Nationals park when do gates open

MPI proposes a draft decree on procurement bidding under CPTTP

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has summited to the Government a draft decree on amending Decree 95/2020/ND-CP providing guidelines on procurement bidding under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTTP).

According to the MPI, the draft decree will amend and supplement some articles of Decree No 95. It aims to guide State companies to execute bidding packages under the CPTTP agreement and EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

However, per the Government’s Resolution No 190/NQ-CP on the provisional application of the UK-Việt Nam FTA (UKVFTA), Việt Nam agreed to temporarily apply the UKVFTA from January 1, 2021.

The agreement was negotiated based on the principle of inheriting commitments in the EVFTA with necessary adjustments to ensure compliance with the bilateral trade framework between Việt Nam and UK. By doing so, the draft decree will avoid amending Decree 95/2020/NĐ-CP many times.

The MPI has asked the Government to revise Decree No 95 as follows.

The first option aims to implement international treaties on bidding and the second option is to execute the bid for public procurement of goods under the CPTTP, EVFTA and UKVFTA.

To boost competitiveness in bidding, the draft decree has stipulated the implementation of bidding related to consultancy services, non-consultancy services and construction services.

In the draft decree, bidding packages specified in Appendix II of the Decree No 95 show State companies will decide to allow intra-regional contractors or contractors from member countries of CPTTP to attend only.

For bidding packages specified in Appendix III of Decree No 95, State companies can allow intra-regional contractors or contractors from member states of the EU and UK to bid.

Regarding the intra-regional procurement bidding for the supply of goods specified in (Appendix II), State companies will decide to allow intra-regional contractors to offer goods originated from member countries of the CPTTP, the UK and EU to attend or allow member countries of CPTTP to offer goods originated from these countries only.

For supply of goods specified in (Appendix III), State companies will decide to allow intra-regional contractors to offer goods originated from member states of the CPTTP, the EU and UK or only allow contractors from the EU and UK to offer goods originated from these countries.

Enhancing added value for rice industry

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has just approved a project on restructuring the Vietnam’s rice industry until 2025 with a vision to 2030.

Accordingly, Vietnam will continue to restructure the rice industry in the direction of improving efficiency and sustainable development towards the objectives of fully meeting domestic consumption demand, being the core in ensuring national food security, and enhancing the efficiency of the rice value chain.

Under the project, Vietnam also expects to adapt to climate change and mitigate the impacts of climate change, make efficient use of natural resources and protect the ecological environment, and increase income for farmers and benefits for consumers, in addition to exporting high quality and high value rice.

The country also plans to keep its rice area at 3.6 to 3.7 million hectares by 2025, with rice production of 40 to 41 million tonnes per year.

The rice industry also aims at exporting 5 million tonnes of rice each year by 2025, including 40% fragrant rice, specialty rice and japonica rice, 20% sticky rice, 20% high quality rice, 15% medium and low-grade rice, and 5% products processed from rice. The percentage of branded rice exports is over 20%.

The country sets the target of exporting 4 million tonnes of rice by 2030, including 45% fragrant rice, specialty rice and japonica rice, 20% sticky rice, 15% high quality rice, 10% medium and low-grade rice, and 10% products processed from rice, with over 40% branded rice exports.

A notable aspect of the project is that the rice export volume has decreased gradually in each period, but the criteria for specialty rice, high quality rice, processed products from rice, and percentage of branded rice exports sees increases year by year.

This shows that the future direction of the rice industry is to reduce the area and output for export towards a focus on improving rice quality and selling prices.

This is the right target which is suitable to the current situation of rice production and export, particularly in the context that Vietnam has signed many free trade agreements (FTAs) with international partners, such as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA).

To make the best use of the advantages from FTAs, the rice industry has to constantly improve product quality to meet the increasingly strict requirements of importing countries.

Rice is a strategic commodity of our country, not only contributing to the economic development but also playing an important role in ensuring national food security. Therefore, promoting the restructuring of this industry is essential to better boost the achieved results while igniting untapped potential.

The solution for the coming time is to develop concentrated rice production areas with identified varieties and the links between production, consumption and export. It is also important to strictly control the production process, obey the limit of pesticide residue, and ensure traceability.

The rice industry also needs to apply advanced technology in terms of post-harvest preservation and processing to reduce losses, ensure uniform quality of rice products, and fully satisfy food hygiene and safety regulations.

Danang focuses on production and export to restore economy

Even as the tourism and services sectors continue to be impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak, manufacturing and export are expected to help the central city of Danang restore its economy, with several projects gearing up for acceleration.

Stealing the limelight is the Danang City Software Park No. 2 project (first phase), which will have an investment capital of more than VND1,300 billion after the investor pumps more than VND500 billion into the project.

This information was revealed in a report made by the Danang industrial and civil construction projects management board, the project’s investor, which was unveiled at a function held on February 19 at the project’s construction site in Danang City.

As planned, work on the project commenced on October 10, 2020, and it will be completed by August 31, 2022, inclusive of three main buildings ICT, ICT1 and ICT2.

However, Nguyen Huu Ninh, the board’s director, said part of the project will be accelerated and targeted to be completed at least eight months ahead of schedule, to meet demands from businesses.

Specifically, the Danang City Investment Promotion Agency had asked the project’s investor to consider requests by LG, one of the customers at the park, about putting the ICT1 block into operation soon. After a discussion, the investor agreed to hand over the site to the tenant on December 31, 2021, instead of August 2022.

In addition, a representative of the Danang Hi-tech Park said the supporting industry zone located at the park will be put into operation in June 30 this year, paving the way for potential investors to step in.

In addition to boosting projects in the information technology sector, Danang also expects the operational production projects of domestic and foreign investors to be the driving force to restore the city’s economy as well as to contribute to exports.

Tokyo Keiki Precision Technology Co., Ltd. specializes in manufacturing hydraulic equipment components and products (solenoid valves and pumps) at the Danang Hi-tech Park. It targets to earn 678 million yen (almost US$6.5 million) in the fiscal year of 2021, up 10% against 2020.

According to Tokyo Keiki, after gaining sustainability from some overseas markets, including China, the company plans to make products for the Japanese market in the near future.

In the fiscal year of 2020, the company earned 618 million yen. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the company had a large number of inventories. However, everything began improving since December 2020.

Meanwhile, Thuan Phuoc Fisheries and Trading Joint Stock Company obtained total revenue in 2020 of VND2,315 billion, up 10% against 2020. Nguyen Thi Phi Anh, general director of Thuan Phuoc, said the company is constructing a new frozen seafood processing plant in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang with a capacity of 4,950 tons a year. The plant will be put into operation in the second quarter of 2021.

As production is being restored, the central city expects exports to accelerate.

Reportedly, in 2021, Danang Port JSC will see the throughput (mainly via its Tien Sa seaport) increase by 5% against 2020, while the profit growth will increase at least by 8% compared to 2020.

In 2020, the total volume of goods through ports in Danang reached 11.4 million tons. It earned a profit of VND260 billion.

Danang port regularly welcomes ships from 18 firms around the world.

HCMC: Development of industry, trade attaches with regional economy, innovation

Vice Chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Thi Thang chaired the meeting for the approval of the implementation plan for the year 2021 of the Department of Industry and Trade with the attendance of representatives of departments and industries of the city.

Reporting at the meeting, Mr. Bui Ta Hoang Vu, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of HCMC, said that the industry and trade of the city would strive to meet the basic targets this year.

Specifically, the index of industrial production would increase by 5 percent, with four major industries surging from 6.7 percent upwards compared to last year. Total retail sales and service revenue in the city would exceed VND835.68 trillion, up 10 percent.

Export turnover through border gates across the country would reach US$48.19 billion, up 10 percent. Import turnover would hit $56.47 billion, up 11 percent compared to the estimate of 2020.

The city’s industry and trade would upgrade 100 percent of administrative procedures to level 4, supporting people and enterprises in settling administrative procedures, especially in the process of arranging administrative units at district and commune levels and establishing Thu Duc City under the HCMC.

To achieve the above targets, the department will synchronously carry out solutions to contribute to the general goal of industrial and trade development with a fair growth rate, supporting the recovery of economic growth in the city, at the same time, creating strong changes in economic restructuring towards services – industry – agriculture, in which the service sector’s proportion in the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) will be maintained at above 60 percent.

It will also build and take some measures to develop the industry and trade that foresee the development trend, helping the city to maintain its role as an economic locomotive and the pioneer in innovation nationwide.

The development of the industry and trade will attach with the regional economy, the application of science, technology, innovation, and the in-depth development based on three foundations, comprising developing four key industries, supporting industries, and key industrial products and potential industrial products of the city. The department will develop e-commerce and focus on turning some advantageous products of the city into key export products in the coming time.

As for administrative reform, the department will take the enterprise as the center, and the satisfaction of the people, organizations, and enterprises as a measure of its effectiveness; promote the application of information technology in management and administration activities of the department this year, in which it will research and deploy digitization and paperless meetings.

Vice Chairwoman of HCMC People’s Committee Phan Thi Thang highly appreciated the position and role of the city’s industry and trade in deploying and implementing key programs of the city, making an important contribution to the implementation of the “dual goals” of both preventing the Covid-19 pandemic and realizing the city’s socio-economic development goals in 2020.

As for the plan for 2021, Ms. Phan Thi Thang agreed on the targets, operational directions, and groups of solutions of the Department of Industry and Trade.

The year 2021 is the first year to implement the city’s socio-economic development plan in the 2021-2025 period, and important projects approved by the municipal People’s Committee, such as the development project of e-commerce in the city to 2025-2030, logistics development project to 2025-2030, export development project to 2025-2030, programs to support the development of key industrial products and potential industrial products, and continue to restructure the city in the 2021-2025 period.

Therefore, the work program needs to clearly state the contents of the work to implement the goals and tasks in 2021, clearly assign the responsibilities of each position and prove by actual results and completion time. There should be a strong breakthrough in the administrative sector to raise the level of people’s satisfaction in the implementation process.

Regarding the recommendations of the industry and trade, Ms. Thang approved the policy and assigned the industry and trade to implement two concentrated promotions in 2021 so as to create a boost in attracting domestic and foreign tourists to visit and contribute to building HCMC into a major shopping center of the region and the country.

For recommendations related to administrative procedures, the city will prioritize helping enterprises to develop production and business. As for other recommendations, the HCMC People’s Committee will organize working sessions to collect opinions of competent departments and give specific feedback to the department.

The municipal People’s Committee will soon consider and assign personnel to strengthen the leadership apparatus to create conditions for the Department of Industry and Trade to focus on completing the assigned tasks.

RCEP offers opportunity to expand Vietnamese agricultural exports

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest trade pact, offers Vietnamese agricultural exporters an excellent opportunity to increase their participation in global value chains, experts said.

Le Duy Minh, chairman of the Viet Nam Farms and Agricultural Enterprises Association, said the RCEP provides the country’s farm produce with access to a larger market and opportunity to improve their competitiveness.

The trade deal brings together the 10 ASEAN member countries, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, which account for 29 per cent of the world’s GDP and have a population of 2.2 billion.

The trade pact promises to help increase Viet Nam’s exports since many of the other members have huge demand for its farm produce and processed foods.

Thanks to the harmonisation of rules of origin between the members, Viet Nam’s exports could meet all the requirements to benefit from preferential tariffs in countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, Minh said.

These countries also have relatively similar import standards and consumer tastes, not to mention the lower transportation and logistics costs they offer thanks to their proximity.

It also opens new opportunities for trade with China in new categories such as communications, financial services, logistics, and e-commerce.

Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Viet Nam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said the trade deal would further increase the country’s agricultural exports to China, already a major market.

The RCEP removes tariffs on at least 64 per cent of tariff lines.

In 15-20 years Viet Nam will abolish 89.6 per cent of tariff lines while its partner countries will remove 92 per cent of its tariffs.

Other ASEAN members will remove 85.9 per cent of all tariffs for Viet Nam.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, the general director of Vina T&T Company, said the RCEP was enabling talks on opening up export markets to more of the country’s agricultural products.

Commitments and trade facilitation measures under the deal are also expected to promote the growth of new supply chains, thus boosting international standard agricultural production in ASEAN.

However, experts also pointed to a host of challenges such as satisfying rules of origin and quality standards and competition from foreign rivals in both the domestic and foreign markets.

Tung said businesses should view free trade deals, including the RCEP, as a chance to improve their product quality, bolster supply chain management and promote competitiveness.

Vietnamese airlines’ on-time performance hits 94.6 percent

Vietnamese airlines’ on-time performance (OTP) from January 19 to February reached 94.6 percent, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

Bamboo Airways recorded the highest rate of 96.7 percent, followed by Pacific Airlines (96.5 percent), Vietnam Airlines (96.3 percent), Vietravel Airlines (93.6 percent), Vasco (93.4 percent), and Viejet Air (91.7 percent).

Experts said the figures demonstrate the great efforts by the domestic airlines given the impact of new infections in the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh ahead of the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

During the period, the domestic airlines operated 20,944 flights, representing a month-on-month increase of 7.4 percent.

Vietjet Air conducted the highest number of flights among domestic carriers, with 7,881. It was followed by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (6,725), Bamboo Airways (4,008), Jetstar Pacific (1,640), Vasco (518), and Vietravel Air (172).

Despite the impact of COVID-19, the Hanoi-HCM City route remained one of the world’s busiest domestic routes.

It is ranked second globally, with 1.085 million passengers in February, just behind the Jeju-Seoul Gimpo route in the Republic of Korea, according to a report released in February by OAG, a global travel data provider headquartered in the UK.

Ensuring the safety of flights, passengers, airport staff, and crew members remains the top priority of the airlines./.

Long An needs around 1.3 billion USD for transport infrastructure development

The Mekong Delta province of Long An will mobilise some 30 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD) to develop local transport infrastructure during 2021-2025, according to the provincial Department of Transport.

In the next five years, capital will be prioritised for three key transport projects and eight breakthrough projects under the Resolution adopted at the province’s 11th Party Congress. Of the total, over 18 trillion VND will be sourced from the central and local State budget, and nearly 12 trillion VND will be raised from other legal sources.

According to Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Transport Nguyen Hoai Trung, along with pushing construction of the belt road in Tan An city and DT830 road, the sector is sharpening focus on completing procedures for the building of several important transport projects such as DT 827E road worth 16.5 trillion VND, and DT 830E road worth over 3.3 trillion VND.

Upon completion, the projects are expected to connect local industrial parks and clusters in key economic zones with Long An International Port, Ho Chi Minh City and localities in vicinity, helping facilitate travel and transportation of goods of local people and enterprises./.

Vietnam lures 5.46 billion USD in foreign investment

As much as 5.46 billion USD worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) was injected into Vietnam as of February 20, equivalent to 84.4 percent of the figure recorded in the same time last year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

As many as 126 foreign projects were granted investment licences with total registered capital of 3.31 billion USD, a year-on-year fall of 33.9 percent.

Meanwhile, 115 existing projects adjusted their investment capital with a total additional sum of 1.61 billion USD, or 2.5 times higher than the same time last year.

Capital contributions and shares purchases by foreign investors stood at 543.1 million USD, down 34.4 percent.

Foreign investors pumped capital in 17 sectors, with processing and manufacturing holding the lead with over 3 billion USD or 55.7 percent, followed by power production and distribution with 1.44 billion USD (26.5 percent), real estate 485 million USD, and science-technology nearly 153 million USD.

Japan topped the list of 46 countries and territories landing investment in Vietnam, with 1.64 billion USD, equivalent to nearly 30 percent of the total. Singapore came second with 1.07 billion USD (19.6 percent), and the Republic of Korea third with 1.05 billion USD (19.3 percent).

The ministry said the southern province of Can Tho lured the lion’s share of FDI with 1.31 billion USD, accounting for 24.2 percent of the total. Hai Phong city was the runner-up since it attracted nearly 918 million USD, or 16.8 percent. Bac Giang came third with nearly 573 million USD (10.5 percent).

So far this year, the foreign-invested sector has earned 38.07 billion USD from exports, up 34 percent year-on-year, and making up 76.1 percent of the nation’s total export turnover. At the same time, it spent 31.6 billion USD on imports, up 31.2 percent year-on-year, and accounting for 66.6 percent of the country’s total import value. That resulted in a trade surplus of nearly 6.5 billion USD./.

Denmark prioritises supporting Vietnam in green energy development

Denmark prioritises helping Vietnam’s energy sector with green development and transformation, Danish Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Højlund Christensen affirmed on February 24.

He was speaking at an online signing ceremony of Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation in the supply of pile foundations and logistics ports for the La Gan offshore wind power project in the south central province of Binh Thuan.

Collaboration in projects like La Gan will contribute to expanding and enhancing cooperation between the two countries in sharing information, and improving the capacity of experts and employees, especially in the offshore wind power supply chain, the ambassador said.

The La Gan wind power project, with an estimated capacity of nearly 3.5 GW, is being developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), Asiapetro and Novasia.

It is expected to generate electricity for over 7 million households each year.

According to the BVG Associates, the project will create over 45,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs and contribute over 4.4 billion USD to the economy during the course of the project.

The total rate of locally-made components will account for about 45 percent of the supply chain of the project.

As the project will be carried out for many years, more opportunities will be given to Vietnamese contractors to join the supply chain.

Since the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the provincial People’s Committee in July 2020, the project has achieved significant progress, including preparing for a field survey and approving survey license.

With a total investment of 10 billion USD, it is also one of the first large-scale offshore wind power projects in Vietnam./.

Vietnam Airlines plans to spend big on Long Thanh International Airport

The Vietnam Airlines Corporation has said it is planning to invest nearly 10 trillion VND (434.78 million USD) in Long Thanh International Airport, which is now under construction in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Vietnam Airlines Chairman Dang Ngoc Hoa said that, in its development strategy for 2021-2030, the corporation and its member units will set aside resources to participate in the building and operation of infrastructure at the Long Thanh airport, providing full services in air transport for itself and other carriers.

Services include providing aviation fuel, ground technical services, meals, cargo terminal services, aviation logistics, waiting room services, and duty-free sales, which it has already been providing at many major airports via subsidiaries or affiliates.

Hoa said that 30 percent of the total investment in these services at the Long Thanh airport will come from Vietnam Airlines, with the remainder from loans.

The corporation and its members will directly invest in infrastructure construction or cooperate with the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to set up joint stock or limited liability companies to carry out the work.

Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) Dinh Viet Thang said the proposal is reasonable since the services suggested are associated with transport services.

He noted, however, that the corporation will have to participate in the tender process.

The first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport, from 2020 to 2025, will receive over 109 trillion VND (4.66 billion USD) in investment and will feature one runway, one passenger terminal, and associated facilities capable of catering to 25 million passengers and handling 1.2 million tonnes of cargo annually./.

Japanese energy firm to hold 11 percent stake of Petrolimex

Japan’s ENEOS Corporation said it has registered to buy 25 million treasury stocks of the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex).

The purchase will be made from March 1-30 in the form of order matching on the stock market.

It previously acquired 13 million treasury shares of Petrolimex, or a stake of 1 percent, from August 27 to September 14, 2020.

A representative said the JX Nippon Oil and Energy Vietnam Co. Ltd., an affiliate of the ENEOS Corporation, currently holds more than 103.5 million Petrolimex shares, equivalent to an 8 percent stake.

Once this latest purchase is completed, the corporation will hold about 11 percent of Petrolimex. Meanwhile, Petrolimex still has 50 million treasury shares.

Earlier, Petrolimex announced it would divest the State holding to 51 percent during 2020 and 2021.

Petrolimex earned consolidated revenue of 123 trillion VND (5.34 billion USD) last year, surpassing the plan by 1 percent. After-tax profit stood at 1.23 trillion VND, down 74 percent year-on-year.

It was honoured by Forbes Vietnam last year as the biggest earner for the fourth consecutive year, one of the top 50 listed companies, and one of the 50 leading brands in Vietnam./.

Q1 GDP growth likely lower than target

Vietnam’s GDP growth in the first quarter of 2021 is forecast to come in at 4.46 percent; 0.66 percentage points below the target set in the Government’s Resolution No 01 in a scenario where the COVID-19 pandemic is controlled during the quarter.

Resolution No 01/NQ-CP on key measures to carry out the 2021 socio-economic development plan and State budget estimates outlines growth scenarios for each quarter and for each sector throughout the year.

The Government set a goal of posting growth of 6.5 percent and increasing workplace productivity by nearly 4.8 percent and health insurance participation to around 91 percent. The rate of multi-dimensionally poor households is expected to fall by 1-1.5 percent.

With the results in the first quarter, if the growth targets in the Resolution for subsequent quarters are reached, 2021’s GDP growth is estimated to come in at 6.37 percent; exceeding the 6 percent target set by the National Assembly but still lower than the target set in the Resolution.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said it is necessary to urgently implement the Resolution to achieve objectives in the socio-economic development plan in the 2021-2030 and 2021-2025 periods.

In a report submitted to the Government in January, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) proposed that priority be given to disease prevention and control in order to ensure the health of the citizenry and minimise the impact of the pandemic on the national economy.

It also proposed measures to promote economic growth through the “three-horse carriage” of investment, exports, and consumption.

The banking and finance sector continues to implement sensible fiscal and monetary policies to ensure macro-economic stability and stimulate economic growth, cut unnecessary expenses, especially regular spending, maintain a reasonable interest rate level and improve credit quality for priority areas, and strictly control credit in areas of potential risk.

Monetary and fiscal policies need to be assessed carefully towards developing support policies for those affected by COVID-19, especially services, tourism, and transport.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is responsible for urgently building and implementing policies to stimulate domestic consumption, improve links between production and consumption in the supply chain, and promote the development of distribution networks associated with the “Vietnamese give priority to Vietnamese goods” campaign, to boost sustainable consumption demand.

It is also working to improve institutions and create favourable conditions for the development of e-commerce and e-payments as well as supporting export enterprises to expand markets through cross-border e-commerce.

Meanwhile, the MPI also proposed continued improvements to the quality of institutions, thus creating an open and favourable business and investment environment for enterprises.

Regarding the management, disbursement, and use of overseas development assistance (ODA), ministries, sectors, and localities must determine project priorities in association with ensuring reciprocal capital, and promote investment projects in the form of public-private partnerships, to attract investment capital from the private sector, especially for transport infrastructure projects.

Localities have been urged to focus on promoting international cooperation, diversifying import and export markets, taking full advantage of free trade agreements (FTA) Vietnam has signed, strengthening defence measures, and building early warning systems to protect domestic production and support businesses responding to trade defence lawsuits./.

Dong Thap develops close to 100 community-based tourism sites

Dong Thap province has developed nearly 100 community-based tourism sites to date and become the third-most attractive locality in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region.

Ngo Quang Tuyen, deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said local people have built effective community-based tourism models that have caught the attention of tour operators and helped diversify local tourism products.

Such models have also contributed to increasing the added value of farm produce and creating jobs with stable incomes, he added.

Most of these 100 sites are located in the districts of Lai Vung, Tam Nong, and Thap Muoi, as well as in Cao Lanh and Sa Dec cities.

Deemed “The land of lotuses”, visitors to Dong Thap should not miss a visit to the lotus field eco-tourism site in Thap Muoi district. There were previously only five families providing tourism services at the site, but their number now counts in the dozens and an average of 10,000 visitors come to admire the fields every month. During peak tourism times, the number of visitors can exceed a thousand a day.

Meanwhile, Tam Nong district, which is famous for its Tram Chim National Park – a Ramsar wetlands site of international importance – is home to about 30 lodging facilities and two eco-tourism sites and welcomes approximately 100,000 holidaymakers annually.

The rich and diverse agriculture for which Dong Thap is known gives it advantages in terms of community-based tourism.

Local agro-tourism sites cover between 5,000 and 10,000 sq m on average and cater to up to 1,000 visitors a day. Total revenue in the 2016-2020 period stood at more than 43 billion VND (1.86 million USD)./.

Disbursement of FDI projects increases by 2% over two-month period

The disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) witnessed a positive annual increase of 2% to approximately US$2.5 billion during the first two months of the year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

As of February 20, the total newly registered and adjusted capital and the value of capital contributions, and shares purchases made by foreign financiers reached US$5.46 billion, equivalent to 84.4% in comparison to the same period from last year.

February saw the country grant investment licenses to 126 new projects worth US$3.31 billion, a decline of 33.9% from the same period last year.

Most notably, a total of 115 existing projects registered to adjust their capital, marking a 2.5-fold increase compared to the corresponding period from last year, with total additional registered capital reaching US$1.61 billion.

Furthermore, the value of capital contributions and shares purchases by foreign investors dropped to US$543.1 million, a drop of 34.4 % compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Foreign financiers have invested in 17 local industries, of which the processing and manufacturing sectors took the lead with total investment capital reaching more than US$3billion, accounting for 55.7% of overall registered investment capital.

Moreover, electricity generation and distribution ranked second with total investment capital of US$1.44 billion, making up 26.5% of total registered investment capital, followed by real estate, along with science and technology.

Japan tops the list of the 46 countries and territories currently investing in the nation with total investment capital of US$1.64 billion, holding approximately 30% of the country’s FDI, trailed by Singapore, the Republic of Korea, China, Hong Kong (China), and the United States.

Can Tho represents the most attractive location among 43 provinces and cities after receiving US$1.31 billion in FDI, constituting for 24.1% of the overall, followed by Hai Phong, Bac Giang, Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Coffee industry seeks to weather COVID-19 crisis

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, local coffee firms have devised a long-term strategic vision, changed their business mindset, and invested in processing technology in an effort to increase the added value of coffee beans.

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.

Binh Duong firms face recruitment difficulties

Many firms in Binh Duong Province are facing difficulties in finding workers after the Tet Holiday.

It’s estimated that 611 firms in Binh Duong need nearly 71,300 employees, 20,000 more than last year. Over 85% of the firms with trade unions have resumed work and 716,000 out of 774,000 employees have returned to work.

Firms at VSIP Industrial Park want to recruit 20,000 new employees and firms at Ben Cat Industrial Park are in need of 10,000 employees. Dozens of firms have contacted the Labour Confederation of Binh Duong and communal authorities to ask for help.

Firms in major cities like Di An, Thuan An and Thu Dau Mot cities can find new employees more easily while it’s a struggle for firms in remote areas like Bac Tan Uyen or Bau Bang districts. Firms in Binh Duong also face tough competition with firms in nearby cities and provinces. The average wages and bonuses in Binh Duong are considered lower than in HCM City and Dong Nai Province. Moreover, many people still don’t want to go to work yet due to the ongoing outbreak.

Nguyen Hai Dinh from Son La Province said, “I have done some research and realised that the minimum wages are basically the same in all companies so the question is which one has better treatment and bonuses. This is the first time I go to Binh Duong to work so I’m in the dark.”

Binh Duong Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has asked the Employment Service Centre to provide more information both offline and online, contact provinces with a labour source and consult firms about better wages and bonuses to attract employees.

Vocational schools, colleges and universities were asked to help with job introduction. Meanwhile, firms were asked to send HR employees to go find new employees in other regions with the trade unions or ask their own employees to introduce new people.

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

The STARSHIP URSA of Marshall Island

Vietnam welcomed two foreign commercial vessels, STARSHIP URSA of Marshall Island and CMA CGM J. ADAMS of Malta, to ports in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau on February 12, the first day of the Lunar New Year, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration (VINAMARINE).

A representative from the authority said in the first months of 2021, the maritime industry has recorded strong growth.

Despite difficulties posed by the COVID -19 pandemic, Vietnam still recorded impressive growth in trade, especially exports to Europe and America, because of the high demand from these markets.

The increasingly modern and comprehensive seaport infrastructure and transport system have also created a momentum for the maritime industry’s development.

The operation of deep-water seaports will promptly replenish container berth infrastructure to serve the growing demand of customs clearance

In order to meet the increasing cargo transportation demand in recent times, VINAMARINE has directed sea port authorities to coordinate with State management agencies to speed up the processing of administrative procedures for ships.

It has also worked with management agencies of ports and shipping companies to develop marine safety plans to allow port calls by large ships./.

First dragon fruit lot exported to China in new Lunar Year

Some 190 tonnes of dragon fruits were shipped to China through Kim Thanh II International Border Gate in the northern province of Lao Cai on February 12, the first day of the lunar New Year.

According to the Lao Cai Border Gate Customs Sub-Department, the lot, the first to be exported to China in the lunar New Year, was worth 2.8 billion VND (121,512 USD).

Departing from the Mekong Delta province of Long An, the lot was transported through the border gate in a safe manner with quick customs clearance and strict implementation of preventive measures against COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, 1.15 billion USD worth of goods was transported through Kim Thanh International Border Gate, including 606 million VND worth of exports. In the year, 337 million USD worth of dragon fruits were exported to China through the gate./.

Vietnam maintains stable exports to Israel in 2020

Vietnam earned an estimated 700 million USD from exporting goods to Israel in 2020 despite difficulties and obstacles posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the  Vietnamese Trade Office in the Middle East country.

The figure showed a slight reduction from 774 million USD reported last year. This is said to be a positive result in the context that the Israeli market witnessed fluctuations, disturbances and difficulties amid political instability and negative impacts from the pandemic.

Notably in November last year, Vietnam’s export value to Israel surged by 27.2 percent compared to the previous month, reaching 51.04 million USD.

Turnover of most key export items rose strongly in the month, with coffee up 108.6 percent, footwear (35 percent), phones and accessories (31 percent), and textiles and garments (21.4 percent) cashew nuts (16.9 percent), and seafood products (3.3 percent).

Israel, with a population of only 9.3 million, is the third largest export market of Vietnam in the Middle East, after the United Arab Emirates (UAE ) and Turkey./.

Khanh Hoa’s tourism sector looks forward to rebound in 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has costed Khanh Hoa province a negative growth of 10.5% and budget collection shortage of over 25%. Tourism is the hardest hit sector in the locality. The locality has sped up several stimulus programmes to rock the market in the coming time.

In the coming time, Khanh Hoa province looks to introduce stimulus tourism packages and new tourism products and services to attract visitors. In the instant future, it has deployed a contest for new logo and slogan for Khanh Hoa’s tourism sector to renew the province’s image in visitors’ eyes.

COVID-19 vaccines have sparked hope of economic recovery globally, especially in tourism industry. Khanh Hoa province, whose spearhead economic sector is tourism, is also looking forward to a big rebound in 2021./.

Bamboo Airways announces pre-tax profits of over 17 million USD

Bamboo Airways has recently announced its pre-tax profits of over 400 billion VND (17.38 million USD) in 2020, up 34 percent year-on-year.

The airline attributed the profit to the favourable conditions thanks to the Government’s drastic and effective pandemic prevention and control measures, and its own proactive and prompt solutions to overcome difficulties.

It is currently operating nearly 30 aircraft, including the most modern types such as Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, A321NEO ACF and Embraer E195. The fleet is expected to reach 50 this year.

Last year Bamboo Airways transported a total of over 4 million passengers, up 40 percent in the numbers of flights and passengers against those of 2019.

HCM City aims for 33 million tourists in 2021

The southern largest economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City has set a target of welcoming 33 million tourists with total revenue of more than 4.3 billion USD in 2021.

Some notable events include the 8th HCM City Ao dai Festival and HCM City Tourism Day, along with tours at old Sai Gon’s relics.

Last year, the city’s tourism market suffered greatly from the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of international visitors to HCM City in 2020 was 1.3 million, down 84.8 percent year on year, while the number of domestic travellers to HCM City was 15.8 million, a decrease of 48.4 percent year on year.

Total tourism revenue was estimated at nearly 3.7 billion USD, down 39.6 percent compared to 2019./.

Vietnam gains cassava export growth in 2020

Vietnam gained growth in the export of cassava chips and cassava-made products in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development.

Exports last year reached 2.76 million tonnes, earning 989 million USD, an increase of 9 percent in volume and 2.4 percent in value compared to 2019. However, the average export price of those products reduced by 6 percent to 358.3 USD per tonne year on year.

In December alone an estimated 330,000 tonnes with a value of 118 million USD were exported.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic did cause problems for the cassava production industry according to the department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, but it was still one of the few agricultural products with a positive growth in export value.

The exports of cassava chips in 2020 reached 640,000 tonnes, earning 139 million USD, up 60 percent in volume and 75 percent in value over the same period last year. The average export price for this product reached 217 USD per tonne, up 10 percent.

Tapioca export was estimated at 2.1 million tonnes with a value of 850 million USD, down 1 percent in volume and 4 percent in value over the same period in 2019. Its average export price reached 401 USD per tonne, down 4 percent.

According to the department, China was the largest export market with the total volume of cassava chips and cassava-made products reaching 1.9 million tonnes, earning 772 million USD. That’s an increase of 11.5 percent in volume and 2.7 percent in value compared to 2019.

Taiwan and Malaysia were also two other largest export markets of Vietnamese cassava with the growth in export value of 15 percent and 3 percent year on year, respectively, in the first 11 months of 2020.

In China market, Vietnam is currently the second largest supplier of both cassava chips and tapioca, according to China’s General Department of Customs./.

Online trade promotion helps businesses adapt to COVID-19

The spread of COVID-19 around the world created difficulties for businesses in promoting their products and seeking new customers but many were prompted to change trade promotion strategies and adapt.

Bui Thi Thanh An, Vice Director of the Trade Promotion Agency at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said nearly 50 national-level trade promotion programmes were cancelled or postponed last year due to the pandemic.

This had a major effect on export activities and the economy in general, she said.

To address the situation, the agency has sped up the introduction of information technology (IT) and changed how trade promotion activities are held.

Since March when COVID-19 spread globally, the agency has changed all trade promotion activities to online. More than 500 international online trade conferences have now been organised, along with more than 1 million online trade exchanges.

These events helped connect more than 2,000 businesses with foreign partners in different markets, An said.

The agency has also coordinated with foreign customers based in Vietnam, such as AEON and Central Group, to organise special “weeks” featuring Vietnamese products, through which many goods have been selected for sale in foreign-owned supermarket chains around Vietnam and then headed to foreign markets.

It has also made use of social networks and Vietnamese trade offices abroad to support businesses seeking markets, An added. Such efforts contributed to maintaining export growth and speeding up economic recovery, while helping enterprises remain updated on market developments, trends, and demand, she added.

Though online trade promotions have become more common since the pandemic broke out and were initially considered just a temporary solution, experts and enterprises agree that they will now become a key part of the trade promotion ecosystem.

Vietnam’s economy is heavily reliant upon exports, so the country must adapt to sudden disruptions to international trade. Taking advantage of IT platforms to seek trade opportunities is considered the most feasible option at this time.

Zacharie Blondeau, Sourcing Director at Source of Asia, said business-to-business (B2B) is the most effective method of connection, but in certain contexts, such as pandemics and travel restrictions, businesses should actively connect online.

An underlined that even after COVID-19 is fully brought under control, online trade promotions will continue to be organised.

The Trade Promotion Agency is developing digital technology-based platforms to create a new promotion ecosystem comprising of online trade fairs and exhibitions and online databases and origin tracing, creating the conditions necessary for enterprises to access trade promotion programmes at the lowest cost and with the greatest efficiency.

She advised businesses to regularly participate in online and direct trade exchanges, conferences, and workshops, while actively digitalising their operations by improving websites and joining large and reputable e-commerce platforms./.

Fresh impetus could spur on Vietnamese economic growth in 2021

Vietnam is capable of achieving a higher GDP growth rate than the set target of 6% in 2021, providing it accelerates reforms and draws up proper plans for economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period, according to economist Nguyen Dinh Cung, former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management.

Cung, who is also a member of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory think-tank, underlined the need to immediately launch stimulus packages in an effort to bolster the economy, promote the development of new sectors, and mobilise all resources for a more dynamic economy.

The country’s successful containment of COVID-19 in 2020 coupled with its recent socio-economic development achievements indicate the resilience of the national economy, especially the business resilience shown by local firms during this challenging period.

It’s the Government’s prompt response and timely support for local firms that helped the country to record several major economic achievements last year, the economist told VOV.

Cung also pointed out that while the global economy slipped deeper into recession due to COVID-19, Vietnam was one of few economies that enjoyed positive growth last year.

“The 2.91% growth rate in 2020 will create the prerequisite for the country to even beat the 6% target as set by the National Assembly for this year should the government continue with radical reforms and a thorough economic recovery plan,” said the economist.

According to Cung, 2021 is the first year Vietnam starts implementing the freshly-concluded National Party Congress’s resolution and the new socio-economic development strategy ti;ll 2030. Therefore, he expressed his belief that this year’s breakthroughs will lay a solid foundation for future socio-economic development.

The economist went on to underscore the importance of facilitating the sustainable development of the private economic sector, accelerating efforts of institutional reform, and launching new stimulus packages aimed at aiding the economy.

“Institutional reform must be stronger and more comprehensive with a focus on simplifying administrative procedures, improving the business climate, and carrying out radical reforms to raise the market level of the economy, especially the allocation and use of resources in an effective manner,” he noted.

As part of efforts to help the private economic sector develop steadily and become an important driving force for Vietnamese economic development, Cung stressed the need to make stronger transformations, liberalise the domestic market, reduce costs for enterprises, and re-allocate resources towards building a wealthy and strong nation.

The economist also called for the removal of barriers faced by businesses, whilst protecting their legitimate rights and interests, along with fine-tuning the legal system and facilitating the application of science and technology for further development.

It is essential to form and develop large private economic groups that can boast great potential and stringent competitiveness in both regional and international markets, he suggested, anticipating with the goal of having at least two million enterprises by 2030, the private economic sector can contribute between 60% and 65% to the country’s GDP by this date.

Local businesses increase production capacity for Tet

An array of local businesses have devised plans in which they offer promotions and ramp up communication activities in an effort to serve people before, during, and after the Lunar New Year festival or Tet.

A wide variety of food and beverage products at stable prices will be distributed to supermarkets, shops, traditional markets, and e-commerce channels, with an abundant supply of goods.

According to the Department of Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, at present most firms operating in the processing and manufacturing industries have temporarily halted production ahead of Tet, with the exception of a few enterprises involved in the paper and cement industry. Indeed, a handful of companies will maintain a certain output throughout the holiday period due to the specific characteristics of production lines that require regular operation.

Furthermore, some businesses in other industries such as electronics and car production will still maintain operations as a part of their production lines, although they will not complete any new products.

As a labour intensive industry, garment and footwear enterprises must employ many workers from different localities throughout the country, meaning that they have to give their employees time off for the Tet holidays, according to the Government’s announced schedule. Despite being impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the industry still recorded positive growth compared to the same period from last year.

Most notably, the textile production index and garment production index recorded respective increases of 16.6% and 9.9% compared to the same period from last year. Indeed, textile and garment export turnover in January was estimated to be US$2.6 billion, an annual rise of 3.3%, while footwear export turnover of all kinds in January hit an estimated US$1.8 billion, up 26.4% over the same period from last year.

Electronic businesses are therefore catching up with the trend of shifting production from multinational electronic corporations, thereby opening up plenty of opportunities to participate in the global supply chain.

By January, the domestic electronics industry had grown by 38% compared to the same period from last year. As such, local electronic businesses will take Tet holidays according to the schedule announced by the Government and will not have to maintain continuous production over Tet.

With regard to fertilizers, due to the preparation for cultivation in the Winter-Spring crop over the first days of the Lunar New Year, the price of various fertilizers tends to increase. Providing that the total amount of fertilizer meets demand and there is no shortage of goods, there will also be no price hike.

Moreover, the power supply to the national power system has come up with a plan to ensure that there are no problems in the power source and grid, especially before, during, and after Tet.

Milk consumption to grow by 7% this year: securities brokerage

Milk consumption is expected to increase by 7 per cent this year, analysts at SSI Securities Corporation have said.

They said it is based on a baseline scenario that assumes the pandemic would be controlled by mid-year and there would be no more social distancing.

They also forecast the prices of existing SKUs (stock keeping unit) would not increase this year.

But they admitted demand among low-income consumers could be impacted given the fact that COVID-19 has hurt them, and companies like Vinamilk and Vinasoys have seen downtrading in the first nine months of last year.

In contrast, premiumisation would continue as middle- and high-income groups are less impacted, and are more open to consuming higher quality dairy products, they said.

“We assume dairy raw material prices will increase by 4 per cent in 2021. Also, higher oil prices in 2021 are likely to affect packaging and shipping costs.”

The study also found that investors are paying more attention to environmental, social and governance criteria when investing in dairy companies.

As a result, the sector has begun to diversify its products, including shifting to plant-based beverages.

According to market research company Euromonitor, the dairy industry was worth VND135 trillion (US$5.84 billion) last year, an increase of 8.3 per cent from 2019, thanks to the rapid growth in the yogurt and fresh milk segments.

Currently, modern distribution channels only account for 10-15 per cent of dairy sales, but analysts expect it to outpace traditional channels.

Recognising the trend, companies are now focusing on the former, they said.

But according to SSI, it would mean lower profit margins due to the fierce competition between a multiplicity of brands.

The dairy industry is expected to see more M&A deals this year after a number of them involving leading companies took place last year, such as Vinamilk’s acquisition of a controlling stake in Moc Chau Milk and the acquisition of IDP by investment consultant Blue Point and asset management firm VietCapital.

Both acquired companies saw profits skyrocket after the deal.

Moc Chau’s net profit grew by 68 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2020 and IDP’s was up nearly 34 per cent.

There is fierce competition in the market with the appearance of new players, the SSI report said, adding that Masan Group has recently launched new dairy products, B’fast cereal milk, while Vitadairy has been expanding rapidly in the powder milk segment.

Saigon Hi-Tech Park seeks to attract investment in tech, supporting industries

The Saigon Hi-tech Park will create favourable conditions to attract investment in the tech and supporting industries this year, its head has said.

Dr Nguyen Anh Thi, head of the board of management of Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP), said the park has this year set an FDI target of US$200 million.

It recently issued investment registration certificates to two major hi-tech projects.

They include $19.5 million by US company Arevo to manufacture 3D-printing machines and carbon fibre and nanotube-reinforced polymers for 3D printing and provide software services.

Korea’s SNST and Finger Vina have invested $1 million to produce high quality integrated circuits.

Last year Hong Kong company TTI, Inc., a wireless industrial electrical equipment manufacturer, invested $650 million in the park and is looking for local suppliers to increase its use of local parts.

It plans to set up a plant and an R&D centre with the intention of making Viet Nam its new manufacturing base.

It wants to increase investment in manufacturing for export, while simultaneously developing German-standard training schools to improve the quality of the Vietnamese engineering workforce.

It is set to encourage companies to relocate to Viet Nam to join its supply chain.

The plant will manufacture hand-held power tools with integrated technology for designing and manufacturing control devices, electronic transformers, mechanical engineering products, and others.

As part of its efforts to attract investment, the park has organised high-tech supporting industry development programmes to help local firms link up with lead firms, through business matching activities between foreign and Vietnamese enterprises, and with export processing zones and industrial parks around the country.

The park has also developed 162,000sq.m of high-rise factories for local firms in supporting industries, according to Thi.

Hua Quoc Hung, chief of the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), said his agency has set an investment target this year of $550 million in industrial parks and export processing zones.

Science and Technology Park

Speaking at a recent meeting Thi said the park would focus on building a ‘world-class’ science and technology park.

It has a vision of laying the foundation for development of high-tech industries in HCM City, he said.

“We aim to create an environment to improve the quality of human resource training as this is the most important factor in production.”

He said it is important to enhance links between educational institutions, businesses and the park.

In the last 20 years various types of science and technology park models have sprung up globally such as innovation centres, incubation centres, innovation towns, and public science and Al technology urban areas.

In 2011 the city began consulting experts for building the park at a cost of more than VND4.3 trillion ($185 million).

The new park will tie up with educational and research institutes as part of a city programme to improve the quality of human resources, especially in new technologies.

Central city to develop hi-tech supportive industries

Plans are in the pipeline to build an industrial park in Da Nang dedicated to supportive industries.

It is part of the Government’s master plan of industrial park development from 2030-2045.

It will be built on the edge of the Da Nang Hi-Tech Park.

Head of the city’s Hi-Tech park and the Industrial Zones Authority (DHPIZA), Pham Truong Son said the decision was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, and the 58.5ha supportive industries park will offer investment for domestic and foreign businesses.

Son said the supportive industry park, which is sandwiched between the Hi-Tech Park and Da Nang Information Technology Park in Hoa Vang District, has completed 85 per cent of infrastructure since 2016.

He said Da Nang has yet developed supportive industries – one of the disadvantage factors of the city in luring investment from domestic and foreign investors.

Son said the city wants to boost the development of supportive industries over the next decade.

The city has been building a development plan on three new industrial zones – Hoa Cam, Hoa Nhon and Hoa Ninh on total 880ha – for approval by the Prime Minister.

According to DHPIZA, the construction of the three new IZs would be soon commenced in 2021.

The city has called for investment for infrastructure works on the three new IZs in 2020-23 with an estimated investment capital of VND13.8 trillion (US$604 million).

The new IZs have been designed as ‘green’ and ‘clean’, and hopes to attract hi-tech and environmentally-friendly industries.

The Da Nang-based Sunshine Aerospace components manufacturer plant, which was invested by the Universal Alloy Corporation from the US worth $170 million, began operation after one year of construction in March of 2020.

Da Nang’s industrial infrastructure projects offer advantage location for investors as it boosts connection of key traffic routes including the Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway, the Chan May Economic Zone in Thua Thien-Hue, the Chu Lai Economic Open Zone in Quang Nam and Dung Quat Economic Zone in Quang Ngai Province.

The Hi-tech Park and IZs would be a magnet for global industrial firms and producers, offering flexible land rent, land clearance, income tax and import tax policies.

Investors with projects valued at more than $133 million will enjoy a 10 per cent tax rate for 30 years, according to DHPIZA.

Struggling shopkeepers at HCM City traditional markets learn to sell online

With traditional markets in HCM City struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more of their shop owners are looking to sell their goods on online channels such as delivery apps and social media.

According to the management of Ben Thanh Market in District 1, most stalls except those selling fresh produce have few customers, especially handbag, clothing and handicraft shops.

Demand has dropped by 80 per cent compared to the same time last year, and around half the stalls remain closed.

An Dong Market in District 5 is suffering a 90 per cent drop despite a recent renovation that has greatly improved its appearance.

Nguyen Thanh Chau, head of the management of Thai Binh Market, said sales were down by half and some stalls that closed down had not even reopened for Tet.

Traders learn online selling

Traders in markets have been looking at selling online. Truong Thi Hue, who sells clothes at An Dong Market, said for the past two months her daughter had been showing her how to use Facebook and Vietnamese social media Zalo to sell her products.

Nguyen Thi Thai Trang, another clothes seller in the same market, said after she took part in an online Cho Lon Market fair last September, she was able to network with many businesses, including Co.opmart, which greatly benefited her business and her employees.

She has asked An Dong Market also to organise online market fairs.

Foodstuff, fruit and vegetable traders in Ben Thanh Market are selling their products via delivery service Grabmart.

Duong Thi Thanh Thuy, a confectionery seller there, said while her family business had been relying on customers and tourists over the last 60 years, she now had to make use of technology.

According to Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, a beo (water fern) cake seller in the market, doing business through food delivery service Now.vn boosts her income by around 30 per cent helping it survive COVID-19.

Some traders said selling online had not been profitable so far since it was still new to them, but, nevertheless, these were new channels and in the long run could be more profitable.

Ben Thanh Market is working with the District 1 Information Technology Centre to improve its website to help traders sell their goods online.

Tran Huy Cuong, director of District 5’s Centre for Economic Development and Labour Supply Assistance, said the district had organised online fairs to help traders get used to using online channels. They were also being taught how to use social media to sell their goods, take photos and write about their products, he added.

According to Associate Professor Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the city Food Safety Management Board, many Tet food items are being sold online, a low-cost method that limits close contact during the pandemic, but safety risks are involved since there are no checks.

While traders on large online platforms are monitored, small ones that operate on social media such as Facebook are not well monitored, and so customers should look for trustworthy sites to shop.

The city reduced shop rents in traditional markets by half for the last six months of 2020.

Pandemic reveals enterprises’ view of responsibility

The unprecedented challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted more than ever the importance of responsible crisis management and sustainable development at enterprises.

Viet Nam’s successful containment of the virus significantly helped leverage the image of the country and its enterprises globally, according to Vo Tri Thanh, director of the Institute of Branding and Competition Strategy. It also confirmed the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, associating enterprises’ brands with social responsibility and sustainable development, he said.

“Many enterprises, not only large ones but also small and medium-sized enterprises, shared the burden with the Government and citizens during the time of crisis,” he said.

“Their sense of responsibility towards the community and society will certainly be recognised and be a very good basis for post-pandemic recovery and development.

“We saw Vietnam Airlines bringing Vietnamese abroad home, while Viettel, VNPT, and FPT lowered telecommunications fees. Electricity of Vietnam cut power prices, Hapro and Co.op Mart stabilised prices, and many other companies joined hands in the fight against COVID-19.”

In August, Vingroup gave the Ministry of Health DrAidTM software and attached devices to provide prognosis assistance in novel coronavirus treatment. The first AI software introduced helps to rapidly identify abnormalities based on upright chest X-rays in less than five seconds and adds to the accuracy of test results, reduces false negatives, and assists in enhancing treatment consistency and knowledge transfer from central-level doctors to grassroots-level doctors.

The country’s leading real estate conglomerate also donated 3,200 ventilators to the Ministry of Health to help combat COVID-19 and sponsored chemicals for 56,000 COVID-19 PCR tests in Da Nang City, Hai Phong City, and Bac Ninh Province.

Towards sustainable development

Developing sustainably, contributing to growth, and ensuring social welfare would be at the core of enterprises’ development, said Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Never in history have we seen the world change so quickly and considerably,” Loc went on. “The world is changing constantly, requiring that every government, every economy, and every enterprise be resilient and innovate to keep up with the speed of change and develop sustainably.

“It is in the historic challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic that we see enterprises’ efforts to maintain jobs, restructure and prepare for recovery, and work with the Government and the community to fight the virus.”

According to Nguyen Xuan Duong, vice president of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association, CSR contributes significantly to resolving social problems like the pandemic.

CSR proves that when a business cares about social issues, there will be a positive impact on its profitability, which will help increase its value and sustainability.

Hoang Ngoc Hai from the Academy of Politics Region 1, in an article published in Tap chi Tai chinh (Finance Journal) wrote that CSR should not be seen only as an action to resolve social problems for charitable and humanitarian purposes.

“CSR should be understood as a way in which a business strikes a balance between economic, environmental, and social requirements, and at the same time meets the expectations of shareholders and partners,” Hai wrote.

“It can help support enterprises’ brands and bring benefits, which contribute to creating humanistic value and building a corporate culture as well as increasing competitiveness in the context of rapid international integration.”

Still, many enterprises do not fully understand the importance and benefits of CSR, as exhibited through many committing business fraud, producing poor-quality products, and causing environment pollution to maximise profits.

According to Tran Thi Tra My from Thuong mai University (Commerce University), to have an appropriate action plan, enterprises must understand pressing social issues.

She pointed out that, in recent years, Viet Nam had faced increasing challenges in climate change and environmental pollution, which were threatening social welfare and human health as well as the sustainable development of the ecosystem. There were also difficulties in providing education and building a future for the young.

My cited a survey by the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs carried out on 24 garment and footwear enterprises, which found that revenue was up around 25 per cent for those with a CSR programme.

During international integration, the implementation of CSR has become a must, according to My, and will not only bring benefits to enterprises and to society but also help improve the competitiveness of enterprises and the country as a whole.

“It is necessary to develop mechanisms and policies to support enterprises in implementing CSR initiatives,” she said.

Construction firms urged to apply technology to improve efficiency

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and Industry 4.0 required construction firms to invest in technology to improve efficiency.

According to the Ministry of Construction, more than 1,500 enterprises operating in the construction industry completed dissolution procedures in 2020, demonstrating that the COVID-19 pandemic had negative impacts on the operation of these companies, although the Government lowered banking interest rates last year to aid enterprises.

Another problem was that input costs increased significantly while real estate prices did not see a corresponding increase, which also affected operation efficiency.

The ministry said that the real estate market was showing signs of recovery but the recovery was not taking place as rapidly as expected. In addition, legal problems at a series of property projects were causing stagnation in construction.

Large firms also encountered difficulties.

Nguyen Xuan Dong, general director of Vinaconex Corporation, said that the company’s revenue in 2020 fell by 42 per cent against the previous year, in which construction revenue dropped by 45 per cent and real estate business by 86 per cent.

Economic expert Can Van Luc said that the Vietnamese economy expanded at three per cent in 2020 despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher than the world’s average.

The gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the 2018-19 period averaged around 6.8 per cent, forecast at 6.5-7 per cent in 2021 and seven per cent on average in the next 10 years. The positive economic prospects would fuel the development of the real estate market and provide opportunities for construction enterprises to expand operation and enhance efficiency in the future, Luc said.

According to Cao Van Ban from the Viet Nam Association of Construction Economy, the macroeconomic situation and the positive prospects for real estate market recovery were opening new opportunities for construction companies to develop but also bringing challenges and new requirements.

Ban said that constrution firms must raise solutions to speed up construction progress, lower costs and improve quality.

“The most important thing to construction companies at the moment is to take advantage of science and Industry 4.0 to create breakthroughs,” Ban stressed.

For State-owned construction enterprises, it was necessary to strengthen restructuring and renovation through privatisation to improve efficiency, he said.

Renovating technology is an unavoidable trend, not only for construction enterprises.

The Prime Minister in late January issued a national technology renovation programme to 2030 which set the target that the number of enterprises renovating technology increases by 20 per cent per year on average.

Investment booms as Soc Trang improves business climate

Soc Trang Province’s efforts to improve its business climate is paying off with more and more investors, both domestic and foreign, coming since 2016.

It has worked with hundreds of potential investors seeking to invest in areas where the province has strengths like hi-tech agriculture, tourism and wind and solar power.

It approved 116 projects with a total investment of VND27.3 trillion (US$1.18 billion) in 2016-20, 5.5 times the amount in the previous five years.

Nine of them are FDI projects.

Soc Trang authorities have been making efforts to improve the investment climate and provincial competitiveness by focusing on infrastructure and providing lands for projects.

They are keen on projects that are sustainable and environment-friendly.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Nhi, deputy director of the province’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, said her department had been reforming administrative procedures, boosting the province’s competitiveness in terms of attracting investment and business climate.

One key infrastructure project is the upgrade of Tran De deep-water port, which will reduce logistics costs for exports from the Mekong Delta.

The recently approved Chau Doc – Can Tho – Soc Trang highway will connect to the port, aiding goods transportation and improving links with the rest of the country.

The province is also creating a start-up eco-system with development assistance, incubation programmes and sponsorship for creative small and medium-sized businesses.

In the last five years 1,900 new businesses were set up, a 47.2 per cent increase from 2011 – 15. Many companies have invested in manufacturing in the An Nghiep Industrial Park, creating tens of thousands of jobs.

In 2021 – 25 Soc Trang seeks to further improve its business climate and competitiveness, focusing on business assistance services, labour training and helping investors start projects smoothly.

There are 3,300 registered businesses in the province with a total charter capital of VND33 trillion.

Soc Trang’s economy grew by 6.75 per cent in 2020.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/SGGP/VOV/NDO/Dtinews/SGT/VIR

The Ministry of Finance has submitted a proposal to the Government seeking approval to create a decree expanding the timeframe for tax and land lease payments.

The move is expected to ease difficulties faced by enterprises amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those in tourism and transportation.

Under the proposal, payments of value added tax are to be extended by five months, during which revenue to the State budget will fall by nearly 68.8 trillion VND (2.99 billion USD).

Regarding corporate income tax, around 40.5 trillion VND in payments during the first and second quarters will be delayed by three months.

Meanwhile, the payment of some 1.3 trillion VND in value added tax and personal income tax from business households and individuals will also enjoy a delay.

The ministry suggested extending the deadline for land lease payments in the first installment, valued at about 4.4 trillion VND.

The total value of delayed taxes and land lease will amount to 115 trillion VND.

Tax agencies allowed delays in tax and land lease payments worth some 87.3 trillion VND last year, for 184,900 taxpayers./.

Vietnam to overcome difficulties in 2021 through solidarity: MoIT leader

Challenges remain ahead in 2021, but Vietnam will overcome all with solidarity between the political system, businesses, and the people, Politburo member, head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission, and Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Tran Tuan Anh has said.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Anh said that this year, amid the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the major target defined by the Party, State, and Government continues to be effectively containing the pandemic to protect people’s lives and public health.

The country will coordinate with the international community to fight COVID-19 while continuing to recover its economy and return to true normal, ensuring people’s living conditions and building a foundation for the country’s sustainable development over the next five and 10 years, he said.

All economic recovery and normalisation activities will be conducted on the basis of ensuring the prevention of COVID-19, he added.

He underlined that the new integration frameworks Vietnam is engaging in, especially free trade agreements (FTA) and new-generation FTAs, bring unprecedented opportunities for the country in all fields, helping to fuel economic growth.

Anh stressed the need for the Ministry of Industry and Trade to further speed up the restructuring of economic sectors towards reforming the growth model, and improving added value.

At a ceremony to ship the first coffee batch to Europe (Photo: VNA)

He highlighted the necessity for Vietnam to further expand markets, especially within the FTAs, while engaging more deeply in supply chains to promote supporting industries as well as the manufacturing and processing sector and agriculture. This is a vital factor for the successful international integration by agriculture and farmers under the country’s general strategy.

In particular, it is crucial to immediately implement Politburo Resolution No 55 on sustainable energy development and Resolution No 23 on national industrial policies, he said, describing those documents as the cornerstones for the building and development of essential infrastructure of vital significance for the economy, serving sustainable development in the future.

He noted that Vietnam signed three FTAs in 2020: with the EU and the UK as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Thanks to its integration process, Vietnam has made fundamental changes in its macro-economy, thus securing economic and socio-political stability and paving the way for continuous sustainable development in the years ahead, he said./.

Investment booms as Soc Trang improves business climate

Soc Trang province’s efforts to improve its business climate is paying off with more and more investors, both domestic and foreign, coming since 2016.

The Mekong Delta province has worked with hundreds of potential investors seeking to invest in areas where the province has strengths like hi-tech agriculture, tourism and wind and solar power.

It approved 116 projects with a total investment of 27.3 trillion VND (1.18 billion USD) in 2016-20, 5.5 times the amount in the previous five years.

Nine of them are FDI projects.

Soc Trang authorities have been making efforts to improve the investment climate and provincial competitiveness by focusing on infrastructure and providing lands for projects.

They are keen on projects that are sustainable and environment-friendly.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Nhi, deputy director of the province’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, said her department had been reforming administrative procedures, boosting the province’s competitiveness in terms of attracting investment and business climate.

One key infrastructure project is the upgrade of Tran De deep-water port, which will reduce logistics costs for exports from the Mekong Delta.

The recently approved Chau Doc – Can Tho – Soc Trang highway will connect to the port, aiding goods transportation and improving links with the rest of the country.

The province is also creating a start-up eco-system with development assistance, incubation programmes and sponsorship for creative small and medium-sized businesses.

In the last five years 1,900 new businesses were set up, a 47.2 percent increase from 2011 – 15. Many companies have invested in manufacturing in the An Nghiep Industrial Park, creating tens of thousands of jobs.

In 2021 – 25 Soc Trang seeks to further improve its business climate and competitiveness, focusing on business assistance services, labour training and helping investors start projects smoothly.

There are 3,300 registered businesses in the province with a total charter capital of 33 trillion VND.

Soc Trang’s economy grew by 6.75 percent in 2020./.

Ministry takes action on market stability in new circumstances

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has called for concerted solutions to maintain market stability, remove difficulties facing domestic firms, and increase the total retail sales of goods and services.

Such solutions rolled out in line with the Government’s Resolution No 01/NQ-CP dated January 1, 2021, are expected to contribute to the country’s socio-economic stability.

The ministry will continue to improve the socialist-oriented market economy mechanism to facilitate economic recovery, and spur growth in the industry and trade sector in a rapid and sustainable manner.

It has also focused on improving the sector’s adaptability and resilience against external shocks to stabilise production and consolidate the domestic and foreign market so as to flexibly and effectively realise the dual goals of containing COVID-19 and recovering and developing the sector in the “new normal”.

Notably, the sector has stepped up restructuring in tandem with growth model reform, and paid more attention to the processing and manufacturing industry in combination with smart technologies and digital transformation to raise productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness.

More attention will be paid to developing the domestic market, promoting the consumption of Vietnamese goods, enhancing trade promotions, and boosting e-commerce.

Given the impact of COVID-19, the ministry has asked businesses to increase the supply of goods, especially necessities, and requested local Departments of Industry and Trade to take measures to ensure market stability.

To remove difficulties in the consumption of agricultural products, the ministry has adopted solutions to boost consumption links domestically and negotiated with major buyers to facilitate exports./.

HCM City: Work begins to supply power for Metro Line No 1

The Management Authority for Urban Railways of Ho Chi Minh City (MAUR) and contractors kicked off work on power supply for the southern economic hub’s first metro line project on February 19, which has now seen 82 percent of works completed.

Consultation and construction are now underway to link power sources from the 110kV Binh Thai and Tan Cang electricity stations to supply all power stations along the metro line.

According to the MAUR, if COVID-19 can be controlled, the work of cable pulling will be completed in the second quarter of this year, which would allow for trial runs and commercial operations taking place earlier.

MAUR deputy head Huynh Hong Thanh vowed to work with contractors on speeding up construction progress, with quality put first and pandemic control and prevention measures implemented effectively.

The 2.05 billion USD metro line, which runs between Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9, is the first of at least six to be built in the city and aims to ease traffic congestion in its north-eastern gateway.

It is designed to have 14 stations, three of them underground. There will be 17 three-carriage trains plying the route, running at a maximum speed of 110 km/h above ground and 80 km/h below ground./.

Fight with e-commerce fraud to be increasingly fierce

The General Department for Market Surveillance has shown determination in the war against counterfeit goods and trade fraud products in e-commerce channels.

Last year saw e-commerce flourish and it is forecast that this will continue in the coming years. Therefore, the fight will be increasingly fierce this year, especially as “the border gate is at the door of each citizen”, according to one official.

Tran Huu Linh, director-general of the General Department for Market Surveillance, said that in the past, large warehouses were often located in big cities such as Ha Noi and HCM City, but now, the largest warehouse is located in the northern mountainous province, just a few kilometres from the border.

Along with that, modern logistics, delivery and payment services help bring the “border gate” to the front of houses, he added.

By just packing the goods and delivering them to shipping companies, the goods could be taken anywhere domestically without any difficulty, said Linh.

This created more challenges for authorities as transactions through e-commerce become more and more popular with all people, he noted.

“We have determined that there must be a more professional and methodical plan in this fight. In the immediate future, it is necessary to propose units in the Ministry of Industry and Trade to soon submit to the Government a decree replacing Decree 52/2013 on e-commerce,” Linh told online newspaper phapluatplus.vn.

One reason the decree is needed is the speed of e-commerce development, meaning it’s time to consider and treat goods in the e-commerce environment as in the traditional environment, he noted.

Linh said that the decree was issued to promote the development of e-commerce, so it has not strictly regulated goods traded via e-commerce.

Besides, the decree has not specified the responsibilities of e-commerce trading floor managers. This loophole has caused the floors not to strictly control the origin of the goods displayed for sale.

Therefore, it was necessary to hold e-commerce floor owners responsible so that when having trade fraud problems, they are also subject to inspection and post-inspection sanctions. Important services including payment and transportation would also be included in the new decree, he said.

In addition, the General Department for Market Surveillance will focus on e-commerce for two to three years because as it was forecasted that the ratio of trade fraud in e-commerce would be about 50-60 per cent in that period compared to overall types of fraud in general, said Linh.

That is why the General Department for Market Surveillance has built a relatively comprehensive plan to mobilise strength for this tough war.

It is proposed to set up an official division of the market surveillance force specialised in preventing fraud in e-commerce, at the same time, improving the post-inspection capacity of the market surveillance force and regularly reviewing and inspecting e-commerce trading floor owners and social networking platforms.

Public investment disbursement must be sped up: minister

Speeding up the disbursement of public investment from the start of this year was an important solution to accelerate economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung has said.

The global economy was expected to embark on the recovery process after a deep downturn in 2020 due to the pandemic. However, the recovery would be different from country to country, depending on the developments of the pandemic and efforts to contain the virus.

“It is necessary to drastically implement measures to accelerate the disbursement of public investment in 2021, right from the first months of the year to create the impetus for economic growth to meet and even exceed targets,” Dung said.

Accountability must be enhanced, he stressed.

To make public investment a pillar for economic growth, the finance ministry is developing a programme with a focus on removing legal bottlenecks to disbursement of public investment.

Inspections would also be enhanced to ensure the allocation and use of public investment to follow National Assembly and Government plans while close watch would be kept on the process to tackle problems.

Regarding the disbursement of public investment from foreign loans, Dung said the progress remained stagnant, partly due to the pandemic.

There were also subjective reasons for the stagnation, including slow site clearance, a lack of accountability and poor preparation which required adjustments and slowed disbursement, he said.

Dung said that to fulfil the public investment plan for 2021-25, it was important to enhance the accountability of all parties relevant to the use of public investment in all stages, from preparation to implementation and settlement.

Projects which failed to meet planned progress should have their capital revoked, he stressed.

Statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed the disbursement of public investment was estimated at VND398 trillion (US$17.3 billion) as of the end of December, meeting 82.8 per cent of the Government’s plan – the highest rate in the 2016-20, thanks to the Government’s determination to speed up the disbursement of public investment as a major driver for economic growth.

According to the General Statistics Office, every increase by 1 per cent in public investment disbursement would push GDP by 0.06 percentage points.

The Vietnamese economy expanded at 2.91 per cent in 2020, the lowest rate in the past decade but this was considered a big success in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 14,000 tonnes of dragon fruit exported to China via Lao Cai border gates

More than 14,000 tonnes of dragon fruit were exported to China from February 10-17 through border gates in the northern province of Lao Cai, according to the provincial Border Gate Customs Sub-Department.

Lao Cai authorities, including customs, border guards, and medical quarantine officials, maintained operations in the opening days of the Lunar New Year to ensure the quick and safe customs clearance of goods.

During the period, total import-export revenue through border gates in Lao Cai topped US$11 million, including $2.4 million worth of imports, mainly fertilisers and farm produce, and $8.8 million worth of exports, mostly agricultural products.

According to the Border Gate Customs Sub-Department under the Lao Cai Department of Customs, in 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19, the sub-department completed its ‘twin targets’ by processing customs clearance declarations for 516 businesses with an import-export value of more than $1 billion and ensuring safety from the pandemic.

In 2021, it will work with other sectors to speed up administrative reform while exhibiting better performance in e-customs clearance activities to save time and costs, ensuring economic development and COVID-19 prevention and control at the same time, the department said.

Bac Ninh eyes $123 million IP

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved investment intention in a project on infrastructure development at the Thuan Thanh I Industrial Park in northern Bac Ninh Province.

The project covers a total area of some 250ha in Ninh Xa, Tram Lo and Nghia Dao communes of Thuan Thanh District, with total investment of VND2.84 trillion (over US$123 million), of which VND859.73 billion comes from its investor – Viglacera Corporation.

The construction is scheduled to last for 36 months from the land hand-over, and the project is set to operate for 50 years from February 17, 2021.

The PM required the provincial People’s Committee to ensure the accuracy of information and data reported, and carry out land reclamation, site clearance, compensation and land lease in line with approved documents.

The construction must comply with the detailed planning scheme that has been approved, he said, stressing that the committee needs to instruct the management board of industrial parks in Bac Ninh and relevant agencies to supervise and assess the implementation of the project.

The PM also highlighted the building of houses, and social, cultural and sport facilities for labourers in the industrial park, as well as employment and vocational training support to local residents who have to relocate to make way for the project.

Hybrid model, the new rising trend in office market

A hybrid working model comprising both remote and office-based work is a trend that many companies will embrace since working methods have changed globally after the pandemic broke out, including in Viet Nam, experts have predicted.

In a note on trends in the property market this year, property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said a year of lockdowns that forced people to work from home showed many tasks could be done remotely, spurring companies to adopt new, hybrid working models.

The shift was already underway at many businesses, but was accelerated by COVID-19 like many other things, it said.

“In 2020 a work from home experiment took place globally and showed that businesses can continue to operate effectively by leveraging technology” Paul Fisher, country head of JLL Vietnam, said.

“But for many, the lack of face-to-face interaction has put pressure on teams and whilst a number of our clients expect to adopt flexible working practices in the future, for the majority this will include the office remaining the central point for business activities.”

But many aspects of work would not change, the note said. People would still need to collaborate, innovate and liaise with managers on projects and their careers, a reason why people missed the office, and it was why for many offices would retain a central role in corporate life.

The office still existed as the best and most convenient place for team building and connecting with management.

WeWork predicted at an ongoing roundtable on office trends in the region that beyond economic pressures and realities that enterprises face, tapping new workspace strategies is crucial for future-proofing themselves in a volatile climate.

Amidst the changing face of its enterprises, Southeast Asia is seeing a shift towards flexible workspaces bridging enterprises’ challenges and opportunities, it said.

Talking about the future of the workplace after the pandemic, Elizabeth Fuller, the company’s head of growth, SEA, said after a year of pandemic working from home might be an alternative option for many companies.

But this is not sustainable for businesses in the long term, she claimed.

In the workplace, innovation, creativity and organisational health hinges on successful collaboration, and a loss of these would hinder sustained business performance, employee engagement and organisational health in the long run, she said.

The new work order would thus be a hybrid of flexible workplace arrangements, she said.

She cited the example of two Fortune 500 companies that have expanded their presence with WeWork across several buildings by establishing a headquarter presence in one location and supporting functions and business units in the others.

“They have leveraged our CBD presence, with locations in close proximity to each other. This allows them to scale accordingly without having to renegotiate existing real estate commitment, implement distributed workforce as a safety measure and also enjoy engagement.”

Property consultancy CBRE said the pandemic has changed the structure of office demand.

Due to COVID-19, technology and online shopping utilisation have increased significantly, which led to the expansion of e-commerce companies last year, it reported.

The pandemic has also changed the real estate strategies of occupiers. Previously employees were heavily relying on being in office, but are now more willing to work in different spaces.

Pham Ngoc Thien Thanh, associate director, CBRE Vietnam, said: “COVID-19 has reshaped the market’s dynamics, and unaffected sectors will drive market demand in 2021.

“Besides, tenants will start paying more attention to all factors including saving rental costs, ensuring employees’ wellness and maintaining business performance.

“To do that, occupiers tend to adopt a hybrid workplace model, designing offices with lower density and also diversifying the workplace into different sites such as decentralised options and co-working spaces.

“The market will be intensely competitive in the next two years with a wave of new supply. To stay ahead of the competition, landlords should consider applying workplace strategy tools to evaluate current strengths and deficiencies of their buildings to come up with an optimal solution to increase their assets’ values.”

The HCM City office market remained in a deep slump last year due to COVID, which badly affected many enterprises. It witnessed negative net absorption of – 20,544sq.m of leasing area.

Three new office buildings came into the market, Friendship Tower (grade B), UOA Tower (decentralised grade A) and Opal Tower (grade B), with a combined 65,372sq.m of net leasing area, but it represented a fall of 31 per cent in area compared to the previous three years.

Switching to HNX can help reduce overload on HoSE: VNDirect CEO

Market regulators should consider policies to encourage companies listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) to temporarily switch to the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), said CEO of VNDirect Securities Co Do Ngoc Quynh.

He said such a move aimed to help mitigate the overload of the transaction system at HoSE while awaiting the completion of a new technology system for the whole market, he said.

Since the end of 2020, Viet Nam’s stock market has witnessed a booming trading period with multi-session liquidity of more than VND15 trillion (US$653.2 million).

The wave of new investors entering the stock market has helped set new liquidity records, which is a positive signal for the market, he said.

As interest rates are still at low levels and people’s understanding of the financial market is improving, this can be considered a very favourable period for attracting investors and developing Viet Nam’s stock market.

However, skyrocketing liquidity has far exceeded market forecasts, leading to frequent congestion in many sessions, causing a lot of trouble for investors and affecting the quality of the market.

“The sudden increase in liquidity recently is unpredictable, causing undesired interruptions in trading,” said Le Hai Tra, Chairman of the Board of Members of HoSE.

“To tackle this issue, the State Securities Commission said it was speeding up the implementation of a new information technology system for the entire stock market, known as KRX.

“However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of the new system is delayed and if the disease progresses more complexly, it will be difficult to continue the plan,” he said.

In the short term, one of the solutions applied by the State Securities Commission (SSC) is to increase the minimum trading volume for a transaction on HoSE from 10 to 100 shares to help reduce the burden on the transaction system.

Although officially in place at the beginning of 2021, congestion still occurs when investors flock into the market and push the liquidity to new heights, sometimes reaching $1 billion per session.

The SSC has also instructed the HoSE to request securities companies to review, limit errors arising from the companies’ processes, limiting automatic transactions to avoid negative impacts on the system, to check internal control, control risks, limit errors that may occur in the trading system and arrange staff on shift duty at peak transaction times.

In the short term, as the KRX system is not immediately available while trading demand is huge, a temporary solution is to transfer some companies from HoSE to HNX, said Quynh.

This can be considered as an appropriate step because the Prime Minister issued Decision 37/2020/QD-TTg to establish the Vietnam Stock Exchange (Vietnam Exchange), based on the merger between HoSE and HNX.

“This is the quickest and least costly solution at the time being. This will not only help to reduce the overload on the HoSE system but also ensure the smooth transaction of the Vietnamese stock market, meeting the legitimate trading needs of investors, ensuring credit of the stock market in the eyes of domestic and foreign investors, maintain an effective capital mobilisation channel for enterprises in the economy,” he said.

If the SSC approves and facilitates administrative procedures for companies to switch from the HoSE to HNX, VNDirect will volunteer to help them with the transferring procedures, Quynh added.

Wood exports enjoy sharp increase during January

Vietnam’s timber and wood exports in January witnessed a surge of 48.4% to US$1.25 billion in comparison to the same period from last year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The United States, Japan, and China remain the three largest importers of Vietnamese timber and wooden products last year, making up 78.1% of the country’s total export value.

Most notably, strong export growth has been seen in markets such as the US, Thailand, and Canada with the export value rising by 33.8%, 20.4%, and 14.1%, respectively, while wood exports to the UK endured a downward trajectory of 26.5%.

Furthermore, the import value of wood and wooden products in January recorded an annual rise of 64.8% to US$280 million.

Last year saw the total import value of wood and wood products increase by 0.6% to US$2.56 billion compared to 2019, of which imports from China, the US, and Thailand made up 33.7%, 12.2%, and 5.1%, respectively.

In line with these figures, local imports of timber and wooden products from China and Thailand saw a boost of 31.1% and 14.7%, respectively, while imports from the US suffered a decrease of 8%.

The MARD stated that 2020 proved to be a successful year for the wood industry despite facing an adverse range of impacts caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The resilience of the Vietnamese wood industry in recent times can largely be attributed to the openness of the local legal system, coupled with the enforcement of various free trade agreements (FTAs).

Moreover, the MARD have revealed that there remains plenty of room for wood exports to grow in the near future as the global furniture market has a commercial value of approximately US$450 billion per year, of which wooden furniture makes up roughly US$150 billion annually. Meanwhile, Vietnamese wooden furniture exports account for only 6% of the global market share.

Moving forward, the local forestry sector aims to export US$14.5 billion this year, a rise of 12% compared to 2020, with timber and wooden products set to reach a figure of US$13 billion.

China increases imports of cassava chips and starch from Vietnam

Vietnam exported 400,000 tonnes of cassava and cassava-based products worth US$144 million in January, with the market share of Vietnamese cassava chips and starch as part of China’s total imports last year increasing sharply compared to 2019’s figures.

These statistics show a rise of 88.1% in volume and 97.1% in value compared to the same period from last year, while the average export price recorded an increase of 4.8% to US$360 per tonne, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

According to figures compiled by China Customs, Chinese import of cassava chips increased by 22% last year to US$782.85 million compared to 2019, with the country joining Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos as the four largest suppliers of cassava chips to China.

Most notably, the nation was the second largest provider of cassava chips to China last year with US$95.91 million, an increase of 90.8% compared to 2019.

Last year saw the neighbour import 2.75 million tonnes of cassava starch worth US$1.13 billion, a rise of 16.1% in volume and 9.7% in value compared to 2019, with the majority being imported from Vietnam Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.

Most notably, the nation  was the second largest provider of starch to China last year with 982,480 tonnes worth US$ 388.76 million, up 30.4% in volume and 24.9 % in value in comparison to a year earlier.

Thai group purchases 70% stake in Vietnamese plastics manufacturer

It is expected that SCGP’s acquisition will be completed in the first half of 2021. Duy Tan manufactures household plastic containers with a capacity of 116,000 tonnes per year.

The company’s increased investment in Vietnam is in line with its strategic plan, which foresees an increase in the diversity of products, including plastic and paper packaging, as well as the development of domestic design teams, according to Wichan Jitpukdee, CEO of SCGP.

“We are prepared to work with all partners to share experience and knowledge in the development of integrated packaging solutions and support the growing demand for diverse types of packaging among customers in ASEAN,” Jitpukdee added.

During the past decade, the Thai company has continuously increased investment in Vietnam, which has yielded a revenue growth of more than 10% annually.

All three projects of the company in Vietnam including Vina Kraft Paper Co., Ltd. in the southern province of Binh Duong, the packaging producer Tin Thanh Packing JSC and Bien Hoa Packaging JSC are expected to contribute to its increased sales of about 8.5 billion baht (US$283.1 million) per year.

The Thai company is also looking into expanding its paper production capacity in the north of Vietnam. “This is to satisfy domestic demands and expansion of export markets, which will be a boon to Vietnam’s economic growth as well,” Jitpukdee said.

Imports and exports of FDI sector enjoy sharp increase in January

The total import and export value of foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in January saw a surge of 60.1% to US$39.16 billion, equivalent to an increase of US$14.69 billion, according to figures compiled by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

The country’s import and export value throughout January soared by 48.2% to US$55 billion, equal to an annual rise of US$17.88 billion.

In relation to the figure, total Vietnamese exports increased sharply to US$28.55 billion, while imports also soared by 41.3% to US$26.46 billion against the same period from last year, with the country recording a trade surplus of US$2.09 billion.

Most notably, the total import and export value of the local FDI sector rose by 60.1% to US$39.16 billion, while the domestic sector’s imports and exports increased by 25.2% to US$15.85 billion on-year.

The export value of FDI enterprises also skyrocketed by 70% to US$21.57 billion compared to the previous year, therefore accounting for 75.5% of the country’s total export value. In addition, its import value rose by 49.4% to US$17.59 billion, making up 66.5% of the country’s total import value.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/SGGP/VOV/NDO/Dtinews/SGT/VIR

During the period, total import-export revenue through border gates in Lao Cai reached over 11 million USD, including 2.4 million USD worth of imports, mainly fertilisers and farm produce, and 8.8 million USD worth of exports, mostly agricultural products.

In 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19, the Border Gate Customs Sub-Department under the Lao Cai Department of Customs completed its “twin targets” by processing customs clearance declarations for 516 businesses with import-export value of over 1 billion USD and ensuring safety from the pandemic.

In 2021, it will closely coordinate with other sectors to speed up administrative reform while exhibiting better performance in e-customs clearance activities to save time and cost, ensuring economic development and COVID-19 prevention and control at the same time./.

Local automobile group exports over 200 units, parts

Automobile producer THACO recently shipped more than 200 Kia vehicles and auto parts to Thailand, Myanmar, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The conglomerate’s largest export consignment to date, made on February 17, comprised of cars, buses and semi-trailers manufactured at its factories at the THACO-Chu Lai Industrial Park in central Quang Nam province.

The exports included 80 Grand Carnival cars to Thailand, the company’s seventh consignment to its partner, Yontrakit, since December 2019.

One hundred and twenty Kia Soluto cars were shipped to Myanmar, the sixth batch to this market.

Kia cars manufactured by THACO are increasingly appreciated by customers in ASEAN countries since their quality is equivalent to those made in the RoK and meets global Kia standards, while their prices are very competitive.

In 2021, THACO plans to export 1,480 automobiles to Thailand and Myanmar, expand exports to other markets, and gradually achieve its goal of becoming a production and export base for Kia Motors cars and spare parts in the ASEAN region.

This is THACO’s first export of semi-trailers to Japan, one of the most challenging markets in the world with stringent quality requirements.

It exported through its Nippon Trex, a leading manufacturer and exporter of semi-trailers in Japan.

Nippon Trex carried out extensive research on and technical discussions about semi-trailer product development in the Japan before appreciating THACO’s capacity and collaborating with it to manufacture and export semi-trailers to the market.

This time THACO also exported buses to Thailand via VOLVO Group’s VOLVO Buses Corporation, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of large buses.

THACO buses were selected by VOLVO Buses for shipping and distributing in Thailand since they met all requirements in terms of technology, quality, safety, and competitive prices and Thailand’s standards and certification requirements (with respect to design, size, ECE certificates, and others). The company uses over 60 per cent locally made parts.

The shipment kicked off THACO’s plans to export 66 buses to Thailand and South Korea this year.

In addition to cars and semi-trailers, auto parts too were exported to the RoK, including seat covers, gearshift covers, air-conditioning radiators, and specialised vehicle components for Hyundai Santafe. The consignment was worth 200,000 USD.

With the import tax on CBU cars within the ASEAN bloc scrapped since the beginning of 2018, many car assemblers in Vietnam have switched to importing and distributing cars, whereas THACO has been expanding production and increasing the use of local parts to serve its strategy of exporting to Southeast Asia.

This year THACO will continue to export to existing markets Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, the US, and Japan and expand to other ASEAN countries, with a total of 2,500 vehicles. It expects to earn 30 million USD from exports of auto parts and other mechanical products.

Exports of large numbers of cars since last year have attested to the fact that cars made in Vietnam can compete in foreign markets, which is gradually helping raise the country’s profile in the global market.

THACO plans to increase exports to ASEAN and enter new markets in Africa, West Asia, South Asia, Australia, and elsewhere./.

Dinh An Economic Zone – driving force for Mekong Delta region

The Dinh An Economic Zone in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh is one of eight coastal key economic zones in Vietnam. With an orientation to develop a multi-sector economic zone associated with sustainable marine economic development, Dinh An has focused on investment to become an economic driving force of the province and the Delta.

Dinh An has attracted nearly 50 projects to date with total investment capital of about 6.7 million USD. It is expected that by 2030 it will contribute up to 80 percent of the provincial budget.

Dinh An also has a strategic position in economic development associated with security and defence. Despite its huge potential, however, investment attraction in the zone is still lower than its potential.

Existing bottlenecks are hindering the Dinh An Economic Zone from becoming a driving force for economic development in Tra Vinh and the Mekong Delta as a whole./.

Conference discusses role of Vietnam in Asia-Europe partnership

A conference has been held in Moscow to discuss the outlook of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the role of Vietnam and Belarus in the expansion of the Asia-Europe development space.

Addressing the event, President of the “Asia-Europe House” Association Alexander Makhlaev highlighted the role of Vietnam’s traditional values in the country’s development.

He held that the political stability has paved the way for Vietnam’s economic development.

Meanwhile, Natalya Ivanova, an expert from AV Group, underlined the significance of international business environment in the integration process of each country.

She asserted that the EAEU is creating a new motivation, especially for the strengthening of cooperation among member countries as well as with partners, including Vietnam.

According to Chairman of the Council of Experts of the Eurasian Research Fund Grigory Trofimchuk, Vietnam, a dynamic developing country and a member of many integration mechanisms and international organisations, is working hard to speed up integration process.

Vietnam is the first partner to sign a free trade agreement with the EAEU in 2015, he noted, adding that the union should focus more on partnership with Vietnam as the country is a door to the world.

The official highlighted the dynamism of Vietnamese firms in Russia as well as other countries in the world. However, he said that Vietnam and the EAEU have yet to optimise each other’s advantages and potential, while a number of trade barriers between the two sides are still existing.

He held that both sides should discuss the maintaining of trade defence measures to increase trade in the future, adding the EAEU should show its advantage in the current period when the COVID-19 pandemic is developing complicatedly in the world.

Within the conference’s framework, Trofimchuk introduced his book entitled “Vietnam wings up”, expressing his hope that the book will help Vietnam and Russia become closer together in economy, trade and humanity./.

Investment booms as Soc Trang improves business climate

Soc Trang province’s efforts to improve its business climate is paying off with more and more investors, both domestic and foreign, coming since 2016.

The Mekong Delta province has worked with hundreds of potential investors seeking to invest in areas where the province has strengths like hi-tech agriculture, tourism and wind and solar power.

It approved 116 projects with a total investment of 27.3 trillion VND (1.18 billion USD) in 2016-20, 5.5 times the amount in the previous five years.

Nine of them are FDI projects.

Soc Trang authorities have been making efforts to improve the investment climate and provincial competitiveness by focusing on infrastructure and providing lands for projects.

They are keen on projects that are sustainable and environment-friendly.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Nhi, deputy director of the province’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, said her department had been reforming administrative procedures, boosting the province’s competitiveness in terms of attracting investment and business climate.

One key infrastructure project is the upgrade of Tran De deep-water port, which will reduce logistics costs for exports from the Mekong Delta.

The recently approved Chau Doc – Can Tho – Soc Trang highway will connect to the port, aiding goods transportation and improving links with the rest of the country.

The province is also creating a start-up eco-system with development assistance, incubation programmes and sponsorship for creative small and medium-sized businesses.

In the last five years 1,900 new businesses were set up, a 47.2 percent increase from 2011 – 15. Many companies have invested in manufacturing in the An Nghiep Industrial Park, creating tens of thousands of jobs.

In 2021 – 25 Soc Trang seeks to further improve its business climate and competitiveness, focusing on business assistance services, labour training and helping investors start projects smoothly.

There are 3,300 registered businesses in the province with a total charter capital of 33 trillion VND.

Soc Trang’s economy grew by 6.75 percent in 2020./.

Legal move supports realty market development in 2021

According to Ha Quang Hung, deputy head of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department under the Ministry of Construction, many policies regulating housing and real estate market growth have been improved and aligned with the current regulatory system on investment, construction, and doing business.

Significantly, the Law on Construction 2020 has been united with the Law on Housing, Law on Real Estate Business, and the Law on Environmental Protection regarding investment proposal approval, investor approval, or developer recognition, creating a healthier and more transparent investment environment while mitigating speculation and price manipulation activities.

“In 2020, despite the impacts of COVID-19, the real estate market still managed fair growth of about 8-11%, if indirect factors like capital, land, and building materials were taken into account,” said Hung.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association opined that several revised laws (Law on Investment, Law on Securities Business, and Law on Enterprises) coming into force from January 2021 have bolstered market growth.

“The realty market has undergone the most difficult period and will gradually rebound. Positive legal changes would motivate firms to join the affordable housing and mid-level segments more robustly,” he said.

From another angle, Su Ngoc Khuong, senior director at Savills Vietnam, a leading real estate consultancy firm, noted that the success of the 13th National Party Congress would bring vitality to the whole economy, particularly the real estate, especially in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi – Vietnam’s two growth engines.

The new “city in city” urban form of in Ho Chi Minh City is deemed an inspiring breakthrough, whereas in Hanoi transport infrastructure has witnessed noteworthy improvements.

In addition, experts assumed that fiscal and monetary policies in the past decade have proven successful, with well-controlled interest rates.

Nguyen Van Dinh, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Real Estate Association (VNREA), outlined two scenarios for market development in 2021.

In the first scenario, with the mindset “cash is king” lingering in the first and second quarter of 2021, the market will be full of challenges due to low transaction volumes. COVID-19 will only be contained by the middle or the end of the first quarter with no new infections reported, allowing the market to gradually rebound.

In the second scenario, the pandemic would drag on to be contained no sooner than June. In this scenario difficulties would continue mounting. Accordingly, housing prices in the primary market are expected to shed an average 5% compared to last year, with sales volumes taking a plunge.

For commercial real estate, the lingering pandemic would lower operation efficiency as well as occupancy rates, while resort real estate would remain in “hibernation” the way it was in early 2021.

The latest report by Colliers International Vietnam forecast that more than 4,000 shop houses would be released in the Ho Chi Minh City market in 2021. The birth of Thu Duc City would fuel the development in the city’s northeast. Colliers data also show that products from six projects in Thu Duc, Binh Chanh, and Nha Be districts will enrich supply in the upcoming time.

Businesses urged to capitalise on opportunities to increase exports

Local businesses have been advised to diversify their markets to intensify import and export activities this year, alongside maximising the benefits of free trade agreements (FTAs), restructuring export products, developing stronger brands, whilst grasping market information and changes in the policies of importers, according to insiders.

With an impressive trade surplus of over US$19 billion last year, the industry and trade sector aims to increase the total export turnover for this year by between 4% and 5%, with the country’s trade surplus anticipated to maintain its momentum.

Despite this, Vietnamese exports this year are largely dependent on the prospects of the global economy, particularly if the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be brought under control.

With regard to the export situation in the year ahead, Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), said textile and garment exports this year will continue to face numerous difficulties ahead in the post-pandemic period. In line with this, Vietnam is likely to export goods worth between US$37 billion and US$38 billion providing that the pandemic is brought under control globally.

Giang pointed out that over the long-run, the Vietnamese garment and textile sector will continue to encounter challenges over the subsequent three years, noting that exports to major markets gradually return to a normal state once the pandemic is successfully curbed by the end of the third quarter of 2023.

He emphasised that new-generation FTAs, especially the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) can be expected to boost exports moving forward.

Experts have therefore attributed these difficulties to the current low level of market diversification among some agricultural and aquatic products, pointing out that although several products enjoy a tariff reduction of 0%, a number of domestic agricultural products have been not been allowed to gain entry into some markets.

Furthermore, despite the proportion of the FDI sector’s export value decreasing in recent years, it accounts for over 64% of the country’s total export value. This is due to the sector’s production and export activities being largely dependent on regional and global supply chains.

Moreover, the impact of the rising trend of protectionism, trade conflicts, and complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic globally have changed the structure of global supply chains, with several countries, especially the United States and western nations, strengthening trade protectionism measures.

Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, vice president and General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association, revealed that the leather and footwear sector has made the best use of the EVFTA, adding that the industry’s exports are poised to grow by between 15% and 20% this year if the COVID-19 epidemic is successfully contained.

Xuan underlined the need to devise stronger policies aimed at accelerating the development of the local supporting industry so it can independently produce raw materials and avoid a heavy reliance on imports.

In an effort to maintain the export growth in the year ahead, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is expected to help businesses take full advantage of opportunities from FTAs by removing barriers for market expansion and keeping a close watch on the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to take timely response measures.

She pointed out that new generation FTAs ​​such as the CPTPP and the EVFTA are expected to provide fresh impetus to export growth over the coming year thanks to tariff incentives, adding that the shift in FDI investment flow from regional countries to the nation, along with the restructuring of supply chains, will also contribute to boosting exports this year.

Key solutions that can promote import and export activities moving forward will largely focus on diversifying markets, maximising the benefits from relevant FTAs​, restructuring export products, developing brands, whilst grasping market information and changes in policies of importers, Xuan noted.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung also underscored the importance of opportunities brought about by FTAs while urging the local ecnonomy to improve its autonomy to prepare for any worse-case scenarios and utilising the system of commercial counselors to perform tasks in line with these changes.

Minister of Industry and Trade and deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh, said there will be a positive outlook for the country in the years ahead thanks to favourable conditions from integration strategies and the enforcement of FTAs.

In addition, the Government’s schemes on economic restructuring, social security, reforms, open-door policies, and efforts to fine tune the legal system will also be beneficial.

Domestic food and beverage industry has development potential

The domestic food and beverage market has great potential for development despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts.

Hanoi – The domestic food and beverage market has great potential for development despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts.

Food and beverages are in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category. For many years, this has always been one of the important economic sectors with great potential for development, according to the Vietnam Report 2020.

The food and beverage market’s growth rate is forecasted to reach from 5-6 percent annually in 2020-2025.

Despite suffering negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the food and beverage industry in Vietnam also has many strong growth opportunities. At present, more and more consumers pay attention to nutritional foods of plant origin, organic foods or food with healthy ingredients.

A survey conducted by Vietnam Report at the end of 2020 showed due to COVID-19, half of customers have spent more on foods boosting their immune system and clean foods. Meanwhile, 63.7 percent of customers have cut spending on alcohol and beer. Therefore, businesses in this industry must adjust their production to suit demand.

Food businesses have to increase their production capacity by about 30 percent, while beverage businesses must reduce their production to lower than 80 percent compared to before the pandemic.

Besides that, Vu Dang Vinh, general director of the Vietnam Assessment Report Joint Stock Company, said COVID-19 has forced nearly 70 percent of food and beverage businesses to focus on the digital transformation for survival and development, reported the Vietnam News Agency.

Many businesses have built modern technology processes in production and management. Food and beverage companies have also sped up investment activities to renovate the distribution system and adjust the proportion between traditional and modern trading channels. They develop applications to enhance the customer experience when shopping and innovate packaging design, eco-branding and product line development.

Nguyen Dang Quang, chairman of Masan Group, said the COVID-19 pandemic is a good opportunity to promote e-commerce.

The group is building plans to attract more and more people to online shopping, he said.

Vinh said food and beverage businesses need to focus on strategies such as revenue growth, market development, promotion of research and improving product quality. They should also diversify supply sources with priority for domestic suppliers and develop online distribution channels on e-commerce platforms.

According to experts in the food and beverage industry, the stable macroeconomy and commitments in free trade agreements signed between Vietnam and its partners such as the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would bring export opportunities and more foreign investment. They would promote the transfer of technology and technological advancement in the industry.

Along with that, the food and beverage companies need to improve their competitiveness and increase investment in infrastructure systems and modernisation of production processes and corporate governance.

Foreign investors divest Ninh Van Bay due to bleak performance

Two foreign investors, namely Recapital Investments Pte., Ltd and Belton Investments Ltd., decided to divest Ninh Van Bay Travel Real Estate JSC, the developer of Six Senses Ninh Van Bay Resort in Nha Trang.

Notably, Recapital Investments Pte., Ltd. issued an announcement to sell 10.7 million shares at Ninh Van Bay Travel Real Estate to decrease its ownership from 11.9 per cent to zero. Recapital Investments is an investment fund owned by Rosan P. Roeslani, the former president of Inter Milan football club.

Besides, Belton Investments Ltd. has also registered to sell its entire 6.4 million shares, equaling 7.07 per cent of the stake, in this company. The sale is expected to be completed between February 5 and March 1.

Previously, in 2013 Recapital Investments bought 30 million shares at the price of VND7,500 (32.61 US cents) apiece. Belton Investments has been a large shareholder since 2012. However, since 2019, both investors started to decrease their ownership in Ninh Van Bay Travel Real Estate.

The reason for the divestment may be the bleak business results of Ninh Van Bay.

Notably, the company listed its stake on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange in 2010 with the initial price of VND30,000 ($1.30) apiece, however, the stocks plunged to VND1,000 (4.35 US cents) apiece in 2017. Besides, the company suffered a loss of VND479 billion ($20.83 million).

After two years of restructuring, the company reported a profit of VND27 billion ($1.17 million) in 2019, more than 13 times the figure of VND2 billion ($86,960) in 2018. In 2020, the company acquired VND211 billion ($9.17 million) in net revenue, down 24 per cent on-year. The main reason for this bleak business result came from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At present, Ninh Van Bay stocks are traded at VND5,680 (24.70 US cents), rising 22 per cent over the past three months.

Upbeat export-import picture in early 2021

Many of Vietnam’s growth engines have posted impressive export-import performance, with Ho Chi Minh City, Bac Ninh, and Binh Duong being the top performers.

The latest statistics from the Vietnam General Department of Customs show that the country raked in $55 billion in total export-import turnover in the first month of 2021, a 48 per cent jump on-year.

Many localities have posted fairly impressive growth in their export import value compared to the corresponding period in 2020 despite the impacts of the recent COVID-19 reemergence.

Leading the list is Ho Chi Minh City which counted $8.9 billion in total export-import value, followed by Bac Ninh with $7.7 billion, Binh Duong with $5 billion, Thai Nguyen with $4.4 billion, and Hanoi with $3.8 billion.

Many localities have posted fairly impressive growth in their export import value compared to the corresponding period in 2020 despite the impacts of the recent COVID-19 reemergence.

This is an impressive performance as Hai Duong needs to ramp up efforts to carry out the dual target of preventing and curing COVID-19, while still ensuring socio-economic development.

Last year, the province attracted nearly $7.76 billion in total export value and more than $6 billion in total import value, and carved out a place among the localities with biggest export-import value in the northern region.

Quang Ninh, Lao Cai, and Lang Son (the major export players) have increased business even during the Lunar New Year holiday. For instance, on the first three days of the new year, the Lao Cai International Border Gate’s Customs Bureau had completed customs clearance for 4,000 tonnes of export-import goods valued at more than $2 million.

In Ho Chi Minh City, right on the eve of the Lunar New Year, Saigon New Port Corporation conducted a ceremony to receive goods marking the New Year of the Ox.

In 2020, the cargo volume calling on Ho Chi Minh City’s Cat Lai port rose 8.2 per cent, making it one of the top performers worldwide in cargo throughput volume. This year, the cargo volume through Cat Lai port is expected to surge 5 per cent.

More than 7,000 tonnes of goods passed through each day Mong Cai International Border Gate Customs Bureau under Quang Ninh Customs Department during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade forecast that export business would maintain its growth momentum in February, especially in localities hosting the manufacturing complexes of South Korean tech giant Samsung Group, leveraging the proliferation from January 2021. The exports of handsets and accessories could lift up, capitalising on Samsung’s fresh roll-out of new items such as Samsung Galaxy S21, Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Larger frame of mind for logistics

Throughout more than three decades of economic reform, Vietnamese companies from many sectors have been venturing abroad and become role models. Yet, the logistics sector remains too focused on the domestic market. Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agency of Foreign Trade, emphasised that local players should follow regional examples and take their business to international arena.

In this context, logistics activities were affected significantly, with railways, roads, and air transport being the most heavily affected, while waterways and warehouses remained largely unscathed and even saw growing business due to rising inventory.

Different from five years ago, logistics have been given due attention by all state levels, as shown in the directive documents of the government, ministries, and branches, that all considered logistics a crucial aspect of the economy. From there, policy changes and significant investments in infrastructure could be accomplished, along with the easing of administrative procedures for businesses in this sector.

However, one of the current challenges is the lack of large-scale Vietnamese enterprises with influence in the logistics industry, while large foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL from the United States and Europe dominating the country’s logistics sector.

In Vietnam, telecom, real estate, and manufacturing enterprises have built outstanding businesses that drive their respective industries. Within the logistics sphere, however, there is no such role model.

Companies like Saigon Newport, Gemadept JSC, Transimex JSC, and Sotrans Co., Ltd. are contributing their share but can hardly be called outstanding yet. The general picture of today’s businesses is stiffening, with competing FIEs operating in Vietnam, while those from other countries are integrating into global markets.

Additionally, the domestic logistics sector remains rather small with limited international operations, while this industry is really about going global and partaking in imports and exports. So far, the number of Vietnamese enterprises operating in foreign markets is also small, with even the bigger names not providing services to foreign markets. In the era of global integration, we must go to the world to develop, and thus this remains the Achilles heel of the domestic industry. Moreover, weak links with other service providers elsewhere have not been established and utilised sufficiently. Although Vietnamese manufacturers have been able to export goods to Europe in large volumes, there is no logistical presence of local companies.

As such, logistics groups stop all operations at Vietnam’s gates, after selling and delivering goods to customers, resulting in low added value and a lack of competitiveness against foreign counterparts.

Against this backdrop, the largest difficulties relate not to capital but to the awareness of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, who are typically shy in new environments, especially when confronting foreigners. Many businesses dare to run their operations but mostly focus on the domestic market as they feel that doing business in their own country is easier. Problems here can be handled the familiar Vietnamese way, while they would have to follow foreign rules outside and establish new personal networks and relations. Within the current logistics community, FIEs and state-owned enterprises are relatively stable, but the private sector consists mainly of small-scale businesses, with some newly established or separated from others.

In Vietnam, the number of FIEs is increasing constantly, with nearly 40 multinational corporations and many smaller ones present in the market. However, companies from Japan and South Korea are very ethnocentric and prefer to use the services of their country’s enterprises, which support and protect each other. Meanwhile, European and American businesses are somewhat more open-minded. They use traditional services but do not pay much attention to their partners’ country of origin. Multinationals have financial advantages, so it is easier for them to establish a foundation and attract high-quality human resources than it is for domestic ones. They also make great use of experienced CEOs.

The great advantage of FIEs is their cooperative relationship with partners worldwide. From these relationships, they provide most of the services requested by manufacturers at competitive prices. The service quality of these enterprises is often at a higher level than that of domestic ones, reflected in their professionalism, the assurance of standardised service quality, and strict rules and norms, which provide credibility for these businesses.

Those businesses also pay special attention to customer care and focus on the long-term benefits, instead of immediate returns. Therefore, at some stages, they even accept losses to win customers’ sympathy and build a reputation. Meanwhile, some Vietnamese businesses follow a fast-paced approach that aims for quick profits rather than long-term relationships and market presence. Such a mentality will also not pay attention to quality.

Models to follow

With a growth rate of 12-14 per cent per year, Vietnam’s logistics sector is growing, albeit merely gradually. It may take another 5-10 years to see strong differences today. As this speed remains slow, Vietnam’s logistics needs to go faster to avoid lagging behind other countries.

Up to now, Vietnam’s logistics growth has mainly relied on the scale of commodity production, consumption, and import-export, which are natural factors for growth advantages. However, these are not intrinsic factors of the logistics sector, they are just objective ones.

If one of these factors changes – such as COVID-19, natural disasters, and the declining domestic demand – the sector’s growth will suffer if it is not well established in foreign markets.

Thus, Vietnamese groups need to step out of their comfort zone, adapt quickly, and avoid thinking of themselves as small and inferior. Small does not mean weak.

At present, Vietnamese enterprises focus only on the domestic market, and give little thought to venturing abroad. Meanwhile, I am confident that Vietnam’s logistics can provide decent services to the regional market, such as Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand – all of which are close by and of similar development levels. Vietnam already has top enterprises in leather, footwear, steel, and automobiles. Thus, the logistics sector can build on their experience and develop leading groups from those sectors.

Singapore can also be a good example for Vietnam. Its government was determined to put all its advantages into developing the logistics sector and to turn Singapore into the largest transshipment port in the world. To do that, Singapore has largely sacrificed marine tourism. Nowadays, the island nation is housing some of the leading enterprises in logistics fields. It boasts PSA Co., Ltd., the world’s largest port operator, which also has a joint venture in Vietnam’s Cai Mep port complex in the south.

In the aviation industry, it has Singapore Airlines – a 5-star airline which for many years maintained its position as the world’s leading airline. Before the pandemic hit, Changi Airport was consistently one of the busiest airports in the world.

Another model is Taiwan, which has strong logistics development. Of course, there are also more developed economies like Japan or Germany whose level of development is already at a much higher level. The country needs it, the government needs it, and the businesses that want to grow strong also need to be bold and venture abroad with an outward-looking spirit. Vietnam opened its doors to global integration 35 years ago, but it is now up to businesses to step out or not. The government alone cannot do this.

Vietnam’s mobile devices reached the export value of $51 billion last year

Mobile devices and components produced in Vietnam last year were exported to 50 markets and reached the export value of more than $51.18 billion, according to the latest data published by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

In comparison with 2019, export value was slightly down 0.4 per cent. Nevertheless, it is still one of the Vietnamese economy’s main sectors by occupying nearly one-fifth (18 per cent) of the export value.

China remained the largest consumption market for the goods category with $12.34 billion, making up 24 per cent of Vietnam’s export turnover from mobile phones, and up 48.8 per cent on-year. Europe was the second-largest export market with a turnover of $9.9 billion, up 18.9 per cent on-year.

The runners-up were the US, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates with $8.79 billion, $4.58 billion, and $2.53 billion. In addition to China, other markets like Hong Kong, Canada, and Japan last year increased their purchasing of mobile devices and components from Vietnam by 44.14 per cent to $1.73 billion, 34.3 per cent to $826.23 million, and 16.5 per cent to $937.75 million, respectively.

2020 is the first year Vietnam has seen a plunge in the export turnover of mobile devices and components. Over the previous 10 years, the sector has been going from record to record, even recording triple-digit growth in a few years like in 2011 when it hit 178.3 per cent.

Thanks to that, mobile devices and components exceeded garment and footwear production to become the sector with the largest export value for Vietnam, mainly driven by foreign-invested enterprises, lead by Samsung. To date, about 60 per cent of the South Korean giant’s items are produced in Vietnam.

Impetus for rubber suppliers to bounce back even higher

Although expectations for an increase in rubber prices remain low, the recent spikes have left rubber growers in Vietnam less worried. Nevertheless, to cash in on the recovering carmakers and other industries after the pandemic, as well as compete with regional rivals, local latex gatherers may need to step up their game and apply for official certificates.

More than an hour’s drive from Pleiku, the capital of the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, small roads are running through immense rubber forests. The town of Ia Kha is crowded with more than 8,000 people, but unlike in the past, these people are less occupied with farming than before.

Ro Mah Kiu, a worker in the 15 Corporation at 74 Company, often wakes up at 3am to scrape latex. When he was still farming, he lacked the necessary skills, often left behind a wasteland, and struggled all year round. As his life remained difficult, Kiu became worried about his future.

Eventually, he joined 74 Company’s local farmer support group to focus on latex extraction. But it was not easy to become a latex farmer. Proper care for mature rubber trees is tricky and learning the right technique for extracting the latex from the tree even more so.

The pandemic caused a scarcity in labourers and made it difficult to gather and process latex. Colonel Hoang Van Sy, commander of the 15 Corporation, told VIR, “The recruitment of new workers is cumbersome. Workers lost their jobs in other industries and returned to their localities in huge numbers, but after being recruited for latex exploitation, it always takes a lot of time training for them to become skilled enough for the job.”

In addition, between 2018 and 2019, the corps saw nearly 3,000 workers reaching retirement age, leaving a hole in the corps’ workforce that has yet to be filled.

Unlike in many other sectors, workers in the rubber industry are not just dependent on markets but also the weather, which sometimes leads to heavy impacts on price calculation.

“We are forced to cut input costs to a minimum, from over VND50 million ($2,175) per tonne of latex to VND32 million ($1,400) to reduce the pressure on prices,” Sy said.

The long chain of declining prices in the rubber sector had lasted for nearly 10 years, with few people thinking they would ever bounce back. However, in the last months of 2020, rubber prices at the Osaka exchange – the reference for the natural rubber market in Europe and Asia – experienced nine consecutive gains. On October 28, the most-traded April 2020 futures contract increased by ¥20 (19 US cents, equalling 7.9 per cent) to ¥274.3 ($2.65) per kilogramme, the highest closing price since March 2017. The increase in this session was also the highest since the end of 2008.

Reversing prices for rubber can be easily envisioned in a period of economic development, but with 2020, a year of stagnation and economic decline amid the pandemic, market interference from the Chinese market becomes more apparent. Statistics of the Chinese Customs Department said that in the first 11 months of 2020, China’s rubber imports reached $9.76 billion, up 4.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.

The staggering market recovery can also be explained by the fact that rubber production in China last year dropped by 30 per cent on-year, due to massive storms on Hainan Island and droughts in Yunnan province.

China has seen a significant increase in imports with only a gradual decrease in consumption. The 11-month data of Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade shows that China spent $4.34 billion, up 35.2 per cent over the same period in 2019, for the import of a popular mixture of natural and synthetic rubber.

Meanwhile, the Chinese auto industry – one of the key sectors for rubber consumption – remained on a downturn due to the global health crisis. Although the situation is slowly improving, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers estimates that sales in 2020 dropped by 10 per cent, much lower than forecast.

The ability for rubber prices to recover globally stands in stark contrast to the decrease in supply. The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) predicts that in 2021, global rubber production could recover to around 13.7 million tonnes, an increase of 8.6 per cent compared to last year. However, even with this increase, 2021’s production would still be lower than that of 2019 and 2018, with about 13.8 million tonnes.

Rubber production across Southeast Asia, which accounts for two-thirds of global natural rubber supply, has been severely affected by labour shortages due to the pandemic, natural disasters, and other disadvantages. The demand-supply gap is widening, while rubber traders fear the supply shortage will be further exacerbated by the continuing political instability in Thailand and the uncontrolled pandemic.

According to the ANRPC, 2020’s production decreased by about 6.8 per cent compared to 2019, to 12.9 million tonnes, mainly due to the decline in Thailand and India, of which Thailand’s output decreased by about 332,000 tonnes. This corresponds to the forecast of the Rubber Authority of Thailand on last year’s production, which was already estimated to be about 10 per cent lower due to the constant rains in the south of the country.

In Vietnam, the trend of decreasing latex plantation areas is also apparent at some large suppliers.

Dong Nai Rubber Co., Ltd., which had specialised in natural rubber supply, has started its plan to reduce 40-50 per cent of its exploitation and preliminary processing by 2025 to switch into fields with higher margins. According to Do Minh Tuan, general director of Dong Nai Rubber, latex exploitation so far contributed around 70-75 per cent of the company’s revenue. Last year, the firm even recruited 250 more locals as workers but remained unable to make up for the shortage to meet production goals.

Less worried farmers

Although some multilateral deals like the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement have opened a door for exports to grow, Vietnam’s rubber sector has yet to make real use of these opportunities. The EU market has a large demand for high-end rubber, for which Vietnamese producers could provide the input materials. According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, the European market accounted for merely 5.1 per cent of the total export volume of 1.1 million tonnes of rubber within the first nine months of 2020.

Meanwhile, Huynh Tan Sieu, head of technology and environment at the Vietnam Rubber Industry Group, pointed out that local businesses also miss out on the opportunity to further the competitiveness of Vietnamese rubber in the global market by not applying for the FSC forest management certification, which confirms social and environmental characteristics of a company’s operations.

John Heath, commercial director at London-based natural rubber company Corrie MacColl Ltd., said in January that the European market is currently paying much attention to FSC-certified rubber. His company is distributing about 500 tonnes of certified latex to the European market each month, “a very small fraction of the growing demand for FSC-certified rubber in this market,” Heath explained.

In response to growing pressure from civil organisations and consumers, companies take more responsibility for supply chains, and Heath said that Corrie MacColl aims to “do the right thing, so it will not buy rubber from customers who cut primary tropical forests to plant rubber.”

Good products and official forest certifications have enabled 15 Corporation to access markets outside of China, led by the desire to reduce the focus on a single export market. As such, customers from Russia, Sweden, India, and Japan are considering buying the company’s latex and rubber.

However, since costs are currently higher for sourcing from the Central Highlands, “sustainable solutions with mutual benefits have to be agreed on,” said Sy of the 15 Corporation.

He hopes that the output of the 40,000ha will suffice this year to reach the targeted 10-15 per cent increase in revenue and secure the jobs of more than 10,000 workers. In 2020, the corporation banked a gross revenue of over VND1.5 billion ($65.2 million).

Vietnam leading car dealers struggle with Covid-19 impacts

While car prices in 2020 were significantly lower compared to the pre-Covid-19 period, customers had become more cautious in spending, leading to an 8% year-on-year drop in car sales to 296,634 units.

Major car dealers in Vietnam, including Savico, Haxaco and City Auto, posted modest return on sales (ROS) of 1-2% in 2020, mainly due to customers tightening their belt amid a difficult Covid-19 year.

“The pandemic had led to fierce competition in car prices, causing a downturn in the company’s business performance,” stated Savico in its financial statement.

Savico, a distributor of major car brands of Toyota, Volvo, Honda, Mitsubishi, recorded the highest revenue among the three with VND16.13 trillion (US$700.2 million), down 12% year-on-year, and profit of VND224 billion (US$9.72 million), or ROS of 1.38%.

While car prices in 2020 were significantly lower compared to pre-Covid-19 period, customers had become more cautious in spending, leading to an 8% year-on-year drop in car sales to 296,634 units, data from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) noted.

City Auto, a major distributor of Ford and Huyndai, suffered a same fate with a decline of 11% year-on-year in revenue to VND5.67 trillion (US$246.1 million) and net loss of over VND4 billion (US$173,800).

Last year, City Auto predicted a challenging year of 2021 for the automobile industry following a sharp drop in market demand.

In a letter to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, City Auto attributed its negative business performance to lower car sales volume.

In contrast, Haxaco, a leading Mercedes-Benz car dealer in Vietnam, recorded a rise of 8% year-on-year in revenue to VND5.57 trillion (US$241.8 million) and after-tax profit of VND125 billion (US$5.42 million), up 150% year-on-year.

A senior official at Haxaco said the firm took advantage of the government’s policy of reducing 50% of the registration fee for domestically-produced cars to boost sales revenue. However, Haxaco’s ROS remained at a modest rate of 2.24%.

A study from SSI Securities Corporation suggested 2021 could start the upward trend of Vietnam’s automobile industry with a 16.3% year-on-year growth rate in terms of car sales number, citing high demand from the domestic market for cars.

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

Industrial zones (IZs) registered $5 billion worth of foreign direct investment at a meeting between Haiphong Party Committee and IZ infrastructure investors aimed to resolve difficulties and promote investment in IZs.

Notably, Sao Do Investment Group JSC registered an investment of $1 billion in Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park (IP), while VSIP Haiphong JSC will inject $1-1.5 billion in VSIP Haiphong, Saigon-Haiphong Industrial Park JSC $1 billion in Trang Due IP, and Deep C IZs are expected to lure in $1-1.5 billion.

In order to support these IZs’ investors realise the above target to attract $5 billion in FDI capital, Le Van Thanh, Secretary of Haiphong Party Committee asked Haiphong Economic Zones (EZ) Management Authority, and relevant authorities to promote administrative reform to deal with difficulties facing IZs, as well as review their compliance.

“The city will create favourable conditions for investors to implement their projects. Investors also have to comply with the approved planning, expand operations in accordance with sustainable development, and avoid unexpected environmental impacts,” Thanh said.

Meanwhile, the authority proposed the province to accelerate land clearance to create a land fund for investors, while simultaneously allocating land for building housing for workers and building plans for training human resources.

In addition, the authority also proposed the province to build a policy to deal with enterprises’ difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as numerous partners cannot enter Vietnam to appraise their projects, impacting business activities. The authority also requested the province to compile policies to support labourers who cannot go home to enjoy Tet.

Haiphong currently has 12 IZs, eight of which are located in Dinh Vu-Cat Hai EZ, and four others are located outside the EZ. These IZs attracted 570 projects, 403 of which come from foreign investors worth $17.1 billion. These IZs generated 158,000 jobs for local labourers.

According to the plan, the city will construct 15 more IZs with the total area of 6,418 hectares this year.

Vietnam’s GDP growth rate may expand at 5.8 per cent

The Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) estimated the country’s GDP growth at 5.6-5.8 per cent – or 1.8-2 per cent if the worst comes to pass.

The most recent resurgence of COVID-19 has been brought under control in short order, with no new breakout expected for the best part of this year. Thanks to that, domestic economic activities will continue to recover and comply with the new normal of the global economy, where sporadic, small-scale resurgences are expected by the VEPR.

Consequently, the impact of COVID-19 will be felt less serious across economic sectors than in 2020, resulting in an estimated GDP growth rate of 5.6-5.8 per cent.

However, under a more pessimistic scenario, the local economy will see larger disruptions by the health crisis, resulting in slower economic growth of 1.8-2 per cent. The scenario includes continued travel restrictions and prolonged difficulties for catering and accommodation services.

The VEPR’s policy recommendations warned Vietnam not to follow other nations’ macro policies such as loosening monetary policy to mitigate prolonged budgetary deficits. Furthermore, preventing COVID-19 and ensuring social welfare are also setting a burden on national budgets.

However, the current priority should remain to assure social security, stabilise the business climate, lessen the pressure on businesses which have temporarily halted operations, and support those that are still operational.

In particular, social security policies should provide more support for labourers working in the informal sector because this group makes up a sizeable portion of the population and are more vulnerable to the crisis, while also having the hardest time accessing welfare packages.

High hopes for economic advances

Despite enduring a heavy toll caused by the global health crisis in 2020, the Vietnamese economy is expected to drive forward strongly thanks in part to a boost in domestic consumption and investment, which will continue being among prime priorities set by the government to achieve its new growth goal.

This impressive achievement, as noted by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong, resulted from the massive efforts of the Party, the state, the public, and enterprises.

“However, massive difficulties remain. While almost all economies in the world are struggling to recover, there is no certain evidence that the pandemic will end soon,” Phuong said. “Vietnam’s economy has also been seriously hurt.”

Two recent large-scale surveys by the General Statistics Office involving more than 130,000 businesses said that around 83 per cent of the respondents admitted they were negatively impacted.

However, Phuong said COVID-19 in 2020 has changed the game for the 2021-2025 period. “Many new trends have emerged, reshaping international financial flows, trade, and investment, especially supply chain shifts, creating many challenges but also opportunities for economic recovery in the long term,” he said. “Taking advantage of new prospects for economic recovery in 2021 and a breakthrough in the 2021-2025 period is important to achieve the goals set out in the Socioeconomic Development Plan for the period.”

Given COVID-19 and many other negative potential impacts from the global economy, the National Assembly (NA) cautiously set a target of 6 per cent in the country’s economic growth this year. However, now more optimistic about the economic outlook, the government says that greater efforts are to be made to reach a growth rate of at least 6.5 per cent in 2021.

The World Bank is expecting Vietnam’s economy to continue to flourish this year.

“By all standards, Vietnam has managed the COVID-19 crisis very well. Looking ahead, Vietnam’s prospects appear positive as the economy is projected to grow by about 6.8 per cent in 2021 and, thereafter, stabilise at around 6.5 per cent. This projection assumes that the COVID-19 crisis will be brought gradually under control, notably through the introduction of an effective vaccine,” said the World Bank in its most recent economic update for Vietnam.

According to the National Centre for Socioeconomic Information and Forecast (NCIF) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), although the pandemic continues to expand, some positive signals have been seen. Vaccines have begun to be administered in many nations, and this will continue being expanded in 2021.

“Thus, the global economy will gradually warm up, helping increase investment and trade globally and this will have a positive impact on the Vietnamese economy,” said the NCIF’s deputy director Dang Duc Anh.

The Vietnamese economy has in recent years opened itself up further to the global economy. Last year, while GDP hit VND6.3 quadrillion ($273.9 billion), its total export-import turnover reached $544 billion, nearly doubling GDP.

According to the latest forecast by the Vietnam Economics Institute under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam’s GDP this year may grow 5.49 per cent (basic scenario), 6.9 per cent (high scenario), or 3.48 per cent (low scenario). The possibility for each scenario to become true would depend on the global situation and the Vietnamese economy’s internal strength in domestic consumption, production, and investment – including public investment.

According to the MPI, from now until the year’s end, boosting domestic consumption and public investment as well as attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI) will be among prime priorities for the government to achieve its new growth goal.

In 2020, the economy’s total retail and consumption service revenue hit over VND5 quadrillion ($217.4 billion), up 2.6 per cent on-year.

“Consumer confidence has gradually bounced back,” said an expert from the World Bank in Vietnam. “Many enterprises have found it difficult to boost exports and then turned to the domestic market. Many enterprises, already boasting a firm niche at the local market, have been expanding operations here.”

The World Bank said that retail sales also continued to grow, thanks to strengthening domestic demand for goods. Specifically, retail sales grew at 9.4 per cent on-year in December 2020, the highest growth rate since February 2020. Growth is driven by domestic demand with retail sales of goods 13.8 percent higher than in the same period last year.

According to the Asian Development Bank, in addition to spurring on local consumption, the government must find all ways to accelerate public investment as one of the key pillars for economic growth this year and beyond.

Figures from the Ministry of Finance showed that as of the end of 2020, nearly VND390 trillion ($16.95 billion), equivalent to 82.8 per cent of the plan allocated, has been disbursed, while the figure as of the end of November was only VND329.9 trillion ($14.3 billion), equalling 70.1 per cent. This is the highest ratio of disbursement in 2016-2020 – with 80.3 per cent in 2016, 73.3 per cent in 2017, 66.87 per cent in 2018, and 67.46 per cent in 2019.

Since early 2020, many state-funded projects, mostly infrastructure works, have been put into operation, fuelling socioeconomic development.

For example, on January 5, the first phase of Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai commenced construction. The 5,580-hectare airport is expected to cost VND336.63 trillion ($14.64 billion), with the first phase needing over VND109 trillion ($4.74 billion). The airport is expected to relieve overloading at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, currently the country’s largest airport.

In another case, in October 2020 the 5.37-km Mai Dich-South Thang Long flyover at Pham Van Dong street in Hanoi was opened to traffic, helping ease chronic traffic jams.

The VND5.34 trillion ($232.1 million) project connects the inner city with Thang Long Bridge and Vo Van Kiet Road to Noi Bai International Airport, and also connects the city’s big industrial zones and Hanoi with northern provinces, making it easier to transport goods.

Not far from this flyover, another one was inaugurated last August with the total investment capital of VND560 billion ($24.3 million), crossing Hoang Quoc Viet and Nguyen Van Huyen streets. The flyover is lengthened by a new road that meets with Samsung’s $220-million research and development project.

Besides prioritising public investment projects in 2021, the government will also focus on attracting more FDI as one of the key pillars for economic growth this year.

Deputy Minister Phuong said that despite causing serious aftermath in Vietnam, the health crisis seems not to be able to prevent FDI inflows to Vietnam in the long term, and an increasing manufacturing industry in the country. These are big drivers of Vietnam’s economic growth this year and beyond.

“Many major foreign groups and companies are eyeing the Vietnamese market, which is succeeding in controlling COVID-19 – this has strengthened their confidence in the market,” Phuong said. “The pandemic is only slowing down FDI inflows into the country. Many projects are temporarily halted, and will be strongly implemented when the pandemic eases.”

He expected that there will be many foreign investors coming to Vietnam as the prime minister has allowed foreign experts into the country to implement projects. “FDI is also contributing greatly to boosting exports,” he said.

Vietnam attracted $28.53 billion in newly-registered, newly-added, and stake-purchased, and capital contribution-based FDI in 2020, with the total disbursed FDI hitting $20 billion.

According to Do Nhat Hoang, director of the MPI’s Foreign Investment Agency, nearly 300 enterprises from many nations are planning to expand their existing investment or exploring investment opportunities in the country. Of this, more than 60 groups have reaped initial results in new and expanded investment projects here. Initial information showed that the total registered capital of these projects will likely be over $60 billion.

“This is quite a good signal that international investors are showing big interest in doing business in Vietnam,” Hoang said.

Larger frame of mind for logistics

Throughout more than three decades of economic reform, Vietnamese companies from many sectors have been venturing abroad and become role models. Yet, the logistics sector remains too focused on the domestic market. Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agency of Foreign Trade, emphasised that local players should follow regional examples and take their business to international arena.

In this context, logistics activities were affected significantly, with railways, roads, and air transport being the most heavily affected, while waterways and warehouses remained largely unscathed and even saw growing business due to rising inventory.

Different from five years ago, logistics have been given due attention by all state levels, as shown in the directive documents of the government, ministries, and branches, that all considered logistics a crucial aspect of the economy. From there, policy changes and significant investments in infrastructure could be accomplished, along with the easing of administrative procedures for businesses in this sector.

However, one of the current challenges is the lack of large-scale Vietnamese enterprises with influence in the logistics industry, while large foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL from the United States and Europe dominating the country’s logistics sector.

In Vietnam, telecom, real estate, and manufacturing enterprises have built outstanding businesses that drive their respective industries. Within the logistics sphere, however, there is no such role model.

Companies like Saigon Newport, Gemadept JSC, Transimex JSC, and Sotrans Co., Ltd. are contributing their share but can hardly be called outstanding yet. The general picture of today’s businesses is stiffening, with competing FIEs operating in Vietnam, while those from other countries are integrating into global markets.

Additionally, the domestic logistics sector remains rather small with limited international operations, while this industry is really about going global and partaking in imports and exports. So far, the number of Vietnamese enterprises operating in foreign markets is also small, with even the bigger names not providing services to foreign markets. In the era of global integration, we must go to the world to develop, and thus this remains the Achilles heel of the domestic industry. Moreover, weak links with other service providers elsewhere have not been established and utilised sufficiently. Although Vietnamese manufacturers have been able to export goods to Europe in large volumes, there is no logistical presence of local companies.

As such, logistics groups stop all operations at Vietnam’s gates, after selling and delivering goods to customers, resulting in low added value and a lack of competitiveness against foreign counterparts.

Against this backdrop, the largest difficulties relate not to capital but to the awareness of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, who are typically shy in new environments, especially when confronting foreigners. Many businesses dare to run their operations but mostly focus on the domestic market as they feel that doing business in their own country is easier. Problems here can be handled the familiar Vietnamese way, while they would have to follow foreign rules outside and establish new personal networks and relations. Within the current logistics community, FIEs and state-owned enterprises are relatively stable, but the private sector consists mainly of small-scale businesses, with some newly established or separated from others.

In Vietnam, the number of FIEs is increasing constantly, with nearly 40 multinational corporations and many smaller ones present in the market. However, companies from Japan and South Korea are very ethnocentric and prefer to use the services of their country’s enterprises, which support and protect each other. Meanwhile, European and American businesses are somewhat more open-minded. They use traditional services but do not pay much attention to their partners’ country of origin. Multinationals have financial advantages, so it is easier for them to establish a foundation and attract high-quality human resources than it is for domestic ones. They also make great use of experienced CEOs.

The great advantage of FIEs is their cooperative relationship with partners worldwide. From these relationships, they provide most of the services requested by manufacturers at competitive prices. The service quality of these enterprises is often at a higher level than that of domestic ones, reflected in their professionalism, the assurance of standardised service quality, and strict rules and norms, which provide credibility for these businesses.

Those businesses also pay special attention to customer care and focus on the long-term benefits, instead of immediate returns. Therefore, at some stages, they even accept losses to win customers’ sympathy and build a reputation. Meanwhile, some Vietnamese businesses follow a fast-paced approach that aims for quick profits rather than long-term relationships and market presence. Such a mentality will also not pay attention to quality.

According to one of the prime minister’s decisions, it is a crucial task to form strong logistics groups and leading companies. Vietnam has a convenient location, with a long coastline, and the entire facade of the Southeast Asian peninsula serves not only as a service point for transit to and from China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar but is also a stopover transshipment point for major transports from Europe to Australia and from Northeast Asia to South Asia. Currently, the other regional countries take advantage of this though they do not have the same premises as Vietnam.

With a growth rate of 12-14 per cent per year, Vietnam’s logistics sector is growing, albeit merely gradually. It may take another 5-10 years to see strong differences today. As this speed remains slow, Vietnam’s logistics needs to go faster to avoid lagging behind other countries.

Up to now, Vietnam’s logistics growth has mainly relied on the scale of commodity production, consumption, and import-export, which are natural factors for growth advantages. However, these are not intrinsic factors of the logistics sector, they are just objective ones.

If one of these factors changes – such as COVID-19, natural disasters, and the declining domestic demand – the sector’s growth will suffer if it is not well established in foreign markets.

Thus, Vietnamese groups need to step out of their comfort zone, adapt quickly, and avoid thinking of themselves as small and inferior. Small does not mean weak.

At present, Vietnamese enterprises focus only on the domestic market, and give little thought to venturing abroad. Meanwhile, I am confident that Vietnam’s logistics can provide decent services to the regional market, such as Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand – all of which are close by and of similar development levels. Vietnam already has top enterprises in leather, footwear, steel, and automobiles. Thus, the logistics sector can build on their experience and develop leading groups from those sectors.

Singapore can also be a good example for Vietnam. Its government was determined to put all its advantages into developing the logistics sector and to turn Singapore into the largest transshipment port in the world. To do that, Singapore has largely sacrificed marine tourism. Nowadays, the island nation is housing some of the leading enterprises in logistics fields. It boasts PSA Co., Ltd., the world’s largest port operator, which also has a joint venture in Vietnam’s Cai Mep port complex in the south.

In the aviation industry, it has Singapore Airlines – a 5-star airline which for many years maintained its position as the world’s leading airline. Before the pandemic hit, Changi Airport was consistently one of the busiest airports in the world.

Another model is Taiwan, which has strong logistics development. Of course, there are also more developed economies like Japan or Germany whose level of development is already at a much higher level. The country needs it, the government needs it, and the businesses that want to grow strong also need to be bold and venture abroad with an outward-looking spirit. Vietnam opened its doors to global integration 35 years ago, but it is now up to businesses to step out or not. The government alone cannot do this.

Power structure balance required

Vietnam’s energy sector has been developing rapidly throughout the last few years, in which renewables show the strongest development. However, the existing imbalance between power generation and transmission threatens the national power supply. As such, relevant government agencies are now tasked with finding sustainable approaches to tackle the situation.

GENCO 1 has an installed capacity of over 7,120MW, which stems from several sources such as coal, hydroelectricity, and solar power. Nguyen Manh Huan, deputy general director of GENCO 1, said that his company is now facing risks of not being able to recover investment costs under the electricity price plan. This development left a huge impact on GENCO 1’s finances as the company added many new sources of renewable energy in a short time, causing its thermal power plants to not reach its designated 6,000 hours per year.

Becoming a leading corporation in the energy sector has become a more challenging target for GENCO 1 in the context of the complicated developments during the COVID-19 pandemic and decreasing water flows towards hydroelectric reservoirs due to climate change.

The scale of Vietnam’s electricity system ranks second in Southeast Asia and 23rd in the world, with total installed capacity by the end of 2020 reaching 69,300MW, an increase of nearly 14,000MW compared to 2019, according to the calculation of state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

The total capacity of renewable energy sources amounts to 17,430MW, a stunning increase of 11,780MW compared to 2019, which accounts now for a quarter of all national power sources.

However, the asynchronous development between renewable energy and the national power grid throughout the last few years has caused Vietnam’s lines to be overloaded, affecting the mobilisation of traditional power sources, peak hour changes, and transmission rates.

Specifically, La Hong Ky, an expert from the National Steering Committee for Electricity Development told VIR that the biggest disadvantage of solar power is its instability, due to its heavy dependence on weather.

“Meanwhile, the cost of this power source is still high, energy storage is difficult, and the necessary land area is often large, as one megawatt peak of solar power needs roughly 1.2 hectares,” Ky said.

He explained that many solar investors have asked for additional planning and quickened project implementation, leading to an asynchronous development of solar power within the overall structure of renewable energy. “For instance, up to now no document or guidance is regulating the percentage between solar and rooftop solar power sources,” Ky added.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MoIT) data from reviewing the implementation of the previous four years of power development shows that thermal power sources only grew by 57.6 per cent while renewable energy sources rose by up to 205 per cent. The completion rate of 500kV transformer stations came out at 73 per cent, while 88 per cent of 500kV transmission lines were established, 77 per cent of 220kV stations, and 84 per cent of 220kV transmission lines.

“Renewable energy has grown too hot,” claimed Bui Huy Phung, a senior expert from the Vietnam Institute of Energy Science under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.

During Vietnam’s electricity development up to 2020, the country has formulated two national energy development strategies; seven national electricity development plans; five coal industry development plans; three oil and gas development plans, and one renewable energy plan. According to Phung, these strategies and plans have guided and provided important contents for the development of the energy sector in Vietnam.

However, they also show the inadequacies of applied methodology, a lack of systematisation and computational data, and their appliance to the construction, appraisal, and implementation of power projects, which then usually lasted only a few years before they needed adjustment.

Although the aforementioned electricity plans were calculated meticulously, they still present inadequacies. The current energy intensity to GDP (kWh per US dollar) of many countries is currently at 0.3-0.6kWh per US dollar, while Vietnam’s is approximately as high as 1. During the past few years, the country was required to decrease this ratio from 1.5-1.6 to 1, with previous forecasts and actual results showing that the ratio cannot be further reduced without adjustments.

Additionally, the power grid had to be built in a rush, which was difficult to implement and led to many projects not meeting their desired progression. The plans of power plants for 2020 were behind schedule by 1-2 years, with the biggest slowdown happening in the projects of the country’s state-run oil and gas group PetroVietnam. Nevertheless, reports from the MoIT and EVN still stated that the entire national electricity supply in 2020 was basically guaranteed.

Meanwhile, the demand for coal as a resource for electricity is huge, with an estimated 78 million tonnes by 2020 and 190 million tonnes by 2030. Yet, it remains unknown where the supply is supposed to come from.

The total investment in the electricity sector in the 2011-2020 period amounted to $48.8 billion, of which 33 per cent was reserved for the national grid. In the 2021-2030 period, the total investment will be around $75 billion, of which 34 per cent is planned to be used for the national grid.

Thus, within 20 years with the total investment of $123.8 billion, only a third have and will flow into the grid, which, in turn, explains the transmission gaps in recent years.

Considering the data from the previous four years, the MoIT’s Institute of Energy is now making preparations for a new national power plan.

“Considering the previous plan, most power and grid projects have not met the set goals, with only renewable energy – mainly solar and wind – exceeding the plan by over 200 per cent,” Phung commented.

The impact of this imbalance, according to Phung, can lead to disturbances in regional and national planning, making it difficult for the transmission and control of the system, as some areas are overloaded during the day while at night it could be difficult to ensure electricity supply.

Meanwhile, in principle, ensuring energy security often needs to be based on several factors, such as forecasts of the power demand in relation to the country’s socioeconomic development plans, the domestic availability of energy sources, including renewable energy and import capacities, and a pricing scheme suitable for the development level of the country.

The issue of sustainable power source development has been recognised in all countries, especially as the consequences of climate change and depletion of many traditional energy sources become ever so visible. As a result, most countries are transforming their energy use structures towards a sustainable direction while increasing social equality in access.

To regain the balance in its power source structure, Phung said, “It is important to calculate Vietnam’s power grid planning and compliance with socioeconomic development. Vietnam can only achieve sustainable development when the contents of such plans are carefully calculated and define the demand and structure for optimal and rational use of electricity sources.”

Specifically, the MoIT is directing the creation of the Power Development Plan VIII – the master plan that will concretise the Politburo’s Resolution No.55-NQ/TW on the orientation of Vietnam’s national energy development strategy to 2030, with a vision towards 2045.

The Institute of Energy announced its initial results from the first workshop last July, which include methods, documents, and 11 electricity development scenarios for the country.

However, Phung, who has more than 40 years of expertise on energy, remarked that it is necessary to clarify the MoIT’s concept of “soft planning” in the next plan, while also considering specific solutions for the imbalance in national power development.

Economy shows positive signals at the beginning of the year

2021 has been identified as the year of economic recovery in Vietnam with a growth rate target of 6.5% set by the Government, 0.5 percentage points higher than thatassigned by the National Assembly, requiring the whole political system to drastically take part right from the first days and quarter of the year.

In the first month of 2021, the economic outlook showed positive signals. Specifically, the industrial production index in January 2021 increased by 22.2% over the same period last year; export revenue of goods increased by 50.5%, of which six items achieved revenue of more than US$1 billion, accounting for 67.3% of total export turnover. The disbursement of public investment capital increased by 24.5%.

Notably, business registration activity grew impressively on the index of newly established enterprises, registered capital and labour, thereby adding more than VND395 trillion in investment capital to the economy, up 10.5% over the same period last year.

In terms of the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI), some localities continue to attract high-tech projects, such as Foxconn’s US$270 million project in the northern province of Bac Giang. The fact that Foxconn, one of the largest manufacturers of electronic components and computers in the world, specialising in Apple products, invested in Vietnam at this time has strengthened the confidence of international investors in the country’s investment and business environment.

Meanwhile, foreign enterprises investing in Vietnam are also more optimistic about their business prospects. For example, in its latest survey results, the Japan Trade Promotion Organisation (JETRO) have announced that 46.8% of Japanese enterprises will expand production and business in Vietnam in the next one to two years, thanks to optimistic forecasts about potential growth in domestic and export sales as well as high levels of growth in general.

However, the economy is also facing risk as the COVID-19 epidemic reappeared in the community at the end of January. Industrial production has not recovered as quickly as it did before the epidemic. Enterprises continue to lack production materials. Many export markets have not been able to recover because major economies in the world continue to restrict imports due to social distancing and border closures.

The service sector has not yet recovered and continues to face difficulties even before the new wave of the pandemic. According to calculations by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), if the COVID-19 epidemic is promptly controlled in the first quarter of the year, it is estimated GDP in the first quarter of 2021 will increase by 4.46%, 0.66 percentage points lower than the target set out in Government Resolution No. 1 on the main tasks and solutions to realise the socio-economic development plan and State budget estimates in 2021.

In order to achieve the set growth target, the MPI proposethe Government should continue to make disease prevention and control a top priority, ensuring the health of the people as well as limiting the negative impacts caused by the epidemic on the economy.

Socio-economic development solutions must be implemented by ministries, branches and localities in a more urgent and drastic manner. The independence and self-reliance of the economy should be enhanced in the new situation.

Specifically, new strategies and policies should be devised to promote innovation, apply science and technology to seizing opportunities opened by the Fourth Industrial Revolution; research, monitor and update new trends, models and policies from countries that impact Vietnam, improve the internal capacity, self-reliance and resilienceof the economy. The MPI is currently completing a master plan on improving the internal capacity and self-reliance of the economy and will soon submit it to the Government.

M&A activities still buoyant

At a recent seminar, Tran Thanh Tung, partner lawyer of Global Vietnam Lawyers, said with a range of regulations in the Investment Law, the Enterprise Law, the Securities Law and the Competition Law, businesses seeking M&A deals seem to be obliged to join a hurdle race, as they have to comply with many administrative procedures to reach the finish line. Each law has a different angle on M&A.

Of note, while the 2020 Enterprise Law, to be effective from 2021, has modifications towards betterment and openness for investors and regulations to protect them, the Competition Law restricts M&A activities with the requirement for reporting the threshold of economic concentration with criteria for total assets and total revenue from sale or purchase in Vietnam, the value of transactions and the combined market share of businesses in the relevant market, as stated in Decree 35/2020 effective since May 15, 2020. According to Mr. Tung, this threshold of economic concentration is low, and in reality, there may be abuse of the reporting, which makes M&A transactions more complex and costly.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Vinh, partner lawyer of Tilleke & Gibbins, argued that many businesses will have to report on economic concentration, as the threshold is quite low. The risk for relevant parties who “forget reporting” is they will be penalized by State agencies.

Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, deputy general director and head of the corporate advisory division of Grant Thornton Vietnam, told the Saigon Times that she has seen a number of cases where businesses are impacted by the regulation for economic concentration. Though their M&A deals are small, those businesses operate in the niche market (providing a certain product) within a larger market. In view of the niche market for that product, they hold a relatively large share. However, viewed from the larger market, they are completely out of the scope of economic concentration. Nevertheless, with the current regulation, they still have to submit a report on economic concentration, which has significantly obstructed the progress and the likelihood of success of the M&A deal.

Ms. Ha said the regulation has also caused difficulties for other cases of M&A activities. For instance, parties who have reached the threshold of economic concentration for the shares auctioned by divested State-owned enterprises must do the reporting. What matters is the compliance will cost businesses a lot but the success in the auction is still uncertain. Further, the time for assessment of economic concentration by the National Committee for Competition may be longer than the maximum time when the businesses joining the auction must make a public offer.

At the present time, Ms. Ha stressed, the fact that the National Committee for Competition is not yet established, concrete guidelines are not yet available, competent agencies do not have experience in assessment and interpretations about the concept of  “the market for relevant products” are not yet clear is causing many difficulties for M&A activities. Businesses are at a loss to determine whether their deals are subject to reporting and they may have to wait for a long time for feedback from competent agencies. “We observed that under the new regulation, the combined market share is not the only factor to determine whether an M&A deal is prohibited or not, as it needs assessment of many other factors. All has created a heavier obligation for demonstration for parties to M&A deals,” Ms. Ha said.

At the seminar, Dinh Anh Tuyet, director of the law firm IDVN, said businesses may feel uneasy to do reporting on economic concentration, but this is a necessary and not so fearful job. Besides criteria for assets, revenue from sale and purchase, and market share expressed by numbers, there are also other analyses. With a complicated M&A deal which takes a lot of time for completion, it’s regretful if it is subject to the regulation for abolishment due to failure to complete the procedure for reporting on economic concentration. In addition, the fine for violation by the business concerned amounts to 5% of its revenue in the relevant market in the year before the year of the violation.

A concrete example is Grab’s acquisition of Uber in Singapore. The two parties determined that they were not at the threshold to report on economic concentration and did not do the reporting. Afterwards, competent authorities in Singapore determined that they were at the threshold and fined them several million Singapore dollars.

Nevertheless, Ms. Tuyet commented that regardless of the new regulation, M&A activities will continue, as investors will consider the market prospect and M&A parties have strong legal teams to ensure compliance.

Justin Gizs, member of the legal council under the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Eurocham), said the legal factor must be attended to because it is the decisive factor to facilitate M&A deals, especially those with foreign involvement. EU investors highly appreciate the Vietnamese market and want to enjoy appropriate, favorable policies under the Vietnamese legal framework to boost M&A activities.

Ms. Ha from Grant Thornton Vietnam noted that apart from the legal factors, a more important factor is the market. Vietnam now has a significant position and advantages when the country has duly coped with Covid-19, maintaining safety for her economic activities. Further, Vietnam is emerging as a convincing alternative destination for foreign enterprises seeking to move their operations out of China. Therefore, she thought that M&A activities will continue to be buoyant in 2021.

New Covid-19 outbreak dents Vietnam’s hospitality recovery

The latest outbreak of Covid-19, which began in late January, has put an immediate impact on Vietnam’s hospitality business with numerous cancellations across the country, not only in the affected destinations but anywhere with access via an airport.

The outbreak has seen preventative measures reinstated nationwide. In many localities, containment measures have been back, with greater focus on hygiene, mask wearing, hand washing, and restrictions of unnecessary travel and social gatherings, according to Savills Hotels APAC.

January started on a positive note, with city hotels seeing increased MICE (meeting, incentive, conference and event) bookings while in some resorts, corporate bookings started to return.

The market in 2021 is expected to be broadly similar with most of 2020, at least until borders reopen to leisure and business. Hotels have adapted by considerably reducing operating costs to establish lower breakeven points.

“Prior to these local transmissions, the industry was anticipating increased travel demand during and after the Tet holiday, which would have been a good start to the year. However, the situation has changed everything,” said Mauro Gasparotti, director of Savills Hotels APAC.

Travel interests are diminishing in a mist of uncertainty with air travel demand dropping 15% immediately after the news release. The Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC estimated a sharp drop of 26.5% in air passenger traffic over the Tet holiday compared to last year. Online flight search demand to Danang and HCMC during this peak period of the year dropped over 30%, according to OTA Insight.

Some companies immediately enforced travel restrictions, with requests to limit attending events or large gatherings. This has directly affected MICE business in city hotels, where several conferences have been put on hold or delayed. Drive-to destinations have also been affected by weekend cancellations.

“The resurgence of local Covid-19 transmission once again demonstrates its immediate impact on the tourism industry. Travel agencies and hotels are no longer surprised with “the unexpected” but this happening right before the Tet holiday has hurt public travelling interests,” said Mauro Gasparotti.

“With the Government speeding up vaccine testing and imports, I hope the situation is soon under control. Hospitality is highly vulnerable to adverse effects. It will only be when people feel confident and safe enough to travel when recovery will truly be underway,” he added.

Covid-19 has caused significant disruption to the Vietnamese tourism industry. In 2020, international arrivals of just 3.8 million were down 78% compared to 2019, while the 56 million domestic travelers were down 34%.

Performance of hotels and resorts slumped, with many forced into temporary closure. Occupancy and average daily rates both dropped, resulting in revenues being down 70% compared to 2019.

In Hanoi, average occupancy of 32% compared to the average of 80% last year, while in HCMC it dropped from 72% in 2019 to 23%. The average occupancy of 62% country wide in 2019 collapsed to just 24% in 2020.

2020: A success, 2021: An unkown

Although it failed to fulfill the year’s targets, Vietnam’s export is not only a key growth driver for the economy but also a rising star on the international marketplace.

A government report submitted to the National Assembly last October projected the export growth in 2020 at only 3.5-4% In reality, the total export sales for the whole year might amount to US$281 billion, posting a growth rate of 6.5%.

Compared to the 7% growth target, Vietnam almost made it. This was the third time during the past 10 years the country failed to achieve this important goal. Nevertheless, in the context that the domestic market was gloomy due to Covid-19, export still played an important role in enabling the economy to reach an overall growth rate of 2.91%.

First of all, instead of attaining an average growth rate of 13.4% per year as in the past 10 years, Vietnam’s total retail sales and service and consumption revenue in 2020 are estimated to rise only 2.4%; and if compared to gross domestic product (GDP), export accounted for 82.6%, up 2.4 percentage points year-on-year, whereas the total amount of retail sales, services and consumption revenue were just 63.5%, down 1.1 percentage points.

In other words, instead of contributing 52% to the output of economic growth in 2019, export in 2020 made up 66.4% of the output economic growth, while the domestic market with nearly 100 million consumers contributed 33.6% (instead of 48%) because of Covid-19.

Vietnam’s growth rate higher than that of the top-40 exporting countries in the world during the past decade (2010-2019) helped Vietnam pick up a staggering 18 notches—from the 41st to the 23rd—in the list of 50 nations having the largest exports in the world compiled by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is very likely that Vietnam’s position in 2020 will be further improved.

Secondly, while export growth rate was positive, import tended to be stagnant despite a year-on-year surge of 22.7% in December. As a result, Vietnam obtained a record high trade surplus of US$19.1 billion in 2020.

It should be emphasized here that the argument which asserts a decrease in import will give rise to an increase in trade surplus associated with a shortage of materials for production is probably groundless. Statistics show that the total import spending of 18 commodities was over US$51 billion, down 11.3% from 2019, but compared with 2019 prices, Vietnam benefited more than US$25 billion. That means if the price decrease was excluded, the import value would rise by 32.3% while import volume would rise by 12%.

This indicates that the record trade surplus comes from the fact that Vietnam has accelerated export plus the “basket of imports” includes many groups of goods having sharp price decrease, which help Vietnam earn huge profits from price fluctuations in the world.

Meanwhile, the “basket of exports” shows that the processing and manufacturing industry contributed a great deal to the record trade surplus. In 2017, Vietnam incurred a trade deficit of US$6.5 billion from these groups of goods; the country saw a trade surplus of US$4.7 billion in 2018; the figure soared to US$9.2 billion in 2019, and is estimated to reach US$14.5 billion in 2020.

Thirdly, viewed under the export market structure, the United States is perhaps a motive for Vietnam to obtain her export targets and trade surplus. It is estimated that export turnover to this market in 2020 will reach US$76 billion, accounting for 27.2% of the total export revenue to the world, whereas import spending will be around US$13.5 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of US$62.9 billion with the U.S.

Meanwhile, Vietnam suffered huge trade deficit with China and South Korea, US$35.4 billion and US$27.5 billion, respectively.

Unknown for 2021

It is forecast that the world economy post-Covid-19 will recover this year, but the recovery process will not be the same for all nations, especially less positive for the U.S. and European countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that while GDP of the emerging economies and developing countries increases 6.05%, that of developed countries rises just 3.6%. This is not a positive signal for Vietnam’s export prospect in 2021.

The U.S. and Europe are the major export markets of Vietnam, so their slow recovery makes it hard for Vietnam to boost export into these countries.

In addition, the fact that the U.S. designates Vietnam as a currency manipulator—although it has not yet exerted any impact on Vietnam’s export stateside—will prompt Vietnamese exporters and importers to be cautious, not to mention the possibility that Vietnam will find it harder to enjoy a big trade surplus again after such allegation.

To cope with the currency manipulation label, Vietnam will have to prevent goods that are deliberately disguised in made-in-Vietnam brands from being exported to the U.S. Therefore, if the fight against origin fraud is more successful, exports will decrease proportionately.

Furthermore, though the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect a few months ago, the possibility to increase exports to this market is still much to be desired because the downward trend in 2020 still continues and the economy in this bloc is still mired in trouble in 2021.

In such context, export increase should be focused on Asian markets, particularly the member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). However, this is a formidable mission.

Statistics show that in the first 11 months of last year, Vietnam exported goods worth some US$103 billion into these regional markets, but imported nearly US$167 billion from them. Her two major partners were China and South Korea, with tremendous trade deficit. Vietnam also suffered lower trade deficit with the remaining 12 partners. These were Vietnam’s problems for years, so the hope to increase exports into these regional markets is almost impossible, especially in the short run.

In other words, decreasing trade deficit in the short run should rely on the result of the fight against origin fraud. In the long run, it should rely on the development of supporting industries as well as industrial sectors producing materials to enjoy preferential tariffs as stipulated in the EVFTA.

Given the recovery of the world economy in 2021, it is likely that prices of goods on the world market will rise, and Vietnam’s exports will not suffer from low prices as in 2020. However, her imports will not enjoy advantages in terms of prices, and she will no longer attain high trade surplus as in 2020. The soar of import in the final month of last year might be a “reverse” signal in the balance of trade in 2021, or might at least indicate that trade surplus would not be as high as in 2020.

In short, if there is no breakthrough in the fight against Covid-19 around the world, it will be hard for Vietnam to accelerate export in 2021, whereas import will soar, resulting in a decrease in trade surplus.

HCMC’s tourism sector in distress

The average hotel room occupancy is less than 10% while travel businesses have reported massive Tet tour delays and cancellations, according to the HCMC Department of Tourism. Tourist sites and entertainment areas in the city are not as crowded as in previous years due to Covid-19.

Guests started to delay or cancel tours from January 28 when Covid-19 reemerged in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh and Hai Duong. Only a few agreed to reshedule their travel plans.

“The Tet tourism season this year is worse than that of last year,” according to the HCMC Department of Tourism’s report. Last year, when Tet came, Covid-19 also broke out in Vietnam. All inbound, outbound and domestic tours were gradually cancelled till March 2020.

The report also said that the average room occupancy of hotels in HCMC was less than 10%.

During the Tet holidays, the tourist sites such as Dam Sen, Van Thanh, Binh Quoi and Suoi Tien have been temporarily closed. Many entertainment areas have also scaled down their operations to ensure safety.

Indonesia imposes anti-dumping tariffs on cold steel sheet from Vietnam

It is the final conclusion of an Indonesian agency for cold steel sheet imported from Vietnam.

The Indonesian Anti-dumping Committee (KADI) will impose anti-dumping tariffs on cold-rolled steel imports from Vietnam and China after a 16-month investigation, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The anti-dumping duties of 3.01-49.2% on steel imports from Vietnam will affect Vietnamese major exporters including Hoa Sen and Ton Dong A Corporation which will pay 5.34% and 3.01%, respectively, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (TRAV).

Earlier, the TRAV was informed by the KADI that Vietnam’s cold steel sheet manufacturers are  selling their products in Indonesian market at less than fair value which has caused injury to Indonesian cold steel sheet companies.

In August 2019, the Indonesian committee announced an anti-dumping investigation on aluminum coated steel imports from Vietnam and China.

Immediately, the TRAV sent a letter protesting some contents in the draft conclusion of KADI which it said unreasonable. Specifically, some conclusions are inconsistent, not reflecting the actual situation of Vietnamese enterprises such as value added tax, duplication in calculations. These inaccuracies have led to a high margin of dumping and is detrimental to Vietnamese enterprises.

Then, on August 24 2020, KADI decided to extend the investigation for another six months as the agency needed more time to conduct thorough probe.

Hanoi tax revenue from e-commerce surges by five times

Increasing online shopping has resulted in higher tax revenue.

The amount of tax collected from e-commerce activities in 2020 was five times higher than in 2019, as online shopping has become more popular among Hanoi’s consumers, according to the Hanoi Tax Department.

The city earned a VND123 billion (US$5.3 million) tax revenue from e-commerce last year. Some individuals willingly declared their earnings and paid millions of dollars in personal income taxes.

Last year, the tax authorities have tightened supervision over e-commerce activities in accordance with the amended Law on Tax Administration, which requires individuals doing business via internet to declare income and pay tax. The law took effect  on July 1, 2020.

A 28-year-old girl, in Cau Giay district, declared an income  of VND330 billion (US$14.4 million) and paid VND23.4 billion (US$1 million).

A man, 30 years old, in Cau Giay district, earned VND260 billion (US$11.3 million)  from writing applications for Google Play and App Store, and paid tax of VND18.1 billion (US$787,342).

“Online selling has developed well in recent years. Among online businesses, a lot of young individuals, especially students have also applied technology to do business, profited from the model and paid a huge amount of tax,” Director of the Tax Sub-Department of Cau Giay district Le Quang Hung said. “In this difficult context, it is a great contribution of taxpayers to the socio-economic development of the city.”

This year, the municipal Tax Department continues to coordinate with commercial banks and trading platforms to collect data and instruct e-commerce operators to fulfill their tax obligations, Director of the Hanoi Tax Department Mai Son said.

The department will also enhance the supervision of income for better tax collection. The law  stipulates that credit institutions and commercial banks should provide information about taxpayers’ accounts to the taxation department.

In 2017, the department sent 13,000 messages to subscribers who posted physical addresses for selling goods on social media.  As the result, more than 2,000 traders on social networks have registered for tax filing.

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

Blood shortage warned as donations postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks

The resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in many cities and provinces in recent weeks has seriously affected the blood supply for medical treatment.

Although many people and organisations responded to the call of blood donation by the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) on February 19, the amount of blood received per day was still only a few hundred units while the average need for treatment each day is from 1,200 to 1,500 units.

There is usually a shortage of blood during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday as the holiday lasts long while blood has a short shelf life and many patients still need blood transfusions during Tết.

This year, the pandemic’s resurgence has made the shortage after Tết even worse.

Before Tết, 30 entities requested to postpone or cancel blood donation plans which meant the NIHBT missed out on receiving more than 8,000 units.

After the holiday, the institute received information about the delay of 24 more blood donation plans from now to the end of March with an expected donation of 5,000 units.

In addition, the blood donation schedule in March cannot be confirmed because it depends on the university and college’s return to the school schedule.

This means the blood reserves of the institute are decreasing.

If this situation continues, blood reserves will decrease to an alarming threshold, fell into a state of scarcity and seriously affect the blood supply to health facilities.

The Institute’s director Bạch Quốc Khánh said: “The estimated blood demand for emergency and treatment in February and March of the institute is about 50,000 units.”

“With blood donation schedules maintained up to now, there was still a shortage of about 20,000 units, seriously affecting the provision of 177 medical facilities in 28 provinces and cities in the north with about 41 million people,” said Khánh.

As of February 18, the institute’s blood reserve was about 4,800 units, the director said.

To tackle the scarcity, the institute had to mobilise hundreds of its staff to donate blood both during and after Tết.

Responding to the programme ‘White Blouse – Red Heart’ on the occasion of Việt Nam Doctors’ on February 27 launched by the Việt Nam Medical Trade Union, 33 grassroots trade unions have registered to donate blood.

But due to participating in the control of the COVID-19 outbreak, many units proposed delaying the donation events.

Therefore, from January 28 to February 17, the institute received only 8,152 blood units, with nearly 1,000 blood units donated by medical staff in Hà Nội including the NIHBT, Hà Nôị Oncology Hospital, Hà Nội Heart Hospital, Geriatric Hospital and General Agriculture Hospital and nearly 900 units from relatives of patients who were undergoing donation treatment.

At the same time, the institute has provided 15,700 units of red blood cells (excluding other types of preparations) for health facilities, many of which are remote or COVID-19 affected localities such as Quảng Ninh, Hải Dương, Bắc Kạn, Thái Nguyên, Hòa Bình, Lạng Sơn, Bắc Giang, Thanh Hóa, Nam Định and Ninh Bình provinces, according to the institute director.

Some days, the institute provides up to 2,500 units of blood, double the average daily need of 1,200-1,500 units of blood, although it can only meet 70-80 per cent of the blood demand of hospitals.

To create favourable conditions for people to donate blood, from now to March 7, fixed blood donation points in Hà Nội at No. 26 Lương Ngọc Quyến Street, 132 Quan Nhân Street, and No. 10, Lane 122 Láng Road will open from 8am to 12am and 1.30pm to 5pm every day instead of opening only from Monday to Saturday as before.

The NIHBT called for people with good health conditions to participate in blood donation (especially blood groups O and A) and platelet donation and asked agencies and organisations to maintain blood donation schedules and mobilise officials, employees and people to donate blood to help tackle the shortage.

Schools to reopen in HCM City in early March

Ho Chi Minh City will allow the reopening of schools from March 1, according to a notice from the municipal People’s Committee.

All schools in Vietnam’s biggest southern hub have been closed since February 2, a week before the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the city. Students have shifted to online learning since then.

In the notice, the committee ordered the city’s Departments of Education and Training; Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; and Health to jointly issue guidelines on COVID-19 preventive measures to ensure safety for students at schools.

It also requested that all students, teachers, and school staff complete health declarations on a daily basis, while educational institutions are responsible for telling students returning from or traveling to pandemic-hit areas to notify local medical units to receive health check-ups and monitoring.

The municipal Department of Education and Training previously issued a document guiding local educational institutions in rigorously enforce precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including cancelling all extra-curricular activities.

As of February 24, the city has gone through 13 days without any new community transmissions of the coronavirus./.

Can Tho earmarks 30.6 mln USD for poverty reduction

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho plans to spend 703 billion VND (30.6 million USD) this year on poverty alleviation measures.

The money, to come from the central and local governments, soft loans and other sources, will be used to provide poor households with all basic social services and improve their incomes.

They will include support policies and programmes related to healthcare, education, vocational training, soft loans, and job and poverty reduction models to help poor and near-poor people.

Loans worth 640 billion VND (27.8 million USD) will be provided to 12,974 poor and near – poor households and those that have newly escaped poverty to do business.

The city will provide free health insurance cards to 3,090 poor and ethnic people living in disadvantaged areas, and 34,729 near-poor people, ensuring that this demographic is covered 100 percent.

It will provide scholarships or reduce or waive school fees for 1,870 poor students, and vocational training and jobs for 750 poor and near-poor people.

It will expand 48 successful poverty reduction models, and carry out agriculture extension programmes to benefit 150 poor and near-poor households.

The city has implemented various policies and programmes in recent years to enable poor households to escape poverty sustainably.

Last year it built 485 houses, gifted 43,556 health insurance cards to poor and near – poor households and provided soft loans worth a total of 648 billion VND (28.1 million USD) to poor and near – poor households.

More than 44,900 poor and near-poor households received 33.7 billion VND (1.5 million USD) worth of Government subsidies to overcome the impacts of the COVID- 19 pandemic.

The city reduced its poverty rate by 0.37 percentage points and had only 1,036 poor households last year, or 0.29 percent, according to its Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

The city aims to ensure the rate does not slip this year since the poor households are not able to escape poverty as they have members benefiting from the Government’s social policies or with chronic diseases or have only seniors./.

Vietnamese workers given long-term working opportunity in Japan

Vietnamese guest workers will be granted the chance to work in Japan for a long period of time under the special-skilled labour programme signed by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs with the Japanese government.

Under the scheme, the working period will last longer than the current 1 to 3 years.

Furthermore, Vietnamese migrant workers will also be able to enjoy benefits from these preferential policies, including wages equivalent to native workers at a rate of between VND36 million to VND50 million.

Guest workers will also have the chance to work for a long period in Japan, settle, and be able to sponsor their own families to settle in Japan.

All exit expenses will be partly covered by Japanese companies, while costs for learning Japanese and other vocational training fees are to be fully funded by various Japanese companies.

Last December, Japan announced 2 new visa regimes to foreign guest workers, with the working time of employees joining its skill internship programne to be increased to a maximum of 10 years. The new regimes will apply to 14 professions, including construction, nursing and agriculture.

According to the Department of Overseas Labour Management and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, the construction sector is set to implement a vocational test at the end of next March.

This also marks the first time that a scheme aimed at recruiting high-skilled workers has been deployed nationwide. Several other industries, such as furniture production, construction machinery driving, tunnel construction, and concrete pumping are expected to recruit additional workers in July.

The Japan Human Resources Society (JAC) recently signed a contract regarding a special-skilled labor programme with An Duong Group (ADG) and a Memorandum of Understanding with five vocational training schools. This is part of the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction’s plan to train “special skilled workers” and to bring additional skilled human resources from the local construction industry to work in Japan.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau to get tougher on illegal fishing in foreign waters

The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has ordered its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to get tougher on illegal fishing in foreign waters by local fishing ships and their owners.

The order was made by Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Ngoc Khanh during a February 23 conference to review local measures against the illegal practice under Resolution 12-NQ/TU issued by the provincial Party Committee’s Standing Board over the last two years.

Khanh requested to be provided with a list of ships involved in illegal fishing in foreign waters during 2019 – 2020 and tasked the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant units with adopting stronger actions and sanctions for violators.

Awareness campaigns should be accelerated to educate fishermen and vessel owners that fishing in foreign waters without permission is against the law, he said.

Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Van Cuong reported that the number of local ships caught by foreign countries for illegally entering their foreign waters has declined sharply in recent time, with almost no case reported during August 2019 to March 2020.

According to the official, Ba Ria-Vung Tau has traced origins of catch products and strictly punished those committed to illegal fishing and trading and processing of these products. He added that the province has also cracked down on a number of gangs arranging illegal encroachment of fishing ships into foreign waters.

However, it remained common for ships catching fish in areas along the sea border and in overlapping areas, he continued. Only 86 percent of fishing boats have been installed with cruise monitoring devices, and the percentage is lower than the goal set by the government’s Decree 26/2019/ND-CP on measures to enforce the Law on Fisheries./.

Adjustments to Tan Son Nhat airport planning greenlighted

The Ministry of Transport has approved adjustments to the Tan Son Nhat airport planning for the 2021-2030 period.

Under the planning, a terminal Doppler Weather Radar station will be built in an area of some 1,600 square metres to the northeast of the airport, while a multi-storey car park will be arranged at Terminal 3.

Regarding auxiliary facilities at the airport, adjustments are made to the location of the infight meal preparation areas and sewage treatment stations.

The Ministry of Transport asked the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to review and update positions, scale and technologies used in the works so as to ensure the connection and uniform development with relevant infrastructure at the airport.

At present, Tan Son Nhat International Airport is the busiest airport in Vietnam. It is the biggest international aviation gate for the nation and centre for passenger and cargo transit in southern area./.

Quang Binh plans over 2 trillion VND for coastal road system

The central province of Quang Binh is planning to spend more than 2.2 trillion VND (95.6 million USD) on completing its coastal road system from now to 2026.

The route, over 85km long and 12m wide, will include 23 bridges, traverse six district-level localities of Quang Binh, and have a design speed of 80km per hour.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Thang said the coastal road system is a key and priority project of Quang Binh.

Running through six of the eight district-level localities of Quang Binh, it will help attract investment and tap into local socio-economic development potential and strengths, especially in tourism, services, and sea-based economic activities.

Once put into use, the route will not only connect local coastal economic zones but also help bring into play advantages of the Vung Ang deep-water seaport and industrial park complex in neighbouring Ha Tinh province and Hon La Port of Quang Binh.

It is also expected to contribute to security – defence ensuring, marine sovereignty safeguarding, natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue, and traffic congestion settlement, Thang noted.

In recent years, Quang Binh has been working hard to develop the local transport system, he said, adding that all the five modes of transport are now available in the province, namely road, rail, air, sea, and inland waterway transport./.

HCM City primary schools flexible with their online learning

Primary schools in HCM City are adopting various online learning tools and resources amid the school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nguyễn Lệ Thanh Tuyền, a first-grade teacher at the Đống Đa primary school in Tân Bình District, said teachers were using videos, PDFs and Word documents to design lessons.

Video lessons were uploaded on the school’s website and parents can download them, she said.

Teachers also designed homework assignments on Word and sent them to parents on social networks, she said.

Most parents were co-operative and arranged time after work to download the lessons, she added.

This approach combining offline lessons and discussions on social networks between teachers and parents is preferred by many primary schools since young kids can find online classes with dozens of students difficult to focus on.

A principal at a primary school in District 6 said teachers uploaded video lessons of all subjects on the school’s website every Monday and students would have to submit their homework within a week.

Parents could opt for weekday evenings or weekends to help their children with it, the principal said.

Other primary schools offer daily online classes, but many parents have a legitimate complaint that it is hard for them to sit with their children in the morning and afternoon since they are busy at work.

Từ Quốc Tuấn, principal of Lương Định Của primary school in District 3, said that only important subjects such as mathematics, Vietnamese and foreign languages were taught online for first, second and third graders to keep their workload down.

“It is tough for young students to focus on online classes without adults’ assistance,” he said.

“Offline video lessons make it easier for parents to arrange time to help their kids,” he added.

The city Department of Education and Training said online learning was designed using various tools and resources and delivered at the most convenient time for students.

Tan Phu – Bao Loc Highway to connect Dong Nai – Lam Dong provinces

The Tân Phú – Bảo Lộc Highway plan, which connects Đồng Nai and Lâm Đồng provinces, will be carried out by Lâm Đồng People’s Committee, as approved by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

The project runs under the PPP (public-private partnership) model. The PM also agreed that the provincial People’s Committee will take responsibility to monitor the investment process of the project.

The highway, 67 kilometres long with four lanes, is part of the Dầu Giây – Liên Khương Highway, which links Đồng Nai to Lâm Đồng and is now under construction.

The total investment is around VNĐ18.2 trillion (US$789.75 million), which consists of funds from private investors and the state budget.

The project is part of Việt Nam’s infrastructure development plan in the 2020-30 period.

When construction is completed, the highway will help facilitate the development of Central Highlands provinces and reduce traffic congestion on Bảo Lộc Hill where sharp turns and landslides, especially during the rainy season, exist.

Vietnam Airlines ready to transport COVID-19 vaccines

Vietnam Airlines has proposed it be officially permitted by authorised health agencies to transport COVID-19 vaccines from overseas.

The national flag carrier said it has prepared all necessary resources to meet the strictest requirements on vaccine transportation by air. It has sufficient logistics services, modern cold storage systems, and trained human resources that meet international standards.

It is ready to introduce refrigerated container services for carrying vaccines, as poor preservation can affect quality and efficiency.

The carrier will also set up a specialised unit to perform these tasks.

Vietnam Airlines has experience in transporting medical supplies, such as medicine and surgical instruments, as wells organs for transplant, even in time-sensitive emergencies.

It can deploy a fleet of wide-body aircraft such as Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s to transport large quantities of vaccines./.

ASEAN launches regional study report on labour productivity

The Regional Study Report on Labour Productivity in ASEAN was launched virtually on February 23, providing an analysis of the current situations and concepts in the field across ten member states and looking into the feasibility of developing a regional index.

The event, hosted by the ASEAN Secretariat, gathered representatives from member nations’ labour ministries, the International Labour Organization, the ASEAN Confederation of Employers, the ASEAN Trade Union Council, and the Asian Productivity Organization (APO).

In his remarks, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Kung Phoak underlined the importance of labour productivity in ensuring a sustainable economy of the region.

“Against the backdrop of the changing world of work, digitalisation of economies, globalisation and aging populations, effective strategies to improve labour productivity are needed. The Study Report provides useful analysis and recommendations in this regard”, he noted.

In the same vein, APO Secretary-General Achmad Kurnia Prawira Mochtan highlighted that human capital should play a more central role in labour productivity growth.

The Regional Study on Labour Productivity in ASEAN is a project in the Senior Labour Officials Meeting’s Working Group on Progressive Labour Practices to Enhance the Competitiveness (SLOM-WG) Work Plan 2016-2020. It was completed with support of the Asian Productivity Organization./.

Endangered sea turtle returned to ocean

A sea turtle that was rescued and cared for by fisherman after it became trapped in a net, has been released back into the ocean.

The endangered species became tabled during storms that hit the central region back in November.

After getting trapped, fishermen rescued the animal before handing him over to the Chàm Island’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) management board who worked in conjunction with Đà Nẵng-based SaSa Marine animal rescue team.

Although the turtle had some cuts, he made a full recovery and was released back into the sea on Wednesday.

Experts say the turtle weighs 10.5kg and is estimated to be around 10 years old.

Last year, a female Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys Olivacea) was rescued and returned to the ocean after five months of care at the MPA.

The Chàm Islands MPA said at least 30 sea turtles have become trapped in fishing nets off the islands since 2018. Two-thirds die after becoming entangled.

The city of Hội An has been building sea turtle conservation centres on beaches of the Chàm Islands, and expanding the core zone for special protection to 30 a total of 33,000ha.

Only seven species of sea turtle exist in the world, and five of those are found living in Việt Nam.

Hundreds of boats in Ha Long wait for end of Covid-19 outbreak

Hundreds of tourist boats are lying idle in Ha Long Bay due to the lack of customers amid Covid-19 pandemic.

There were over 800 boat trips were organised in Ha Long Bay each day, serving thousands of tourists and bringing much profits to the boat service providers and local tourism sector in general. However, hundreds of boats have been idle ever since the pandemic started.

Nguyen Tung Kha, director of a private tour boat company in Ha Long said he had just put two expensive ships into use when the situation turned for the worse. “We were hard hit by the first outbreak in 2020 and the latest outbreak has knocked us out,”‘ he said. “Every day the vessels lie idle, we lost tens of millions of VND on each boat.”

Many firms in Ha Long are on the brink of bankruptcy due to huge debts, docking and maintenance fees. Various other related services also suffer. Crew members tried to find other jobs and chefs on the ships became food traders.

Vu Manh Long, director of the Inland Waterways Department confirmed the depressing picture, saying that they had hoped for a better development in 2021 but the latest outbreak ruined any hope.

Quang Ninh People’s Committee said they would launch support packages to help the local businesses alongside with the government’s support package for firms in Vietnam.

They may lower VAT, environmental fees and other taxes and fees for the boat service providers. They will also ask banks to extend the deadlines for loans or lower the interest rates.

Hanoi to operate 10 electric bus routes in Q2

The capital city of Hanoi will introduce 10 new bus routes using electric vehicles in the second quarter of this year, aimed at diversifying the modes of public transport and protecting the environment.

These bus routes will connect densely populated new urban areas, where there is a high demand for public transport, according to the Hanoi Public Passenger Transport Management and Operation Center, under the Hanoi Department of Transport.

Specifically, the new routes include the Long Bien-Tran Phu-Smart City Urban Area, the Smart City Urban Area-Ho Tay (West Lake) Water Park, the Giap Bat Coach Station-Smart City Urban Area, the Long Bien-Cau Giay-Smart City Urban Area, the My Dinh Coach Station-Ocean Park Urban Area and many others.

Earlier, VinBus JSC under the Vietnamese conglomerate VinGroup had registered to operate the 10 new bus routes using its electric buses and pledged to invest in 150-200 premium electric buses deploying advanced technology. The local bus maker is working with Vietnam Register to ensure the electric buses meet all the technical standards.

Aside from manufacturing electric buses, VinBus recruited personnel and is building infrastructure facilities so that it can operate the new routes right after seeking an approval from the authorities.

Le Dinh Tho, Deputy Minister of Transport, said the launch of the electric buses is in line with the country’s strategy to develop the auto industry by 2025 with a vision toward 2035, the national action plan on the management of air quality by 2020 with a vision toward 2025 and the plan of ensuring traffic safety and order in the country.

Therefore, the Ministry of Transport approved the proposal to operate electric buses for public transport in both Hanoi and HCMC, Tho added.

Data from the center showed that the capital city’s bus network had met some 15% of the locals’ travelling demands as of 2020. To encourage the use of public transport, the city will map out and revise plans, including collecting fees from vehicles which enter congestion-prone streets to limit the number of vehicles using the streets and researching the operation of bus-only lanes on certain streets.

Most of workers in Northern region resume to work

Most of workers and labors have come back to factories and industrial parks in the capital city of Hanoi, the Northern region and Covid-19 pandemic-hit provinces of Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, etc as from February 16.

The Industrial Zones Trade Union of Vinh Phuc Province reported that the production activities of factories have been stable with more than 92 percent of returners.

Enterprises, factories along with their employees are strictly implementing the requirement of 5K (face mask, disinfection, distance, no gathering and health declaration) of the Ministry of Health on the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control. Around 255 workers are absent from their working places because they came from the Covid-19 affected areas of Hai Duong, Hung Yen and Dien Bien and have been isolated according to the regulations.

As for Thai Nguyen Province, about 95 percent of workers came back to factories and industrial parks from February 19.  For domestic enterprises, there were approximately 100 percent of returners to work. The most of workers at large-scale firms such as Samsung Vietnam- Thai Nguyen, Glonics Vietnam resumed to work.

In the pandemic-hit province of Hai Duong under regulation implementation of social distancing, the Provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 pandemic prevention and Control and the Management Board of industrial zones of Hai Duong Province directed enterprises to use maximum means of transport to hop on and hop off workers to their working places, minimize personal vehicles, adjust the working hours of the production lines to reduce the number of workers on shifts, after shifts.

Additionally, the Management Board of industrial zones of Hai Duong Province regularly updated and promptly provided a list of re-operated enterprises in industrial zones after Tet to the Hai Duong Police to monitor and respond to the risk of spreading Covid-19 pandemic.

Binh Phuoc Province proposes construction of dual-use airport

The south-eastern province of Binh Phuoc has proposed the construction of a dual-use aiport on an area of 500 hectares in Hon Quan District in the form of public-private partnership (PPP).

The provincial People’s Committee and specialists made a survey of the location of the airport project. Accordingly,  the 100-ha Hon Quan airfield will be widened to about 400-500 hectares.

The local authorities have proposed the Prime Minister,  the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Transport for an approval on managing the current airfield and building the expansion project of a dual-use airport for both economic development and defense tasks.

The construction of the new airport aims to redirect to the industrial development that has been submitted to the Prime Minister to expand and set up planning for new industrial zones in the province.

HCMC to pilot bus priority lane

Buses are running on Dien Bien Phu Street – one of the main streets in HCMC. (Photo: SGGP)

Due to the dense population in HCMC, leading to the large number of private vehicles, urban traffic at the moment has to shoulder a heavy burden, and the average velocity of vehicles in the downtown is just 20-25km per hour.

To tackle this problem, the municipal authorities have adjusted the planning of the urban transport system to implement the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model. This model maximizes the link between residential, business, manufacturing areas and the existing public transport system.

HCMC is going to apply this model along Metro Line No.1 (from Ben Thanh in the downtown to Suoi Tien in Thu Duc City), Metro Line No.2 (the first phase: Ben Thanh – Tham Luong in District 12; the second phase: Tham Luong – Cu Chi District) and Metro Line No.5 (the first phase Bay Hien Intersection in Tan Binh District – Sai Gon Bridge; the second phase: Can Giuoc Coach Station in Long An Province – Bay Hien Intersection).

The HCMC Management Center of Public Transport (MCPT) is going to introduce 21 high-quality bus lines. This is expected to rebuild the community’s trust towards buses, and thus increasing their bus use.

In order to fulfill the goal, these buses must maintain their route schedule and are not allowed to skip bus-stops or passengers under any circumstances. They have free Wi-Fi, a route monitoring device, a sound system automatically connected to MCPT to announce destinations, free newspapers to serve passengers.

Bus attendants must have good manner, especially towards the senior, the disabled, the ill, and the invalids. Bus drivers must ensure safety by strictly obeying traffic laws and minimizing disorder inside the bus.

The new 21 lines must have sufficient infrastructure, including bus stops, stopping space, regularly updated information boards about current routes and schedules. These facilities must be clean and not illegally occupied by peddlers.

As suggested by Associate Prof. Dr. Pham Xuan Mai from HCMC University of Technology (Vietnam National University – HCMC), it is critical that bus route schedules be maintained so that customer confidence is regained, and people come back to this common public transport.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Canh from the University of Economics and Law (Vietnam National University – HCMC) said that the formerly piloting scheme of bus priority lane on Tran Hung Dao Street encountered certain objection from the community. However, it is this practice, along with careful planning, that is implemented widely in developed countries to help buses be more welcomed by the public.

Experts in the field suggested that HCMC should launch the piloting scheme for bus priority lane on some major streets like Dien Bien Phu (from Ly Thai To Roundabout – Sai Gon Bridge) or Vo Thi Sau (from Dan Chu Roundabout – Dinh Tien Hoang Street), which has many bus lines.

Simultaneously, better private vehicle restriction rules should be introduced on these two streets to make the scheme more effective.

Accepted the recommendation, MCPT is going to pilot bus priority lanes on the mentioned streets at morning and afternoon peak hours on weekdays. Each lane is supposed to be 3.25m wide, separated with other lanes by road fence. These lanes are for buses, ambulances, firetrucks, mini buses, and passenger vehicles 12-seat+.

Lately, HCMC has built several new streets; yet the proportion of traffic space in the urban land use is a tiny minority of 10 percent, which is not even 1/2 of the standard. Adding to the problem is the ever-increasing number of private vehicles, reaching 9 million at present (including 7.2 million scooters).

With such a high traffic density, with a priority lane, it is truly challenging for buses to maintain their schedules. Some bus companies reported that 80 percent of their buses cannot fulfill this goal. Some are even 1 hour late.

Just 3 years ago, buses were the most favorite choice of students coming to Thu Duc University Village, and there was a bus running each 10 minutes. Sadly, over 1/2 of those lines are canceled now since they cannot ensure the precise arrival time.

Obviously, the development of public transportation must go along with a more logical control of private vehicle growth.

Vietnam to digitize libraries

Vietnamese government has approved library digitalization program to 2025 with the vision to 2030.

This move is considered as a significant step to promote information technology application especially digital technology with the aim to ensure library continuity as Covid-19 puts brake to academic activity.

In fact, library digitalization is not a new concept, but the concept has been mentioned a few years before.

Some libraries including the National Library of Vietnam and the General Science Library in Ho Chi Minh City have applied digital library ; however, digitalization results seemed not to meet their goals. Limited spending and small human resources are two of culprits of failure in digitalization of the two libraries. Asynchronous implementation of digitalization amongst libraries is the main culprit of the failure in IT application.

Pham Quoc Hung, Deputy Director of the Library Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that library digitalization, a process in which materials are converted from hard copies to electronic copies, is a lengthy and costly endeavor; worse, it has not generated good result as just some libraries in several localities implement digitalization like in the past time.

People can access the giant digital database only when all libraries are connected together; therefore, the government-approved program is expected to contribute to formation of a giant database.

The program goal is to complete and develop infrastructure of digital and digital data in all public libraries nationwide by 2025. Moreover, 70 percent of valuable materials, documents and collections on history, culture, science will be digitalized in the first phase of the program.

Hanoi proposes vaccine purchase for locals

Since early February, Hanoi’s top leaders have planned to buy vaccines for the locals.

Authorities in Hanoi have proposed the Vietnamese government’s authorization for purchasing Covid vaccines for its residents.

The government should grant mechanism to enable cities and provinces nationwide to buy vaccines for the inoculation in their localities, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung said at a government meeting on February 24 chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Two days ago, the municipal Department of Health has sent a request to the Ministry of Health for the purchase of 15 million doses of vaccines with an aim to administer to the city’s residents at the age of 18 and above.

With the proposal, Hanoi expects to provide vaccination to 95% of its population.

According to Deputy Director of the Hanoi’s Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh, the Covid-19 pandemic in Hanoi is temporarily under control but risk of transmission remains high as roughly 85% of confirmed cases were asymptomatic carriers.

“It means that only testing help detect infections which requires efforts,” Hanh said.

A plan to buy vaccines came in early this month when Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue asked local authorities to build a roadmap for it. Finance for the purchase will come from the city’s budget and other financial sources.

Since the resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 in Vietnam late January, Hanoi has reported 34 cases. Local experts attributed Hanoi’s virus containment to massive testing and contact tracing. The city has set up 10,000 Covid-19 prevention and control groups to sort out people from affected areas and keep surveillance on them. So far, it tested more than 51,000 people coming from Hai Duong, the epicenter of the fresh wave.

Hanoi students may return to school from next week

Hanoi has gone seven days, from February 16, without confirming any new Covid-19 cases in the community.

Students in Hanoi may return to school on March 1 after a long time stay at home to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic while attendlung online schooling, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh said at a meeting held in Hanoi on February 22.

The deputy director said that the capital city will monitor the pandemic situation until the end of this week and on the basis of Covid-19 test results and evolution, Hanoi may loosen social distancing.

“Students can return to school; festivals can be held. Therefore, the municipal departments of Education and Training, Culture and Sports, Industry and Trade must always stand ready to take prompt decision in the new situation,” Hanh said.

He added that Hanoi has gone seven days, from February 16, without confirming any new Covid-19 cases in the community.

The municipal health sector has carried out Covid-19 test for all returnees from Hai Duong province, the biggest epicenter of the pandemic, with a total of 51,595 people. Of them, 41,180 have tested negative, the others’ results are pending.

Besides, the test results of 17,528 people at 18 pandemic-hit areas in Hanoi have all come back negative.

The disease situation in Hanoi has been basically put under control; however, the potential risk of Covid-19 spreading is still high as some people from the Covid-19-hit-provinces who have not made medical declaration, Hanh noted.

In the 2020-2021 school year, more than two million Hanoi students had been scheduled to return to school on February 17 following the Lunar New Year holidays, but the Covid-19 pandemic prolonged school closures across the city. Many schools have resorted to remote learning during the break.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh said that the city would buy 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to administer all its local residents aged 18 and over with finance from its own budget.

Hanh added that his department had consulted the municipal People’s Committee to send an official dispatch to the Ministry of Health asking for support in purchasing Covid-19 vaccines.

Taking into consideration the population and migrant people living in the capital city, Hanoi would need 15 million doses of vaccine to give two shots for adults aged 18 and over, reaching 95%, Hanh noted.

Hanoi, home to more than eight million people, has recorded 36 infections in the latest community transmission outbreak, which emerged in northern Vietnam in late January and has spread to 13 cities and provinces. The country’s total coronavirus carriers currently stand at 2,395.

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