Gdp growth france

A corner of Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) –  The Malaysian news service site theinnews.com (INS) has published an article, titled “Vietnam’s economy to keep growing solidly with new leaders”, highlighting that despite COVID-19, Vietnam has emerged as a shining star in Asia.

The article said the country’s political and economic achievements came from pandemic containment efforts that restrict COVID-19 impact on the economy. It noted the country has also wisely invested heavily in public healthcare system, which had benefited its people even before COVID-19.

“Effective management of COVID-19 has allowed the country to outperform all its regional counterparts,” it said, citing an example that Vietnam’s economy grew 2.9 percent last year from a year ago, outperforming even China which posted 2.3 percent growth during the same period according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The article also noted that as ASEAN Chair in 2020, while developing collective effort against COVID-19 and establishing joint groups related to public health emergencies, Vietnam undertook major initiatives under its chairmanship including cooperation on transnational crime, public security and coordination among the ASEAN law enforcement agencies.

Regarding Vietnam’s transition of leadership, the article expressed its belief that its new leaders will help develop the nation further.

It said in the face of a challenging situation in several countries in the region due to domestic political, economic and social instability, Vietnam stands out as a place of calm in a storm of uncertainty with a strong government in place that has managed to keep people employed and taken care of./.

Viet Nam’s export of some agricultural products such as rice, aquatic products and fruits has experienced many challenges recently. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is taking many measures to fight against origin fraud to protect Viet Nam’s export industries from litigation risk arising from the evasion of trade remedies.

Vietnam News Agency spoke to Tran Quoc Toan, deputy director of the ministry’s Import and Export Department, about the challenges facing Vietnamese enterprises as well as State’s support on this matter.

In the first quarter, Viet Nam’s agricultural exports, including rice, benefited from rising prices but export volume decreased compared to the same period in 2020. What are the reasons and the direction for rice export in the future?

Facing many difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Viet Nam’s rice export achieved positive results. Although the export volume decreased, the turnover growth brought benefits to rice farmers.

Vietnamese rice exporters are increasingly focusing on improving quality, traceability and striving to meet the strict standards of demanding markets such as the EU, South Korea and the United States. This is one of the factors that have helped improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese rice.

Export data to a number of high-end markets in recent years have shown positive signals on the improvement of the quality of both rice and the enterprises themselves.

Viet Nam’s rice export structure has been gradually shifting to high value-added rice such as fragrant rice, accounting for 27.15 per cent of the total export volume; japonica rice, 3.39 per cent; sticky rice, 9.26 per cent.

The current average export price has ensured farmers’ profits when compared with the average cost of paddy planned for the winter-spring crop 2020-21. In addition, Viet Nam has signed many free trade agreements (FTAs) with many strategic countries that have helped the Vietnamese rice brand become better known, expand markets for high-end rice and specialty rice at higher prices, contributing to the increase in export value for Vietnamese rice.

In order to boost rice export in the future, the MoIT will increase coordination with other ministries and the Viet Nam Food Association to support businesses to implement FTAs ​​effectively.

The ministry will continue regular coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which is leading the rice industry restructuring process and take drastic and comprehensive measures to improve the value and quality of Vietnamese rice, building and developing Vietnamese rice brand.

Besides the support from State management agencies, businesses need to actively prepare plans to strengthen their capacity, source of goods and improve competitiveness through building long-term and disciplined strategies to strictly comply with regulations on traceability, build and protect brands towards sustainable exports.

It is also necessary to proactively develop cooperation and linkage to enhance strength, create supply chains and prepare measures to deal with trade remedies and lawsuits through monitoring market and price developments.

Recently, many seafood and fruit products are facing challenges to maintain and expand in key markets, including the United States. What solutions has the ministry prepared to support businesses?

Vegetables and fruits have enjoyed impressive export growth for many years with an average growth rate of 14.1 per cent during 2016-20.

However, due to the adverse impacts of COVID-19, export value of this sector reached only US$3.3 billion in 2020, down 12.7 per cent year-on-year. In the first quarter of this year, the export turnover reached $944 million, up 6.1 per cent year-on-year.

The United States is the second largest export market with a market share of about 4-5 per cent of Viet Nam’s total fruit and vegetable export turnover. The export growth averaged 24.4 per cent in the last five years.

In 2020, despite the pandemic, vegetables and fruits shipped to the United States fetched $168.8 million, maintaining a growth rate of 12.5 per cent, of which, fruit export was $72.9 million, down by 8.5 per cent year-on-year. In the first two months of 2021, the export of vegetables and fruits to the US reached $23.4 million, up 3.7 per cent, accounting for 4.2 per cent of the export turnover of the whole industry.

To date, six types of fresh fruits from Viet Nam have been allowed to be shipped to the US, including dragon fruit, longans, lychees, rambutans, star apples and mangos. However, the amount of export is insignificant because of high costs such as transport, storage, quarantine and irradiation treatment which make them less competitive than from other countries that geographically nearer.

The export of processed fruits and vegetables has seen positive growth due to the change in demand and taste of consumers. This type of products with the advantage of long storage time prevails in the pandemic.

For seafood products, the export turnover in 2020 reached $8.4 billion, a decrease of 1.5 per cent year-on-year, of which exports to the US increased the most, reaching more than $1.6 billion, up 10 per cent thanks to sharp increase of 33 per cent in shrimp exports. In the first two months, seafood exports to this market continued to rise by 5.4 per cent year-on-year, reaching over $189 million.

Currently, the demand for seafood imports of the US market is recovering. The structure of products has also changed amid the pandemic. Therefore, the product segment serving retail channels, home consumption with high convenience such as ready-to-eat, instant food, dry food and canned food with reasonable prices is and will have more room to grow in the US this year.

In addition, the high rise in shipping rates and the lack of empty containers for packing in the past few months have also directly impacted seafood export activities.

According to the Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), by the end of 2020, foreign shipping lines increased freight by two to three times, even six to seven times in some sectors but enterprises were still unable to arrange vessels and containers for export. Enterprises supplying seafood materials from abroad also could not book vessels to ship raw materials to Viet Nam.

In order to support businesses to overcome difficulties, maintain and promote the export of agricultural products, especially to the US market, the ministry is taking many measures to fight against origin fraud to protect Viet Nam’s export industry from litigation risk arising from the evasion of trade remedies..

The ministry will update the situation on prices and markets to promptly notify and guide associations, enterprises and production establishments to organise their production plans.

Also it will proactively update the application of trade protection measures, promptly inform relevant agencies and businesses, and effectively fight against unreasonable technical barriers from the US market for agricultural products, including Vietnamese seafood and fruits.

In addition, the ministry will continue coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to accelerate the negotiation of the technical market to expand the list of Vietnamese goods/enterprises permitted to export to the United States, as well as carry out effective and suitable export promotion programmes for agricultural products.

Regarding the rising freight charges, the ministry has reported to the Prime Minister and will continue working closely with the Vietnam Logistics Business Association and other relevant industry associations to facilitate the distribution and balanced use of container rotation. — VNS

The news site Porady published a feature on Vietnam’s new leaders and opportunities for Ukraine by Ruslan Bortnik, head of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics.

The article reviewed Vietnam’s outstanding achievements after 35 years of Doi Moi (renewal), especially political stability, economic growth, and responsibility in building an international environment of peace.

The author said an increasing number of IT start-ups in the nation has attracted a significant amount of foreign investment. The people and society, meanwhile, put enormous faith in the capacity of the new leadership to successfully carry out economic development tasks and strengthen the country’s position in the international arena.

In its recent article, from-ua.com said with achievements in the fight against COVID-19, Vietnam is planning to reopen its door to international visitors in July. The nation is also welcoming foreign investors in the context that it houses a large number of advanced production models and strong economic groups.

The article noted that high-ranking personnel changes taking place in stable political conditions and robust socio-economic development are a premise for strengthening local people’s confidence on the path of completing institution, promoting strong interactions between society and authorities, and improving the overall “happiness index”.

Other Ukrainian newswires, including Golos.ua, also posted articles analysing Vietnam’s reform experience and reviewing its growth, particularly the nation’s effective pandemic containment and economic development last year. They were confident in the new leadership’s capacity of steering the country toward sustainable growth and higher international positions.

Source: VNA

The Ministry of Construction in coordination with the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) and SECO organized a workshop on April 13 to launch the project.

According to Dr. Nguyen Quang, UN-Habitat Program Manager in Vietnam, of the total funding for the 2020-2025 project, 3.8 million CHF will be managed by UN-Habitat while 450,000 CHF will be under the management of SECO.

The main goal of the project is to strengthen the capacity of national and local institutions to promote, plan, and implement innovative and participatory solutions for sustainable urban development in Vietnam.

The project will be implemented over a period of five years by UN-Habitat in close coordination with the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and city governments.

Marcel Reymond, head of Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland in Vietnam, said Vietnam’s socio-economic growth will only be maintained if there are measures to enhance the economic potential and competitiveness of urban areas and to improve the living standards of urban residents.

He expressed his belief that the project will bring about great socio-economic and environmental benefits, thus facilitating the transformation of sustainable development models in Vietnamese cities.

Vietnam is among countries with the most rapid urbanization rates in Southeast Asia, with the number of urban areas jumping from 480 to 830 between 1986 and 2019.

Source: VNA

He said there are many things that need to be done to turn science-technology into the driver and a source of power of the economy, but the first task is to digitalise and use information technology to enable connectivity in management. Obstacles in financial mechanism should also be removed, the Deputy PM added.

Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat affirmed that the ministry will continue to work with relevant agencies to build specific mechanisms for developing science-technology.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh reported at the meeting that science and technology has contributed greatly to national development, as seen in the growing contribution of the total factor productivity (TFP) to national economic growth, from an average 33.6 percent in the 2011-2015 period to 45.2 percent in the 2016-2020. The country’s Global Innovation Index (GII) was ranked 42nd among 131 countries and territories, third in ASEAN and topped the group of nations with the same level of income.

The country has begun to form an innovative startup ecology with around 3,000 innovative startups, which attracted approximately 1 billion USD of investment in the past two consecutive years.

Investment in science-technology now comes from both the State budget (52 percent) and businesses (48 percent) instead of relying entirely on the State like 10 years ago.

Source: VNA