Exports growth

HCM City eyes 10 percent growth in export in 2021

February 24, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Shrimps processed for export (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City ’s Department of Industry and Trade has set the target to export 48.19 billion USD worth of products in 2021, a year-on-year surge of 10 percent.

Under its development plan for 2021 recently submitted to the municipal People’s Committee, the sector said import revenue is estimated at 56.47 billion USD for the whole year, up 11 percent against the previous year.

Besides, it eyed to reel in more than 835.68 trillion VND (36.29 billion USD) from retail sales and services revenues in the year, up 10 percent year-on-year.

The department said it will carry out necessary measures in a comprehensive fashion to branch out industry and trade, contributing to promoting economic recovery of the southern hub.

Earlier, HCM City set a goal of boosting the export of its key products this year and beyond via trade promotion activities and assistance to enterprises.

Head of the statistics office Huynh Van Hung said COVID-19 has been largely brought under control around Vietnam, resulting in the production sector exhibiting signs of recovery. Local enterprises, however, continue to face difficulties as many major trading nations are yet to open their markets.

He noted that enterprises are in need of diverse and long-term support relating to information on importers of materials and fuel, new markets and partners, and domestic consumption stimulus measures.

According to Nguyen Phuong Dong, Director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, despite facing myriad challenges, last year the city still saw five goods post export turnover in excess of 1 billion USD: computers-electronic products and components, with 17.8 billion USD; garment-textile 4.3 billion USD; footwear 2.2 billion USD; machinery-equipment-spare parts 2.2 billion USD; and other goods 6.9 billion USD. Together their export value accounted for 83.5 percent of the city’s total.

Key export markets remained China, the US, and Japan. China imported 10.5 billion USD worth of goods from HCM City last year, up 23.7 percent year-on-year. Exports to the US and Japan, meanwhile, stood at 6.7 billion USD and 2.8 billion USD, down 0.2 and 16 percent, respectively, year-on-year./.

VNA

Coffee sector to boost exports on EVFTA incentives

February 1, 2021 by vov.vn

Statistics compiled by the General Department of Vietnam Customs indicate that Vietnam exported 1.57 million tonnes of coffee worth US$2.74 billion last year, representing a decrease of 5.6% in volume and 4.2% in value, while the average export price saw a slight increase of 1.4% to US$1,751.2 per tonne compared to 2019.

Germany remains the largest consumer of Vietnamese coffee, importing 223,581 tonnes worth US$350.41 million, marking a decline of over 4% in both volume and turnover. Meanwhile, the average export price in the market stood at US$1,567 per tonne, a rise of 0.4%.

The Southeast Asian market ranked second in terms of turnover with US$328.36 million, a drop of 8.6% in turnover, followed by the United States’ market with US$254.89 million.

The MARD anticipates that there are positive signs moving forward for coffee exports as Vietnam’s coffee export markets suffered huge losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic leading to an increase in domestic demand for coffee.

Despite this forecast, the rebound of coffee prices will largely be dependent on the tourism industry’s recovery level in the post-COVID-19 landscape.

Moreover, local businesses have been advised to make full use of opportunities brought about by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) in order to boost exports in the near future.

MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said the enforcement of the EVFTA has seen the EU remove all taxes on unroasted or roasted coffee products from 7% to 0%, while tariffs on processed coffee types are set to be slashed from 9% to 0%.

Simultaneously, coffee makes up one of 39 of the country’s geographical indications that have been protected by the EU following the implementation of the EVFTA, an agreement which has created a huge competitive advantage for the local coffee industry in comparison with other competitors in the EU market.

HCM City: Korean bank proposes investment study for Metro Line No. 5

February 23, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

The track of Metro Line No. 1, from Ben Thanh Market to Suoi Tien Theme Park, in HCM City (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – The Export-Import Bank of the Republic of Korea (KEXIM) has asked Ho Chi Minh City ’s authorities for permission to conduct an investment study for Phase 2 of Metro Line No. 5 , set to be carried out in the public-private partnership (PPP) format.

In its letter sent to the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee and the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), KEXIM said it will soon provide funding for the update of the project’s pre-feasibility study, which covers technical, financial, and legal aspects, according to the MAUR.

The bank noted that members of the research group and participating investors have experience in building and operating urban railway routes, including Metro Line No. 9 of the RoK’s Seoul capital, in the PPP format.

The MAUR said it had a working session on January 19 with some investors and consultancies from the RoK to discuss the study and related orientations for the project.

The Korean side, including KEXIM and some businesses and consultancies, presented the plan to update the pre-feasibility study, whose final version is expected to be submitted by the end of 2021.

The pre-feasibility study for Phase 2 of Metro Line No. 5 was previously financed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). However, due to certain objective reasons, the project was unable to be funded through official development assistance (ODA) loans, but the PPP format.

The 23.39km-long Metro Line No. 5 is developed in two phases.

The first one, from the Bay Hien intersection to Sai Gon Bridge, is about 8.8km long and invested with around 1.66 billion USD. It is funded with ODA capital from the Spanish Government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the German development bank KfW.

Meanwhile, Phase 2 is about 14.5km long./.

VNA

Coffee industry seeks to weather COVID-19 crisis

February 24, 2021 by vov.vn

Since Vietnam joined the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the coffee industry has experienced three crises, with the first occurring in 1991 when the ICO removed the quota system, causing the price of Arabica coffee to drop from US$4,000 per tonne to US$3,000 per tonne.

The second happened in 2000 when the price of Robusta coffee dropped to US$400 per tonne, and the third took place last year when the price fell by between US$1,300 and US$1,400.

Addressing this thorny issue, almost all coffee businesses have participated in e-commerce trading platforms, marketing the products in London and New York. Private firms have also moved to swiftly set up websites in order to sell their coffee products online, with on-demand home delivery services witnessing rapid growth.

Aside from serving customers at coffee shops, take-away services have also been added to allow customers to increase the efficiency of doing business whilst simultaneously ensuring COVID-19 preventive measures are in place.

Several businesses have also invested in processing roasted, ground, and instant coffee as a means of catering to consumers’ diverse tastes. They have taken advantage of opportunities in exporting coffee beans to markets that the country has signed free trade agreements with.

Besides foreign firms such as Nestle, Olam, Ca phe Ngon, and Tata, several Vietnamese enterprises including Tin Nghia Corporation, Intimex Group, An Thai Company, and Viet My Company have poured capital into intensive processing by building instant coffee factories with popular names.

Most notably, small roasting facilities that specialise in processing specialty coffee for a chain of between 10 and 20 coffee shops by using coffee machines have also witnessed rapid growth.

Furthermore, Trung Nguyen Legend has recently launched its official brand store on Amazon, marking an important step toward bringing local coffee to the world via e-commerce platforms.

With regards to this strategic move, a representative of Trung Nguyen Legend says despite initial encouraging results, there remains a long journey ahead for the group as it attempts to popularize its brand globally, adding that e-commerce channels will develop further in line with consumer trends.

Despite an array of challenges facing the global economy caused by COVID-19, the coffee industry aims to expand markets, participate in supermarket chains in foreign countries to distribute processed coffee, and accelerate the sale of coffee through the e-commerce system.

The industry will boost consumption of coffee products within the domestic market and maintain its position as the world’s second largest coffee producer and exporter, whilst increasing the added value of coffee beans and stabilising the lives of 640,000 coffee growing households nationwide.

Vietnam trade surplus surges to US$2.09 billion in January

February 24, 2021 by hanoitimes.vn

The Hanoitimes – Phones and parts posted the largest export turnover among export items during January with US$6.1 billion, up US$3.4 billion against the same period of last year.

Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of US$2.09 billion in the first month of 2021, which remained a stark contrast from a deficit of US$300 million in the same period last year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC).

Production for exports at Garment 10 Company. Photo: Pham Hung.

In January, the country’s trade turnover stood at US$55 billion, representing an increase of 48.2% year-on-year, in which exports rose by 55.1% to US$28.55 billion and imports by 41.3% to US$7.74 billion.

According to the GDVC, foreign-invested sector posted a trade surplus of US$3.98 billion during the period, coming on the back of a 70% surge in exports year-on-year to US$21.57 billion, or over 75% of the country’s total export turnover.

Phones and parts posted the largest export turnover among export items during January with US$6.1 billion, up US$3.4 billion against the same period of last year.

In addition, electronic products, computers and components earned an estimated US$3.89 billion, up 46.2% year-on-year; garments (US$2.66 billion); equipment and parts (US$3.26 billion).

The US, China, EU, South Korea and ASEAN are the five largest buyers of Vietnamese goods in January.

Vietnam, meanwhile, mainly imported goods from China worth US$9.16 billion, up 64.1% year-on-year and accounting for 34.6% of the country’s total imports. South Korean came in the second place (US$4.75 billion), followed by ASEAN (US$3.18 billion) and Japan (US$1.68 billion).

Tuyen Quang advised to pay greater attention to forest economy

February 24, 2021 by en.qdnd.vn

The PM had a working session with key leaders of Tuyen Quang on February 23 after attending the launching of the tree-planting festival in the northern mountainous province.

He stressed that Tuyen Quang should become an important hub of wood industry of Vietnam and the region, asking the locality to mobilize all resources for the goal.

At the same time, Tuyen Quang should expand a number of other agricultural sectors, he said, suggesting that the province increase the area of sugar canes for export and call on investors to invest more in agriculture and forestry.

The PM reminded Tuyen Quang, the province to pay greater attention to preserving and promoting unique cultural identities of ethnic minority groups in the locality, thus boosting the development of tourism and service sectors.

PM Phuc expressed delight at dramatic changes that the province has made in the past 10 years in both urban and rural areas.

However, he noted that the province has still faced many difficulties in socio-economic development and investment attraction, keeping it a poor province.

On the occasion, PM Phuc visited the Tan Trao special national relic site in Son Duong district, which comprises 183 smaller relic sites having close relations with the national liberation cause in the middle of the 20th century.

He also visited and presented gifts to Cao Thi Co, a Heroic Vietnamese Mother in Tan Quang ward of Tuyen Quang city and Nguyen Dinh Phung, a former revolutionary official in An Tuong ward.

Source: VNA