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>>> First batch of AstraZeneca vaccine arrives in Vietnam this morning

>>> Prime Minister orders quick vaccination for people

>>> Hai Duong conducts large-scale testing for COVID-19 from Feb 24

>>> Students in 52 provinces, cities come back to school

Speaking at a meeting between the permanent cabinet members and the standing members of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on February 24, the minister said localities around the country have performed well in implementing prevention and control measures.

As of the morning of February 24, Vietnam had 2,403 COVID-19 infections, with 1,760 recoveries. Ten localities hit by the latest outbreak have now gone many days without new cases, he noted.

In Hai Duong, the pandemic is now under sound control with faster testing and contact tracing.

He said that SARS-CoV-2 variants found in cases in Vietnam include the 20C variant, which was contracted by a Japanese patient found dead in Hanoi earlier this month and another recent case in the capital. This variant is mostly found in the Republic of Korea, India, and Taiwan (China), but not Japan. Its infection speed is not high, while its strength is yet to be determined.

The SARS-CoV-2 variant found in Hai Duong originated from the UK and South Africa, while that in Quang Ninh was also detected in the UK.

The minister asked localities to continue applying preventive measures against the pandemic in line with the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 05, while paying greater attention to supervising medical facilities and patients exhibiting fevers and coughs as well as foreign experts and people entering the country from abroad.

The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines arrives in Vietnam on February 24, 2021. (Photo: NDO)

At the meeting, local authorities of Quang Ninh announced that the northern province will spend at least VND500 billion (US$21.7 million) on purchasing COVID-19 vaccines, targeting mass vaccinations as soon as possible.

Quang Ninh recently issued a resolution stipulating urgent tasks and solutions in the COVID-19 fight.

It will cut 10% from regular spending and increase budget contingency to a maximum of 4% per total budget spending in order to provide the resources to fight COVID-19 and other diseases and respond to natural disasters and emergencies.

At a meeting on February 23, the standing board of the provincial Party Committee decided to provide VND4 billion to the neighbouring province of Hai Duong, which is now grappling with COVID-19 clusters.

* The Central Highlands province of Gia Lai will remove social distancing order at the stroke of February 25 in four localities reporting no new COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days, according to its announcement issued on February 24.

They include Ayun Pa township and the districts of Ia Pa, Phu Thien and Krong Pa.

Students of the province are set to return to school on March 1 while socio-economic activities will resume in the new circumstance.

Gia Lai had logged no COVID-19 infections as of 5 pm on February 24, marking two weeks without new cases.

* Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are planning to reopen schools on March 1, according to the Ministry of Education and Training, after a two-week delay to the scheduled resumption when Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday end mid-February.

A health worker sprays disinfectants at a high school in HCM City’s District 10. (Photo: NDO)

Hanoi could reopen schools on March 2 if the COVID-19 situation is under control (March 2 will be the date marking 14 days of local infections), according to municipal authorities.

The HCM City People’s Committee on February 24 approved the Department of Education and Training’s proposal to reopen schools on March 1 since the recent COVID-19 outbreak has been well controlled.

To prepare for the reopening, the administration has called for disinfecting schools and adopting preventive measures. This week the department will ensure these tasks are undertaken at all schools.

As of February 24, the city has gone through 13 days without any new community transmissions of the coronavirus.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Health has developed an emergency plan for COVID-19 outbreaks under three scenarios of fewer than 100, 200 and 500 positive cases. The plan is being made because of pandemic developments including new variants and outbreaks globally.

To date, 51 provinces and cities nationwide have already reopened schools.

Agricultural production has been affected by abnormal weather conditions, climate change, and diseases over recent years. Many farms in southern Dong Nai province have applied high-technology in agricultural production in order to cope with the situation, helping increase quality and output.

High-tech production requires massive investment, not just capital but also technology, equipment, and “grey matter”, to adapt to cutting-edge manufacturing methods.

High-tech manufacturing models have been expanded around Dong Nai, especially in animal husbandry and on poultry farms.

Dong Nai has more than 46,000 hectares of crops using water-saving technology and the province has gradually changed to green breeding in accordance with Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practice (VietGAP) standards.

Agriculture accounts for 8.3 percent of Dong Nai’s economic structure and agro-forestry-fisheries value currently stands at nearly 1.8 billion USD. The results reflect the province’s large-scale manufacturing development investment and high-tech application to adapt to unfavourable conditions and meet market demand.

Vietnam’s growth outlook to depend on authorities’ response to new outbreak: WB

Vietnam’s growth prospects will depend on how well and how quickly the authorities will bring the new coronavirus outbreak under control and how quickly international and national vaccinations will proceed, according to the World Bank (WB).

In its Vietnam Macro Monitoring report issued earlier this month, the WB said January’s industrial production index jumped by 24.5 percent year on year, the highest growth rate since the beginning of 2019. Merchandise exports and imports respectively grew 51.8 percent and 41.8 percent from the same period last year.

The preliminary January goods trade surplus is estimated at 1.1 billion USD. Exports to the US and China continued the robust growth of 2020 while those to the EU, ASEAN, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) bounced back strongly. Similarly, imports from the RoK, ASEAN and the US joined those from China, Japan and the EU to stay in expansionary territory.

In the first month of 2021, the Government spent a total of 99.6 trillion VND, which is slightly, 1 percent, higher than a year ago. Public investment reached 15 trillion VND, making the disbursement rate of 3.25 percent.

However, the WB added, while Vietnam’s economy has been extremely resilient to the COVID-19 crisis, preliminary results from the COVID-19 World Bank high frequency household survey of January show that almost half of households still reported lower household income than the year before. About 9 percent of households took loans and 15 percent reduced their consumption.

If persistent, this prudent behaviour will negatively affect aggregate domestic demand in the future, according to the bank.

It held that growth prospects for 2021 will be affected by how well and how quickly the authorities will bring the new outbreak under control and how quickly international and national vaccinations will proceed.

If the crisis lingers, the authorities may consider further monetary and fiscal support. Yet, special attention will have to be given to the fiscal space, the health of the financial sector and possible social effects as lasting loss of income among some households may create new inequalities and tensions, the report noted.

Jacques Morisset, WB Lead Economist for Vietnam, said the WB expects with many positive signs like the considerable progress in vaccine development and gradually resumed trading activities, the country can obtain growth of 6 percent in 2021./.

Binh Duong sees high trade growth

The southern province of Binh Duong achieved impressive growth in exports in January.

They grew 61.7 percent year-on-year to 2.98 billion USD.

Many of its main export items such as computers, electronics and components (75 percent) and wooden products (89 percent) saw high growth.

The textile-garment and footwear sectors, which struggled last year due to COVID-19, picked up pace as businesses began receiving more orders.

Exports to the US, which accounted for 65.2 percent of the province’s total exports in January, grew by 68.9 percent.

Exports to other markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan also saw growth.

Notably, Hai Duong province achieved 37 percent growth despite being severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic./.

Hotel occupancy rates in HCM City at less than 10 per cent

More independent trips, “free & easy” tours and guided small group tours will be high on travellers’ agendas for 2021, the HCM City Department of Tourism has said.

Staycations and luxury leisure vacations have been popular this year, the department said in a report. Short-distance itineraries to the southeastern region and Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta, following health and safety protocols, have been favoured by travellers.

Independent trips, including self-drive itineraries located near the city such as Vũng Tàu, Đà Lạt and Phan Thiết, saw a rise in visitors during the Tết holiday.

Lại Minh Duy, general director of TST Tourist, said domestic tours could be customised for each group or family, with socially-distanced and mask-wearing guidelines.

Many Tết tours had been delayed until the Reunification Day holiday on April 30, when COVID-19 outbreaks were expected to be contained by that time, Duy said.

Travellers scrambled to cancel trips and get refunds for tours during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday due to COVID-19 outbreaks in late January, just a few days ahead of Tết.

Around 500 customers cancelled Tết tours worth a total of VNĐ 6 billion (US$260,400) at leading travel firms in the city. Most of them required full refunds and refused to delay trips, firms said.

Travel demand during Tết was nearly at a standstill. During the holiday, popular tourist and entertainment sites in the city such as Đầm Sen Park, Suối Tiên Theme Park, Văn Thánh and Bình Quới tourist sites were closed to contain the spread of the virus.

Hotels in HCM City are now operating at occupancy rates of less than 10 per cent, according to the department. Many hotels prepared special F&B programmes and offered promotions to meet rising demand during the Tết season but were then affected by the new outbreaks.

As many as 29 hotels with a total of 2,053 rooms have been approved to serve as hotel quarantine areas, and four more, with a total of more than 440 rooms, are waiting for approval from city authorities.

Investor begins building ICT service chain in Đà Nẵng

Trung Nam Group has started construction of five factories at the Information Technology and Communication (ICT) Service Zone in Đà Nẵng to host the moves of global supply chains.

The general director of Trung Nam Group, Nguyễn Tâm Tiến said the factory chain would be built on 9.3ha at Đà Nẵng Information Technology Park with an investment of VNĐ1.5 trillion (US$65.2 million).

The group would also develop an apartment and villa zone for expert and engineers and an eco-park project on 26ha with a total of VNĐ2.1 trillion ($91.3 million) for accommodation facilities for investors and their families in the near future, he said.

Tiến said the group planned to build 23 more ICT factories and R&D zones to meet increasing demand from global partners

“We debuted the first surface-mount technology (SMT) factory with a capacity of 6.2 million electronic products per year at the Đà Nẵng Hi-tech Park last year after three months of research,” he said.

He said the operation of the SMT factories chain will be a key step in building the Đà Nẵng IT Park as central Việt Nam’s ‘Silicon Valley’, and call for investors from Silicon Valley and the US to invest in high-tech industries, artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation.

Trung Nam completed the first investment phase on 131ha at Đà Nẵng IT Park with an investment of $47 million. It plans to develop the second phase on another 210ha with estimated funds of $74 million.

Universal Alloy Corporation – a leading global manufacturer of aircraft components for aerospace companies – from the US launched its factory for aircraft components worth $170 million, at the city’s Hi-Tech Park last March.

Alton Industry from the US also plans to build a robot manufacturing project in the city’s Hi-tech Park.

In 2019, two of the first Silicon Valley-based businesses – Meritronics AMT Inc and Ai20X Silicon Valley – agreed with Trung Nam Group to develop the Đà Nẵng IT Park.

Last year, South Korea’s LG Electronics and Trung Nam Land JSC inked an agreement with a vision to transform Đà Nẵng into the centre of technology and R&D in Việt Nam.

Kien Giang expands lucrative shrimp-breeding models

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Kiên Giang plans to expand its brackish-water shrimp farming areas this year in an aim to increase farmers’ incomes and adjust to soil, water and climatic conditions.

Quảng Trọng Thao, deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that intensive industrial shrimp breeding with advanced techniques would be done in areas that have sufficient infrastructure and investment capacity, primarily in the Long Xuyên Quadrangle.

The province will also review and turn unproductive rice fields into rice – shrimp farming fields that rotate the cultivation of shrimp and rice on the same fields, he added.

The province is encouraging farmers to breed shrimp using advanced two-stage and three-stage industrial farming models, and apply Vietnamese good agricultural practice (VietGAP) standards and other international farming standards to meet export requirements.

The province is developing rice – shrimp farming areas in the districts An Biên, An Minh, Vĩnh Thuận, U Minh Thượng, Gò Quao, Hòn Đất, Kiên Lương and Giang Thành.

Kiên Giang, which is the country’s largest rice producing province, has turned thousands of hectares of unproductive rice fields in coastal areas into rice-and-shrimp rotation models in recent years.

With a coastline of more than 200 kilometres, the province has advantages to develop rice – shrimp farming models in coastal areas.

Hòn Đất District alone has conditions to develop its rice – shrimp farming area to 20,000ha. The district plans to expand the area to 16,000ha by 2030.

Under the rice – shrimp farming model, farmers rotate growing rice in the rainy season and breeding shrimp in the dry season in the same fields, or intercrop breeding shrimp in ditches around rice fields and growing rice at the same time.

The rice – shrimp farming model offers farmers an average profit of VNĐ70 – 100 million (US$3,000 – 4,400) per hectare a year, two to three times higher than only rice cultivation, according to farmers.

Farmer Huỳnh Văn Bạc has intercropped cultivating mùa rice and giant river prawn on 3ha in Châu Thành District’s Vĩnh Hòa Phú Commune since 2017.

He has earned an average profit of more than VNĐ160 million ($7,000) a crop.

Mùa rice is planted only in the rainy season and lasts about six months each crop.

“The cultivation of mùa rice helps farmers reduce production costs and get high prices. I also earn additional income from harvesting giant river prawn,” Bạc said.

He said that farmers need help from local agencies to access soft loans and advanced farming techniques.

Since early this year, farmers have received high prices for shrimp varieties because of high export demand.

The price of white-legged shrimp, for instance, increased to VNĐ150,000 – 198,000 ($6.5 – 8.6) a kilogramme early this year, up VNĐ10,000 – 15,000 against the end of last year.

Farmers who breed giant river prawn had a bumper harvest of shrimp before and after Tết (Lunar New Year). Traders are buying giant river prawn at a high price of VNĐ130,000 – 180,000 ($5.7 – 7.8) a kilogramme, depending on their size.

The brackish-water shrimp farming area will be expanded to 136,000 ha with an annual output of 98,000 tonnes this year, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Of the figure, industrial and semi-industrial farming models will cover 4,000ha, shrimp – rice farming 104,500ha, and advanced extensive farming 27,500ha.

Last year, the province bred 134,235ha of brackish-water shrimp with an annual output of 92,490 tonnes.

HCM City to fill 30,000 job vacancies after Tet

There will be some 30,000 job vacancies in Ho Chi Minh City after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, according to the city’s Human Resources Forecast and Labour Market Information (Falmi) Centre.

Most recruitment will be in business-trade, services, garment-leather footwear, food processing, chemical-plastic-rubber, customer service, transport-warehouse-port services, IT, and tourism-restaurant-hostels.

Falmi Centre Vice Director Do Thanh Van said that 85.8 percent of the total vacancies are for trained and skilled employees.

According to head of the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority Hua Quoc Hung, businesses at local export processing and industrial parks need to employ some 12,000 workers to satisfy their production plans, 2,540 of whom must hold university degrees and 4,700 secondary education certificates or college degrees.

Vacancies are seen in the garment and leather footwear sector and from enterprises at Tan Binh, Linh Trung 1 and 2, and Tan Tao processing and industrial zones, to cover for workers who left their jobs last year.

The Falmi Centre said that the city will have around 70,000-75,000 job vacancies in the first quarter, mostly in business-trade, services, garment-leather footwear, food processing, chemical-plastic-rubber, customer service, and IT, among others./.

Vietcombank offers interest reduction on COVID-19-affected customers

The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) – one of the major banks in Vietnam – on February 22 announced that it will reduce the interest rate on all existing loans for three months until May 22.

The decision is part of the bank’s effort to support its customers amid impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, Vietcombank will lower interest rate for COVID-19-hit enterprises by 10 percent, and 5 percent for remaining customer groups that suffer negative impacts from the pandemic.

For individual customers, Vietnambank will reduce interest rate by 0.2 percent per year for those who take loans for production and business.

According to the bank, 105,000 customers will benefit from the programme with total credit of 350 trillion VND (15.18 billion USD), accounting for 40 percent of the total outstanding debt balance of the bank.

In 2020, Vietcombank offered five interest reduction programmes to support enterprises and people affected by COVID-19 and flooding, becoming the credit institution to offer largest reduction in many years, and bringing the loan interest to the lowest level in the banking system.

The total amount of loans covered by interest reduction programmes was 441.7 trillion VND, while the total value of interest reduction in 2020 was nearly 4 trillion VND.

Alongside, Vietnambank has restructured the payment date and maintained the debt group classification on over 5.15 trillion VND worth of loans.

Sustainability the goal for agricultural goods

The consumption of agricultural products will move towards diversity and sustainability, according to a newly-approved plan.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently approved a plan to change agricultural product consumption in 2021 – 2025, with a vision to 2030.

The plan, designed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, aims to reorganise agricultural production on a large scale in accordance with the planning and requirements of the market, accelerating the use of science and technology, and applying traceability of agricultural products.

Along with that, trade and services cooperatives will be consolidated and developed as a necessary intermediary between farmers, businesses and banks to organise consumption for farmers.

The plan will build a binding mechanism linking the main parties in the agricultural product consumption channel and supportive policies to encourage all parties to link organically from material supply, production to the consumption of agricultural products.

The plan is also set to promote communication and raise awareness of organisations and individuals about innovating methods of trading and consuming agricultural products.

In addition, the management of safe production processes and product quality control will be strictly enhanced before selling to the market, ensuring agro-products meet not only domestic standards but also standards of importing countries.

The plan states the modernisation of production and business will focus on trade promotion, agricultural branding activities gradually, domestic and international market expansion to limit dependence on certain markets to reduce risks and improve the values of agricultural products; research, and science and technology application enhancement./.

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,” the minister 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.

He 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 398 trillion VND (17.3 billion USD) as of the end of December, meeting 82.8 percent 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 percent in public investment disbursement would push GDP by 0.06 percentage points.

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

Binh Duong sees high export and import growth in January

Binh Duong Province achieved impressive growth in exports in January to rank third in the country behind only HCM City and Bac Ninh Province.

They grew 61.7 per cent year-on-year to US$2.98 billion.

Many of its main export items such as computers, electronics and components (75 per cent) and wooden products (89 per cent) saw high growth.

The textile-garment and footwear sectors, which struggled last year due to COVID-19, picked up pace as businesses began receiving more orders.

Exports to the US, which accounted for 65.2 per cent of the province’s total exports in January, grew by 68.9 per cent.

Exports to other markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan also saw growth.

HCM City led the country with exports of $8.9 billion, and Bac Ninh followed with $7.7 billion.

Notably, Hai Duong Province achieved 37 per cent growth despite being severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sustainability the goal for agricultural product consumption

The consumption of agricultural products will move towards diversity and sustainability, according to a newly-approved plan.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently approved a plan to change agricultural product consumption in 2021 – 2025, with a vision to 2030.

The plan, designed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, aims to reorganise agricultural production on a large scale in accordance with the planning and requirements of the market, accelerating the use of science and technology, and applying traceability of agricultural products.

Along with that, trade and services co-operatives will be consolidated and developed as a necessary intermediary between farmers, businesses and banks to organise consumption for farmers.

The plan will build a binding mechanism linking the main parties in the agricultural product consumption channel and supportive policies to encourage all parties to link organically from material supply, production to the consumption of agricultural products.

The plan is also set to promote communication and raise awareness of organisations and individuals about innovating methods of trading and consuming agricultural products.

In addition, the management of safe production processes and product quality control will be strictly enhanced before selling to the market, ensuring agro-products meet not only domestic standards but also standards of importing countries.

The plan states the modernisation of production and business will focus on trade promotion, agricultural branding activities gradually, domestic and international market expansion to limit dependence on certain markets to reduce risks and improve the values of agricultural products; research, and science and technology application enhancement.

HCM City developers move to provinces on cheaper prices, improving transport infrastructure

While the HCM City housing market has gone quiet after the renewed outbreak of COVID-19, the market in neighbouring provinces like Dong Nai, Long An and Binh Duong has seen robust growth this year, experts said.

Distance is no longer a problem for developers in and around HCM City thanks to improved transport infrastructure, and they are increasingly looking at neighbouring provinces where prices are more reasonable and have potential for property development.

A recent report by the Viet Nam Association of Realtors (VARS) said the development of Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai and Thu Duc City and the construction of new roads and bridges connecting the south-eastern region with HCM City have led to increased activity in the real estate market.

This is creating a wave of investment in emerging markets while traditional markets are reaching saturation point, general director of real estate services firm DKRA Viet Nam, Pham Lam, said.

In Binh Duong Province, land in areas adjacent to HCM City which have potential for economic development, such as Thuan An and Di An cities, have become ideal for affordable apartment projects, a product the city lacks.

VARS said apartment prices in Binh Duong increased sharply last year despite Covid-19 — from VND25-30 million (US$1,080-1,300) per square meter to VND30-35 million (US$1,300-1,500) — but remain much lower than in the city.

In Dong Nai, land prices in areas close to the eastern part of HCM City have also increased, especially thanks to the construction of the airport in Long Thanh.

In 2019 the average land price was VND12-14 million per square metre, and rose to VND22 million last year. In Long Thanh Town, the price has surged to VND100 million in some areas.

The real estate market in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province is also hot since it is adjacent to HCM City and has great potential for tourism development.

Investors also are keen on Long An Province, which too borders HCM City. Some projects with high potential go for VND21-26 million per square metre while in other areas is VND13-15 million.

No land is available in recent projects at less than VND15 million.

Covid-19 causes insolvency of real estate enterprises

The real estate industry has accounted for about 4.42% of Vietnam’s total gross domestic product in 2020.

Nearly 1,000 real estate enterprises have completed dissolution procedures in 2020 in Vietnam due to the impact of Covid-19, according to the Ministry of Construction.

A number of real estate enterprises had to go bankrupt due to Covid-19 in 2020. Photo: Doan Thanh

Last year, many real estate enterprises had to improve their capacity and increase adaptability to the pandemic. The number of the newly-established enterprises in the sector in 2020 was 6,694, down 15.5% compared to 2019.

In the last quarter of 2020, the sector slightly expanded compared to growth in the first quarter mainly thanks to the rapid recovery of the housing and industrial segments. This led to a positive growth for the whole year of 2020.

According to the Ministry of Construction, the real estate credit kept expanding in the whole year of 2020, except for the first quarter because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

In addition to bank credit, which was the main source of capital, the real estate market lured inflows from other sources such as individuals, remittances and capital from the issuance of stocks, bonds of listed companies and foreign-invested enterprises.

Bình Dương sees high export and import growth in January

Bình Dương Province achieved impressive growth in exports in January to rank third in the country behind only HCM City and Bắc Ninh Province.

They grew 61.7 per cent year-on-year to US$2.98 billion.

Many of its main export items such as computers, electronics and components (75 per cent) and wooden products (89 per cent) saw high growth.

The textile-garment and footwear sectors, which struggled last year due to COVID-19, picked up pace as businesses began receiving more orders.

Exports to the US, which accounted for 65.2 per cent of the province’s total exports in January, grew by 68.9 per cent.

Exports to other markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan also saw growth.

HCM City led the country with exports of $8.9 billion, and Bắc Ninh followed with $7.7 billion.

Notably, Hải Dương Province achieved 37 per cent growth despite being severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

HCM City developers move to provinces on cheaper prices, improving transport infrastructure

While the HCM City housing market has gone quiet after the renewed outbreak of Covid-19, the market in neighbouring provinces like Đồng Nai, Long An and Bình Dương has seen robust growth this year, experts said.

Distance is no longer a problem for developers in and around HCM City thanks to improved transport infrastructure, and they are increasingly looking at neighbouring provinces where prices are more reasonable and have potential for property development.

A recent report by the Việt Nam Association of Realtors (VARS) said the development of Long Thành International Airport in Đồng Nai and Thủ Đức City and the construction of new roads and bridges connecting the south-eastern region with HCM City have led to increased activity in the real estate market.

This is creating a wave of investment in emerging markets while traditional markets are reaching saturation point, general director of real estate services firm DKRA Việt Nam, Phạm Lâm, said.

In Bình Dương Province, land in areas adjacent to HCM City which have potential for economic development, such as Thuận An and Dĩ An cities, have become ideal for affordable apartment projects, a product the city lacks.

VARS said apartment prices in Bình Dương increased sharply last year despite Covid-19 — from VNĐ25-30 million (US$1,080-1,300) per square meter to VNĐ30-35 million (US$1,300-1,500) — but remain much lower than in the city.

In Đồng Nai, land prices in areas close to the eastern part of HCM City have also increased, especially thanks to the construction of the airport in Long Thành.

In 2019 the average land price was VNĐ12-14 million per square metre, and rose to VNĐ22 million last year. In Long Thành Town, the price has surged to VNĐ100 million in some areas.

The real estate market in Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province is also hot since it is adjacent to HCM City and has great potential for tourism development.

Investors also are keen on Long An Province, which too borders HCM City. Some projects with high potential go for VNĐ21-26 million per square metre while in other areas is VNĐ13-15 million.

No land is available in recent projects at less than VNĐ15 million.

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.

EVN gets nod to develop major thermal power plant in Quang Binh

The estimated investment for the project, which was designed to have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, will include EVN’s equity of more than VND9.6 trillion and loans of over VND38.5 trillion, the local media reported.

The first generator of the plant is expected to be put into commercial operation in 2028 and the second generator in the following year.

The prime minister has urged the government of Quang Binh Province to accelerate the issuance of the investment registration certificate, the handover of land for EVN and the conversion of the land use purpose as well as to supervise the execution of the project. The Government leader has also asked the province to coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and EVN to assess the possible impacts of the project on the environment.

Meanwhile, EVN must be responsible for capital mobilization solutions of the project. It must also ensure the effectiveness of the State capital poured into the project.

Vietnam urged to increase added value for rice industry

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has granted approval to a project aimed at restructuring the Vietnamese rice sector by 2025 and 2030, with a primary focus on improving the sector’s added value.

Under the scheme, the local rice sector will boost restructuring, meet domestic consumption demand, constantly ensure national food security, improve the quality and nutritional value of products, and establish.

Furthermore, restructuring operations will aim to adapt to and mitigate climate change, whilst making use of natural resources in an effective manner, protecting the environment, increasing farmer income, and exporting high-quality rice.

With regards to rice exports, the sector has set the aim of exporting five million tonnes of rice by 2025 and four million tonnes by 2030, of which fragrant, specialty and japonica rice will account for the largest proportion with 40% and 45%, respectively.

Most notably, despite the rice export volume enduring a downward trajectory, the quality and price of rice has significantly improved in recent times.

According to experts, to take full advantage of free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the UK-Vietnam FTA (UKVFTA), the rice sector will be required to improve product quality to meet the stringent requirements of importers.

They also emphasised the necessity of developing rice farming areas that grow high-quality rice varieties, with a specific focus on boosting connectivity among production, consumption, and export, whilst strictly controlling the maximum limit of pesticide residue and origin traceability.

The sector has been advised to apply preservation and processing technologies in the post-harvest period to churn out high-quality products that are in line with food hygiene and safety regulations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aquatic product exports forecast to reach 9.4 billion USD in 2021

Vietnam’s aquatic product exports are expected to rake in 9.4 billion USD this year, a surge from 8.5 billion USD in 2020, driven by a strong rebound in demand of export markets and the support of free trade agreements, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters (VASEP).

Analysts of FPT Securities JSC (FPTS) predicted Vietnam to continue increasing shrimp output in 2021, reaching 730,000 tonnes, up 4 percent year-on-year.

Stable supply will be an advantage for Vietnamese shrimp exporters to expand their market shares in export markets.

The prices of exported shrimps are also forecast to rise slightly by 5 percent to an average of 9.6 USD per kg, according to an FPTS report.

Meanwhile, experts from BIDV Securities Company said that it is difficult for Vietnam’s shrimp sector to enjoy high export growth in 2021, as the production of competitive countries such as India and Ecuador begin strong recovery, especially when the two countries’ shrimp prices are 10-15 percent lower than that of Vietnam.

However, the shipment of shrimps to the EU, which accounts for 21 percent of Vietnam’s total shrimp export turnover, is expected to be supported by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The tariffs imposed on frozen shrimps were slashed to zero percent immediately after the EVFTA became effective on August 1, 2020, while those on processed shrimps will reduce to zero percent from January 1, 2027.

The output of Vietnam’s tra fish is also forecast to maintain uptrend this year.

FPTS expects that the export will bounce back thanks to increasing demand of Vietnam’s main importers such as China, the US, and the EU.

Vietnamese businesses’ efforts to focus on value added processed products which meet all requirements on food safety and origin traceability of products will be paid off, with the export value of processed tra fish to surge in 2021./.

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