared to the same period last year but a decline of 5.9 per cent from the previous month.

Catering, accommodation and travel services took a big hit from the pandemic.

The resurgence of outbreaks in the city in late January with lockdown orders in some residential areas and fears of infection discouraged consumption.

In the first two months retail sales rose by 3.6 per cent year-on-year to VND 228.9 trillion ($9.9 billion), the report added.

Kien Giang has 18 more star-rated OCOP products

Eighteen more local specialties have been recognised as three- and four-star “One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) products in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

Ten have received four-star rating, namely Kim Thien Loc-branded Nang Huong rice and two types of unhusked rice produced by Rach Gia organic farming cooperative, two fish sauce products by Khai Hoan Trading JSC, and five kinds of grey sedge woven baskets and bags by Toan Tuyen handicraft workshop and Phu My women’s cooperative.

Eight others were rated three stars including rice paper, fermented snakehead fish, wine made from sticky rice and guava, Eucalyptus essential oil, and black pepper coarse.

The recognition and ratings are valid for 36 months.

Kien Giang has earmarked more than 326 billion VND (14 million USD) to implement the OCOP programme, which aims to develop at least one staple product in each commune around the country, between 2019 and 2025.

OCOP products are commercial products and services like food and beverages, medicinal herbs, handicrafts and home decoration, and rural tourism services and sales.

The programme ranks them on a scale of five stars, with a five-star being the highest.

The province wants to have 25 to 30 OCOP products meeting provincial five-star standards and five qualified for national five-star standards by 2025./.

KITA inks contract to operate new convention centre in Vietnam

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and its arm Convention & Exhibition Centre (COEX) said on March 8 that they have signed a contract with Vietnam’s Becamex IDC to run the World Trade Centre Binh Duong New City Expo in the southern province of Binh Duong.

With a combined area of 22,000 sq.m, including 11,679 sq.m for indoor space and 7,935 sq.m for outdoor area, the New City Expo is the largest convention centre in Vietnam.

Its construction ended last month, and the centre currently awaits opening this month. It is expected to contribute to linking economic, cultural and tourism activities between the Republic of Korea and Vietnam.

About 25km distant from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong lies in the southern key economic zone. It is now the largest industrial city of Vietnam with over 800 Korean enterprises.

A COEX representative said the centre will connect Korean firms with countries in the RoK’s New Southern Policy./.

Small investors oppose expanding trading lot

Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE)’s proposal to raise the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares is receiving mixed opinions from market experts and investors.

The proposal was initiated by newly-appointed General Director of HOSE Le Hai Tra as a solution to reduce system overloads which have troubled traders recently.

A 1,000 minimum trading lot will limit the participation of small investors, while the stock market is moving towards fairness and equality, said a budding investor.

“My friends and I, when joining the stock market, only have a few tens to several hundreds of millions of dong, raising the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares will directly affect our investment capacity,” said individual investor Diep.

“With expensive stocks, we may have to spend hundreds of millions of dong to buy the minimum 1,000 shares,” she said.

According to Diep, the stock market has never had such a chance for growth. New cash flow into the market pushed liquidity to a record high level. However, the new proposal may not only prevent new investors from entering the market but also discourage existing investors.

“The plan to raise the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares could quickly reduce the number of orders delivered daily on HOSE. However, it will cause frustration among small investors who are directly affected by the plan as they think they are not protected,” said Do Bao Ngoc, Deputy General Director of Kien Thiet Securities Vietnam (CSI).

“This plan, if in place, will affect the rapid development of the stock market under the current favourable conditions, one of which is great interest from global investors,” he said.

“Under the new plan, the most affected are the investors whose trading accounts have VND1 billion or less,” said Nguyen Hoang Hai, Vice Chairman of Viet Nam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI)

According to VAFI statistics, investors whose trading accounts have VND500 million or less account for about 30 per cent of individual investors. Among them, the number of investors participating in the market for the first time (F0 investors) with VND300 – 500 million is numerous.

“Last year, the boom of the stock market was great thanks to the participation of new investors, also known as F0 investors. The market always needs new cash flows but raising the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares could hinder the investment capacity of investors and cause them to lose money,” Hai said.

Chairman of SSI Securities Corporation Nguyen Duy Hung on his social media account recently gave a more positive view on HOSE’s proposal, saying the trading system would be on the brink of collapse without appropriate measures.

“Raising the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares is necessary at the moment to keep the system running,” he said, adding when the system upgrading process is completed, the minimum trading lot could be reverted to 10.

Hung said the overload of orders that forces the stock exchange to halt market trading is the result of a rapid-growing stock market that outpaces the processing capacity of the stock market, as such, “a long-term solution is a must,” he said.

Both before and after the Tet holiday, the overload occurred repeatedly on HOSE whenever liquidity in a trading session hit around VND14-17 trillion (US$608-738 million).

The SSC attributed the overload issue on the HOSE to the transaction processing capacity of the stock exchange that limits the number of transactions per day, while a recent surge of orders has exceeded the expectation of the market.

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes