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VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS FEBRUARY 8

August 2, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

Flower growers look to online sales amid COVID-19 resurgence

Workers at a flower farm in Da Lat City.

Traditionally, city dwellers shop for flowers and botanicals at flower markets to fill their home with the most cheerful blooms to celebrate the new year.

But many flower growers said that flower markets were not busy this year, leaving them with an oversupply.

Nguyen Duy, a flower farm owner in Da Lat City, said that COVID-19 outbreaks in many localities would likely affect people’s purchasing power for flowers ahead of Tet festival.

Thuy Vu, director of the The Gioi Hoa Tuoi JSC, a wholesale supplier of flowers, said it would not focus on retail sales for the Tet festival this year due to market uncertainty.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, a flower vendor at Ho Thi Ky flower market in HCM City, said flowers stockpiled for the Tet market this year were not as numerous as last year due to concerns over weak purchasing power.

Purchasing orders with flower farms are expected to change in the next few days depending on the control of COVID-19, Lan said.

Flower farms in Da Lat City have seen a 55 per cent drop in orders from wholesale markets in other cities and provinces, according to a survey of the Da Lat City People’s Committee.

The committee, however, has reported a boom in online sales of agricultural produce, flowers and botanicals ahead of Tet.

It advised farms to use bank transfer payments for retail orders and to sign contracts with merchants for wholesale orders to ensure the success of online deals.

Livestreams

Shoppers can find various types of flowers from flower farms and merchants on online shopping platforms.

Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy from Biofresh Company in Da Lat City has hosted livestreams via Facebook to guide viewers through different types of flowers and plants available on the farm.

Amid the pandemic, live commerce has helped promote and sell products, and engaged potential shoppers, Thuy said.

Tran Van Tam, a flower grower in Da Lat City, said that flower farms in the city adopted online sales to reach new buyers as wholesale buyers were reluctant to close deals due to worries about weak demand.

This year, flower farm owners are concerned that they will be left with an oversupply of flowers, so they expect to quickly sell stocked products at reasonable prices, Tam said.

Dalat Hasfarm is offering Tet collections of flower vases and combo deals for cut flowers and pot plants with discounts on online orders.

Online flower markets are also featuring extensive selections of imported flower products such as forsythia, ilex, and Japanese peach flowers. A vase of imported flowers costs VND3-9 million (US$130-390). 

Rice trading businesses post good results on higher rice price

Vietnamese agricultural companies recorded high profit in 2020 as the country’s rice exports saw good results.

In 2020, Viet Nam’s rice export volume fell by 1.9 per cent year-on-year to 6.2 million tonnes, but export value increased 11.2 per cent to $3.1 billion, according to calculations based on data from the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.

Climate change and disruptions in supply chains due to COVID-19 have affected Viet Nam’s rice production, resulting in an increase in the rice price. Last year, Viet Nam’s average rice price for export rose 13.3 per cent year-on-year to nearly US$499.3/ton.

The rice price was also boosted by rising demand around the world as many countries stockpiled food due to concerns over the pandemic.

This helped rice trading companies like Loc Troi Group JSC (LTG), Vietnam National Seed Group JSC – Vinanseed – (NSC) and Trung An Hi – Tech Farming JSC (TAR).

The fourth quarter financial report showed that Loc Troi’s revenue surged nearly 77.5 per cent year-on-year to VND3.5 trillion in the last quarter of 2020. The company’s profit after tax was VND163.7 billion in the same period, four times higher than that of 2019.

In the whole of 2020, Loc Troi’s revenue declined by nearly 9.7 per cent to VND7.5 trillion, but it still recorded an increase of over 10 per cent year-on-year in profit after tax to nearly VND369 billion as its expenses reduced.

Loc Troi is a leading company in trading agriculture commodities, such as pesticides and seeds, and food which mainly is rice.

Vinaseed also saw a sharp increase in revenue in the fourth quarter after slowing down in the first three quarters.

The company’s revenue climbed 22 per cent year-on-year to nearly VND666.6 billion in the last quarter, but its profit after tax fell 6.2 per cent to over VND70 billion as sales and administrative expenses increased 15.6 per cent and 10.5 per cent, respectively. It’s profit after tax in 2020 also decreased to VND194.5 billion.

The seed sector, which mainly is rice, plays an important role in Vinaseed’s businesses, accounting for more than 93 per cent of revenue and profit. Last year, Vinaseed’s industrial centre for seed and agricultural product processing in Dong Thap Province was opened, increasing its production capacity by over 40 per cent.

In the fourth quarter, Trung An reported a rise of 8.5 per cent year-on-year in net revenue to VND613.1 billion, while its profit after tax fell sharply in the same period as its financial activities and other expenses rose. The company’s profit after tax decreased by 81 per cent year-on-year to nearly VND6.3 billion.

However, thanks to good results in the first nine months of 2020, Trung An’s profit after tax for the whole year still increased 46.5 per cent to VND88.2 billion.

With the rally of rice prices since the beginning of 2021, investors expect businesses in the industry to take advantage of this trend to see positive results in the first quarter of this year.

Viet Nam’s rice price for export was quoted around US$500/ton in January, according to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Local wood industry to capitalise on export opportunities to US

With the housing market in the United States enjoying strong growth, demand for wooden furniture is expected to rise considerably, opening up bright export prospects for the Vietnamese wood industry.

According to data released by the United States International Trade Commission, during the opening 11 months of last year, the US’ imports for wooden furniture endured a decline of 0.6% to US$16.8 billion compared to the same period from 2019.

Vietnam remained as the largest supplier of wooden furniture to the United States throughout the reviewed period, with the export turnover reaching US$6.26 billion, a rise of 30.9% on-year.

The proportion of imports from the country accounts for 37.2% of the total import value, up 9% compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Most notably, Vietnam is the largest market for bedroom furniture for the US, making up 49.7% of the US’ total import value, followed by Malaysia, China, and Indonesia.

Nguyen Liem, chairman of Lam Viet Joint Stock Company, attributed this increase in US demand for wooden furniture to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as it has forced many Americans to remain indoors and focus on activities such as renovating their homes and purchasing new furniture.

He emphasised that Vietnamese wood brands in the US market have significantly improved in recent years due to American people being willing to purchase Vietnamese wooden furniture at more expensive prices over similar products from the Chinese market.

Do Xuan Lap, chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, pointed out that the wood industry’s strategic export products in the US market will be kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets.

Due to this, Lap advised local firms to be aware of market changes and appropriate product strategies, while enhancing their competitiveness to deeper penetrate into the global supply in order to increase exports to the demanding market.

US to impose anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese copper pipes

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has issued a preliminary conclusion regarding an anti-dumping investigation into copper pipes which originate from Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

This includes copper pipes coded: 7411.10.1030; 7411.10 .1090; 7407.10.1500; 7419.99.5050; 8415.90.8065; and 8415.90.8085

In line with the preliminary conclusion reached by the DOC, copper pipes have been imported from Vietnam and subsequently dumped in the US with a margin of 8.05%, which is far lower than the plaintiff’s initial allegation of 110%, along with the anti-dumping tax of up to 60% that the US is currently applying to copper pipes from China.

Based on these conclusions, the US is set to impose a preliminary anti-dumping tax rate of 8.05% on Vietnamese copper pipes.

The DOC also stated that due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it will not conduct on-site verification as part of the investigation. Instead, it will make the final determinations through use of alternative methods.

The DOC is poised to announce a deadline for stakeholders to submit its written comments, while concerned parties may also request a hearing by submitting a written request to the DOC within 30 days since the notice of the preliminary conclusion.

Vietnam’s export turnover of copper pipe products to the US in 2019 and 2020 reached US$151.1 million and US$183.9 million, respectively.

Industrial park developers promote sustainability to attract “eagles”

It is these industry leaders who are driving a movement as they look for a partner that matches their same sustainable outlook and goals.

As a result, local businesses in Vietnam, and industrial park developers in particular, are transforming their business model as well as adapting to international standards to attract these “eagles”. Although it can be tricky for industrial parks to balance profitability, concern for environment, and social commitments, there are still multiple ways they can do to stay sustainable.

In 2020, the “Eco-industrial Park Intervention in Vietnam – Perspective from the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme” project was launched in Ho Chi Minh City by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

At the workshop, five industrial parks across the country were chosen to implement eco-industrial park initiatives. The project will be carried out in a period of three years with an aim to establish a more sustainable industrial park model and pave the way to the replication of this model across Vietnam in the future.

One of the five pilot industrial parks is DEEP C Hai Phong I (also known as Dinh Vu Industrial Zone), the first footprint of DEEP C group in Vietnam. The industrial park cluster has gained a reputation as the only European-managed industrial park in Vietnam, with compatible European quality in all business aspects, from general infrastructures, utilities supply to park operations. Located in Hai Phong City and Quang Ninh province, DEEP C Industrial Zones is the northern representative of the project.

Long before the recent selection, DEEP C implemented their environmental sustainability strategy on four pillars: power, water, waste, and green zone. The main goal is taking the complexity out of investing in Vietnam while achieving common sustainability goals with investors. Overall, the strategy is to drive economic growth in a sustainable manner for DEEP C, investors and local community.

Depending on the nature of each industrial park, the developers can adopt different practices to stay sustainable. For DEEP C, they are the first industrial park to make a road from recycled plastics and a smart electricity grid possible in Vietnam. The recycled plastics road currently lies in DEEP C Hai Phong II Industrial Park in Hai Phong. More asphalt roads using recycled plastic will be stretched out all over DEEP C Industrial Zones as an innovative solution to address plastics waste and advance circular economy in Vietnam.

The group is now working on the generation of renewable energy from rooftop solar panel and wind turbine. By 2030, it aims to supply 50% of energy demand within its industrial park. Sustainability is also present in reusing of treated wastewater for various industrial purposes such as cooling tower of tenants, preserving mangrove forest along our port area as a natural buffering.

Construction work comply with strict standards on safety and environment before, during and after construction such as innovation (road made from plastics), sustainable sourcing of materials (containers), sustainable sites, energy efficiency (optimising solar and wind energy), indoor environment quality and water efficiency. In the years to come, DEEP C’s ready-built factories will be designed in the most nature-friendly way possible with LEED standards.

“We believe that eco-industrial park is the future of the industry and are happy to raise the standards for developing infrastructures inside industrial park and spread the benefits of eco manufacturing,” said Koen Soenens, General Sales and Marketing Director at DEEP C Industrial Zones.

“Sure it’s good for the environment, but it’s also good for the image, the quality of working and living, and it’s cost-saving for the maintenance and operations.”

DEEP C Industrial Zones launched its base in Hai Phong City, Vietnam in 1997 with the development project of Dinh Vu Industrial Zone (nowadays known as DEEP C Hải Phòng I), a collaboration between Belgian group Rent-A-Port and Hai Phong People’s Committee.

Over the past 23 years, DEEP C has evolved to be one of the largest industrial park developers in Vietnam with five sub-zones covering 3,400 ha of industrial land, forming an industrial cluster in Hai Phong City and Quang Ninh province – the most dynamic growing region in the northern region.

To date, DEEP C Industrial Zones are home to 120 projects with a total investment of US$4 billion, backed by multinational companies like Bridgestone, Idemitsu, Knauf, Chevron, tesa.

Efforts made to promote sale of crops in virus-hit provinces

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total winter crop area which had not been harvested was more than 7,830 ha, or 35 per cent of the northern province’s total crop area. In Kinh Mon district, there was about 3,500 ha of onion, 350 ha of carrot in Nam Sach and 400 ha in Cam Giang, 200 ha of vegetables in Gia Loc, 200 ha in Tu Ky and 400 ha in Kim Thanh.

In Quang Ninh, the total unharvested crop area was more than 2,000 ha, mainly potato, corn and vegetables with a total yield of about 30,000 tonnes.

The ministry said that it was important to raise solutions to promote the sale of farm produce for farmers in locked-down areas.

The ministry said that prices of farm produce in Hai Duong had decreased by around 10-20% since the outbreak of virus clusters late last month.

Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the ministry’s Department of Crop Production, the sale of carrot and potato was the most difficult at the moment because these two products had high output volume while domestic consumption accounted for just 10 percent and the rest must be exported.

The capacity of cold storage in Hai Duong was limited, which would be a problem if the virus was not put under control before Tet, he said.

He added that the transportation of goods to/from locked-down areas was very difficult. Local markets were also tightening disease control measures.

Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh were the major markets for the consumption of Hai Duong’s farm produce. However, these provinces were banning all vehicles and people from Hai Duong, which affected the consumption. Wholesalers from other provinces did not want to come to Hai Duong to collect farm produce with hesitation over the virus and worries that they must practice social distancing.

According to the Hai Duong provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, around 128,000 tonnes of vegetables, meat and fish in the province were waiting for consumption.

In that context, it was important to promote consumption in the province, increase storage and implement processing for longer preservation, the ministry said.

It was a must to apply prevention measures following the guidance of the Ministry of Finance when transporting products out of the virus-hit areas, the agriculture ministry said.

At the same time, preparations must be made for the next cultivation season.

Recently, the Quang Ninh provincial Department of Industry and Trade helped connect for the sale and 17 million potatoes, worth VND153 million (US$6,600).  

Six enterprises also bought more than 10,000 chickens for farmers in Chi Linh city.

First Chilean cherries enter Vietnamese market

A launching ceremony took place recently at Thu Duc wholesale market and Biovegi store in Ho Chi Minh City to mark Chilean cherries penetrating the Vietnamese market for the first time.

To meet the increasing demands of consumers, the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) has been co-operating alongside the Chilean embassy and the Chilean trade promotion agency in Vietnam (ProChile) to accelerate the import and distribution of Chilean cherries within the Vietnamese market.

Cherries are popular among Vietnamese consumers due to their taste and health benefits, especially their antioxidant capacity. Indeed, the consumption season for Chilean cherries usually begins in December and lasts until the end of February.

After being imported into Vietnam, cherries will then be distributed to shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores, and wet markets throughout the country.

The promotional scheme started on February 5 and is due to run for the duration of February.

Agribank among most valuable global banking brands

The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) ranks 173rd among the world’s 500 most valuable banking brands, according to a list recently released by the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance.

Featuring in the Brand Finance Banking 500 list for 2021, Agribank climbs a total of 17 notches compared to the 2020 version, earning the highest spot among the eight commercial Vietnamese banks to be named on the list.

Last year saw the Vietnamese banking industry face many changes and challenges as the entire country coped with the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Throughout 2020 Agribank continued to confirm its prestige by winning major prizes such as Vietnamese national brand, being among the top 10 of the VNR500 which features the 500 largest local enterprises, and being named the bank for the community.

Brand Finance is a leading independent brand valuation and global strategy consultancy that was founded in London, the UK, in 1996.

The consultancy evaluates 5,000 brands globally and announces over 100 reports annually.

HCM City industries make good start to 2021

HCM City’s Index of Industrial Production rose by 34.5 per cent in January despite the continuing problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city’s four main industries have seen year-on-year growth, with electronics achieving the highest rate of 61.9 per cent.

The remaining three industries are mechanics (44.3 per cent growth); food and beverages (27.3 per cent); and chemical, rubber and plastic (up by 51.7 per cent).

Others such as wood and bamboo processing and automobile also reported growth.

Nguyen Phuong Dong, director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said that due to the city’s efforts to control the pandemic, economic activities are recovering.

Business activity has generally picked up, with more than 3,300 businesses reopening.

Retail sales and services were worth nearly VND120 trillion (US$5.2 billion), a 4 per cent increase.

Exports were up by 16.4 per cent.

The local authority said the city will seek to keep the pandemic under control while still ensuring economic growth.

It is guaranteeing sufficient supply of foodstuff and other high-quality goods and steady prices during Tet, and will organise festival and entertainment events for the festival while complying with the Government’s COVID-19 requirements.

It is focusing on carry out the 13th National Party Congress’ resolution (which contains social-economic targets and national development orientations) and the city’s 11th Party Congress resolution. 

Digital Transformation will “give a hand” to businesses in the new era

Digital transformation holds the key to businesses keeping up with market trends, overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities amid the current unpredictable situation.

And, Microsoft’s ‘Tech Intensity’ will play a key role in enhancing businesses’ resilience and transformation of organisations.

According to a Microsoft-IDS study, 74% of all business decision-makers in the Asia Pacific say that innovation is an imperative now. They see the ability to innovate, especially digital transformation, as vital to performance and resilience before and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Always the pioneer in technology, Microsoft has never stopped researching or developing tools and solutions to enhance digital transformation globally, especially by businesses.

In Viet Nam, it keeps businesses abreast of new digital transformation trends by organising programmes to introduce digital transformation solutions and share the experiences of businesses that have achieved the transformation.

Digital transformation is always an urgent requirement for business to survive and thrive, especially amid the pandemic. To enable businesses to embrace innovation, Microsoft has introduced the concept of Tech Intensity, which determines the success of businesses amid the current crisis.

Tech Intensity consists of four key pillars that enable the success of an organisation during the transformation process.

The first is vision and strategy. Businesses need to become more resilient to change, and also need to think beyond what organisations think is possible, especially at a time when speed and agility are vital to survive.

The next is culture, which supports strategy and vision to activate and empower employees. Organisations that are successful in digital transformation will have their employees unite and work based on a vision in which employees are shared.

The third one is differentiation of potential. Those businesses that discover the differentiation of potential of their organisations will respond and adapt to any circumstance more easily.

The last one is capacity, a combination of human capacity and technology. Businesses need human capital equipped with the right skills as well as appropriate and secure technology platforms with the ability to empower employees with remote access and promote business development under any circumstances.

Pham The Truong, General Manager of Microsoft Vietnam, said, “The combination between people and technology within an organisation will create new opportunities for businesses.”

Nanoco, a leading electrical equipment distributor, has chosen Microsoft as a trusted partner for its digital transformation. To meet its business development and market expansion needs, the company has adopted Microsoft’s digital transformation solutions and achieved much success.

Luong Luc Van, General Director of Nanoco, said: “We are really pleased with our experience with [Micosoft solutions] from Office application to Teams tool and cloud storage solution OneDrive. It is also very easy to collaborate and share documents.”

With its diverse and flexible solutions, Microsoft will continue to help businesses achieve digital transformation, successfully exploit digital data, improve their efficiency, and optimise their operation process.

Food company Vissan profit tops $9.01 million

Vissan Joint Stock Company reported pre-tax profits of nearly VND208 billion (US$9.01 million) on revenues of VND5.16 trillion ($223.4 million) for last year, in both cases achieving the targets it set for itself.

Its production of beef and processed products also met the targets while pork output fell slightly short.

It launched many new products last year, including pork braised with eggs and coconut water, beef ball, dragon fruit dumpling, gac fruit dumpling, pumpkin dumpling, five-spice mushroom spring roll, and ready-to-cook pork.

It began selling via a hotline, 19001960, Fanpage and website at vissanmart.com, and launched online stores on Sendo, Lomart and Grab.

In 2021, amid shrinking pork supply due to the African swine fever epidemic, Vissan plans to find more farms that meet VietGAP standards and TE-FOOD traceability to ensure steady pig supply.

It also plans to develop more fresh meat products using chilled meat processing technology and modified atmosphere packaging technology, and expand its distribution system, especially online.

HCM City to throw the book at high-end property developers for violations

The HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment plans to review the progress of high-end property projects and fine or even withdraw the licences of those found violating regulations.

If they are excessively late, their land might be repossessed as permitted by the law.

At the same time, the city’s authorities will publicise the mortgaged projects, according to the city People’s Committee.

It has instructed the Department of Planning and Investment to tighten control over foreign investment in property and the repatriation of profits to prevent money laundering and tax evasion.

The city will also review mortgaged and long-delayed projects facing obstacles caused by land regulations, delay in paying land-use fees or the slow handover of house use right certificates.

The Department of Construction has been ordered to keep a close watch on the property market to avoid price bubbles.

The directives seek to redress the imbalance in the housing market caused by the huge supply of high-end apartments and shortage of housing for low-income people.

The shortage of social housing and mid- and low-priced houses is making it hard to ensure social welfare, according to a recent report by the HCM City Real Estate Association.

It has called on developers to increase their investment in the mid- and low-priced segments to address the imbalance. 

Tourism firms ask for help during new Covid-19 outbreak

Tourism firms in HCM City are calling for support from local authorities after thousands of customers cancelled their Tet tours following the new Covid-19 outbreak.

Nguyen Thi Khanh, chairwoman of the Tourism Association of HCM City, said they had sent an official document to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, HCM City People’s Committee, Vietnam National Tourism Association and HCM City Department of Tourism about support policies for tourism firms.

According to Khanh, many tourism firms in the city are facing great difficulties as thousands of customers have cancelled their bookings following the recent Covid-19 outbreak. 

The official said that the government’s response to new community Covid-19 infection cases has resulted in many achievements but there are still several shortcomings. For example, tourism firms still have to pay both corporate taxes and VAT on time while the deadline for at least VAT was extended for six months in March 2020. Firms were still suffering from losses.

The programme to reduce electricity charges for restaurants ended in 2020. Khanh also sought support policy to extend the deadline to pay social insurance. Currently, the deadline will only be extended for firms who already cut 50% of their staff.

The Tourism Association of HCM City asked to waive or reduce the VAT by 50% for 2021 because most accommodation establishments, tourism firms, transportation firms and tourism sites have little to no income while having to pay interest and other costs. The government should exempt land rental fees in 2021 and 2022, help tourism firms access preferential loan packages, extend the repayment period to avoid bad debts and help renew and issue business licenses for free in 2021.

Other requests include reducing electricity charges in 2021, extending the deadline for social insurance payment until June 2022 and adjusting the requirements for unemployment insurance benefits like reducing minimum working time requirements from 12 to 3 months.

Statistics from the Department of Tourism show that 453 accommodation facilities in HCM City had electricity charges reduced, 600 tour guides were given support packages, 21 firms had various fees reduced and some firms which had collaterals had repayment deadlines extended for interest rates lowered.

In the future, firms will get support from Vietnam Bank for Social Policies so that they can access lower interest rates or longer deadlines without needing collateral.

Home cleaning services in high demand as Tet nears

Home cleaning services are in great demand again in Hanoi as busy homeowners want clean houses for Tet. 

Thuy Quynh from Hai Ba Trung District said both she and her husband were all too busy at year-end so they decided to a hire cleaning service.

“Both I and my husband are not allowed to have an early break. We only have enough time to buy food for Tet,” she said. “We called many places but they were all full of orders. We kept calling and finally were able to find a provider that was still receiving orders.”

Despite higher fees, Phuong Hoa from Hoang Mai District said it was still acceptable.

Nguyen Thu Trang, an employee at Alin Cleaning Services said only a few slots left. They have different packages for cleaning apartments while the cost for cleaning houses will be calculated by square metres. A cleaning package for an apartment that is less than 60 square metres is around VND1.2m (USD52). The prices are VND22,000 per square metre for penthouse apartments that are over 150 square metres.

The services remain open until the 28th day of lunar December.

The detail of the service will be given to the customers. Another service provider in Cau Giay said they had to visit the houses or apartments first to gauge the size and materials they have to work with to set the prices. It will also be varied depending on the cleaning chemicals the owners want to use.

The usual prices are VND15,000 to VND20,000 per square metre. At year-end, the prices often increased by 20%.

Vietnamese and foreign investors open more stock trading accounts

Both Vietnamese and foreign investors continue to open more accounts as the local stock market to capitalise on perceived opportunities in the market.

According to fresh data from on stock trading from Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD), the number of newly opened domestic individual investor accounts in January 2021 reached a record high with 86,107 accounts – an increase of 36.5 per cent compared to December 2020.

This is also the fifth consecutive month domestic individual investors have opened more than 30,000 new accounts a month. Meanwhile, domestic institutions opened 162 new accounts in January, down from 168 accounts in December 2020.

As of January 31, the total number of securities accounts of domestic investors reached more than 2.8 million, an increase of 86,269 accounts compared to the previous month.

In January, the VN-Index hit 1,200 points and created a short-term market peak. Around the beginning of January, trading value on Vietnam’s stock market continuously set a record high and reached more than VND20 trillion ($870 million) in one trading session.

However, due to strong fluctuations at the end of January, trading liquidity in the first sessions of February decreased significantly and was only around VND15 trillion ($652 million) per session.

Meanwhile, foreign investors opened 476 new accounts in January, up about 23.3 per cent on-month. This is also the highest level since June 2018. Of this, foreign individual investors have opened 460 new accounts, while 16 accounts are from institutional investors. By the end of January 31, foreign investors had a total of 35,547 accounts in Vietnam’s stock market.

Which Vietnamese banks have been keeping NPLs under 1 per cent?

While a number of banks experienced sharp increases in non-performing loans (NPLs) due to the unprecedented pandemic, some lenders have successfully kept their NPL ratios below 1 per cent. 

Meanwhile, Vietcombank – one of the largest state-owned lenders in Vietnam – recorded VND5.229 trillion ($227.35 million), down more than 50 per cent compared to the end of September and down 10 per cent compared to the beginning of 2020.

The bank’s NPL ratio dropped sharply from 1.01 per cent at the end of this year’s third quarter to 0.62 per cent by the end of 2020 – also the lowest level in its history.

ACB’s NPL ratio remains one of the lowest levels in the landscape. According to the bank’s financial statements, soured debts at the end of 2020 were VND1.840 trillion ($80 million), up 27 per cent compared to the beginning of the year.

Similarly, BAC A BANK’’s NPL ratio increased slightly but was still controlled below 1 per cent. The bank’s NPLs at the end of 2020 amounted to VND628 billion ($27.3 million), up 25.6 per cent from the beginning of the year.

The fifth lender reporting an NPL ratio below 1 per cent is ViettinBank (around 0.94 per cent as of December 31, 2020), according to local newswire Doanh nghiep & Tiep thi. This is also its lowest NPL ratio in the 2016-2020 period.

VietinBank and ACB in 2020 have signed exclusive bancassurance contracts with major life insurers (VietinBank with Manulife, ACB with Sun Life). These deals are envisaged to provide the two lenders with a large amount of revenue, while also boosting their stock value.

HDBank and MB had more than 1 per cent NPL ratios due to their consumer finance companies (HD Saison of HDBank, and MCredit of MB). However, the asset quality of the parent banks remains basically good in the domestic banking system.

The bad debt ratio of HDBank’s banking arm by the end of 2020 was only 0.93 per cent, while that of MB was 0.92 per cent.

Another local lender below the 1 per cent threshold is NamABank, the newly-listed ticker in UPCoM. The bank’s total bad debt ratio decreased from 1.97 per cent at the end of 2019 to 0.83 per cent as of December 2020.

Insurance segment sits in good stead

Despite several challenges stemming from intense competition, the health crisis, and low interest rates, the local insurance landscape is predicted to maintain its growth momentum in 2021. 

Other insurers are also going public or working with foreigners. For instance, Petrolimex Insurance JSC – a subsidiary of Petrolimex – has confirmed to raise its foreign cap from 49 per cent to 100 per cent.

Currently Vietnam boasts 31 non-life insurers, 18 life insurers, 16 brokers, and two reinsurers. Many reputable foreign insurance companies have a presence in Vietnam in both life and non-life sectors.

However, according to brokerage Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI), aviation, travel, and freight insurances, which make up for around 6 per cent of the total non-life insurance premium revenue, were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The premium revenue for both health and life insurance reported a plunge in the social distancing period in March and April of 2020. However, these segments witnessed a steady recovery in the following months.

According to the Association of Vietnam Insurance, the health and life insurance premium revenue in the first three quarters of 2020 increased by 25.6 and 21.2 per cent, respectively, against the same period of 2019.

SSI indicated that the two largest enterprises are losing market share in life and non-life insurance, demonstrating fierce industry competition.

In the first three quarters of last year, the non-life market share of Bao Viet Holdings Group and PetroVietnam Insurance decreased while six companies increased their life insurance market share – Manulife, AIA, Generali, MB Ageas, FWD, and Aviva. Others lost market shares, such as BaoViet Life, Prudential, Dai-ichi Life, Chubb Life, and Hanwha Life.

In late December, VietinBank and Canadian insurer Manulife inked an exclusive 16-year bancassurance partnership to better meet the growing financial and insurance needs of Vietnamese people.

Manulife would also acquire insurance firm Aviva Vietnam since the latter formed a joint venture with VietinBank to distribute insurance products. Manulife’s life insurance market share is predicted to reach 18.5 per cent – nearly equal to Prudential’s share of 18.8 per cent.

“We’re in an exclusive bancassurance agreement with Techcombank, SCB, and VietinBank, three prestigious groups, and are putting in our best efforts to become the market leader in this regard,” said Hoe Shin Koh, chief partnership distribution officer at Manulife Vietnam. “Bancassurance is our strategic approach not just in Vietnam, but in the entire Asian market. For instance, in 2015, Manulife Asia paid $1.2 billion to Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings for a 15-year partnership, allowing us to sell products through this lender’s Asian branch network.”

Experts at SSI forecasted that the growth of the premium revenue for life and non-life insurance segments in 2021 would be 22 and 10-12 per cent on-year, respectively.

“However, the insurance industry will still face numerous roadblocks, including low-interest rates and increasing re-insurance costs. These factors will consequently reduce insurers’ profit because their investment portfolios are bank deposits and government bonds. Also, if the government bond yields drop, profits will be negatively impeded due to higher life-insurance reserves,” said SSI.

In 2020, in spite of the pandemic, the insurance market still maintained growth momentum with total property insurance of approximately VND552.4 trillion ($24.01 billion), up 21.5 per cent on-year, according to the statistics published by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

Total equity capital was estimated at VND113.5 trillion ($4.9 billion) and total insurance premium was VND184.7 trillion ($8.03 billion), signifying increases by 27 and 15.2 per cent respectively. The claim cost was VND48.2 trillion ($2.09 trillion).

Data revealed by the MoF also showed that between 2016 and 2020, the total assets of the insurance market witnessed an average hike by 19 per cent on-year, with the figure for 2020 estimated at VND526 trillion ($22.87 billion).

The total money that insurance companies invested back to the economy saw an average increase by 19.4 per cent, with an estimated VND416 trillion ($18.09 billion) in 2020. The whole premium income boosts an average of 19.3 per cent and was estimated at VND226 trillion ($9.83 billion) last year.

The MoF continued to improve the draft decree on compulsory civil liability insurance for motor vehicle owners, replacing Decree No.103/2008/ND-CP dated 2008 and Decree No.214/2013/ND-CP from 2013. In addition, vehicle insurance is forecast to grow strongly, especially after Decree No.70/2020/ND-CP from last year introduced a registration fee cut of 50 per cent for cars.

KIS Securities believed the local government’s eagerness to accelerate development of the domestic car market will lay a vital foundation for vehicle insurance in particular.

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

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VIETNAM NEWS FEBRUARY 8

August 2, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

HCM City to relocate water supply sources amid worsening water pollution

HCM City authorities plan to gradually relocate its water supply sources further upstream of the Sài Gòn and Đồng Nai rivers as part of its effort to ensure clean water for local use.

Experts have warned that the current main source of water has become seriously polluted due to the impact of socio-economic development along the Sài Gòn – Đồng Nai river system. 

The city currently draws some 94 per cent of the water for treatment at a spot downstream of where the Sài Gòn River meets the Đồng Nai River, at the Hòa Phú pumping station in its Củ Chi District, and at Hóa An in Đồng Nai Province.

Under the city’s 2020-30 water supply plan, the city will relocate the Hòa Phú pumping station to a new location, about 20 km from the existing pumping station and 15 km upstream from the junction of Thị Tính and Sài Gòn rivers. 

According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, water in downstream Sài Gòn River is suffering from severe microbiological pollution and slight oil contamination.

Pollution indicators like ammonia, microorganisms and manganese have all increased, exceeding the permitted standards of Việt Nam and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Hồ Long Phi, director of the Centre for Water Management and Climate Change under the National University of HCM City, said that pollution in the Saigon River remains ‘serious’. 

He said it was vital to develop hi-tech water treatment plants if the city continues to draw this water for local use. 

“The water upstream in the Sài Gòn and Đồng Nai rivers is in the safe zone, which is less impacted by climate change and sea level rise in the next 50-100 years,” he said.

He said the city would need a huge investment in building new pumping stations with extremely large capacity of millions of cubic metres a day, as well as investment in long and large-scale pipelines. This would also require site clearance compensation costs. 

Dr Trần Đức Hà, director of the city Research Institute of Water Supply, Sewerage and Environment, said: “The core solution is to ensure water security management.”

Dr. Phùng Đức Tùng, director of the Mekong Economic Research and Development Institute, said that water for daily life has become increasingly rare. “Authorities should work on a plan to build reservoirs to store water for treating.”

Two projects, one on water supply in the 2020-2050 period, and the other on clean water supply and ending the exploitation of underground water in the 2020-2030 period, have recently been approved by the city People’s Committee.

By 2025 the city plans to ensure that every resident has access to tap water and increases the average supply to 165 litres. The municipal water supply capacity would reach 3.6 million cu.m per day, using only 100,000 cu.m of groundwater by 2025.

Royal rite held at Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long to welcome Tết

The Thăng Long – Hà Nội Heritage Conservation Centre held the ancient Thăng Long royal rite to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long in Hà Nội yesterday.

For the first time, The Thăng Long – Hà Nội Heritage Conservation Centre worked with several organisations to practise the ritual of Tiến Xuân ngưu (The ceremony of offering an earthen buffalo in spring) of the Lê Trung Hưng Dynasty (16th to 18th centuries), a unique rite in the old court, taking place on the first day of spring.

The ritual featured a clay buffalo being offered to Heaven to ask to expel the cold winter and welcome a warm spring to the nation. The coming Lunar Year is the Year of The Buffalo.

Also yesterday, the centre held the Ông Công, Ông Táo (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ritual as well as the ceremony to set up a Cây Nêu (New Year’s tree). 

People across the nation held their own ceremonies to send off the Land Genie and the Kitchen Gods of the household on their yearly visit to Heaven.

The Kitchen Gods, the guardian spirits of the kitchen, are believed to comprise two male gods and one female, who bless the household and maintain the kitchen fire, making every member of the family happy and well-off.

The ritual involves releasing a carp into a river or lake and the fish are often bought on the side of streets in plastic bags. In the past, many people threw the fish still in the plastic bag into the water, causing pollution.

In recent years, awareness-raising efforts have encouraged more and more people to dispose of the plastic waste properly instead of throwing it into the water. 

Poor students and workers receive free tickets to travel home for Tết  

The HCM City Communist Youth Union and its partners have launched a programme to offer free bus and flight tickets for poor students in HCM City to travel home for the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, from January 31 to February 10.

The programme, called Mang Tết Về Nhà (Coming Home for Tết), is funded by the union, employers and organisations. 

More than 3,000 return tickets, including 1,152 flight tickets, have been provided to outstanding students from colleges and universities around the city. Many of these students are from central provinces that were seriously affected by flooding and storms last year. 

Several thousand gifts and 4,000 bánh chưng (square glutinous rice cake), a Vietnamese cake cooked with glutinous rice, mung bean and pork used during Tết, have also been offered.  

Trần Thị Kim Oanh and Lý Thành Tâm from Hà Tĩnh Province, who study at HCM City National University in Thủ Đức District, were happy to receive bus tickets and New Year’s greetings from the programme’s organisers. They both began their trip home yesterday.  

“I did not return home for Tết last year, so I’m very happy to participate in the programme Mang Tết Về Nhà this year,” said Oanh, a fourth-year student in trade & marketing.

“Today, my peers and I go back to our hometown to celebrate Tết with our family and nothing is happier. I hope there will be more and more bus trips like this every year for poor students and workers to return home.” 

Oanh and other students have been asked to wear face masks, wash hands with sanitiser and keep a safe distance during their trips. 

Under the programme, the first two flights and 15 buses transported 500 students, starting last Sunday. 

Labour unions at industrial parks and export processing zones in the city have also presented nearly 7,000 airline tickets and train tickets to migrant workers this Tết. More than 13,000 gifts worth VNĐ500,000 each have also been provided to poor labourers.  

Nguyễn Hồ Hải, Deputy Secretary of the city’s Party Committee, has sent New Year’s greetings to workers and their families and wished them a happy Tết.

Hải said that he hoped the workers would return to the city after Tết and continue to work and contribute to the city’s development.

Tao Dan Spring Flower Festival 2021 opened

Spring Flower Festival 2021 was officially opened at Tao Dan Park in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City in the afternoon of February 6.  

The 11-day event displays ornamental fish and flowers, bonsai plants, more than 2,500 flower-related exhibits of domestic and foreign artisans, 40 specialties and souvenir booths. 

Besides, the festival also comprises dragon dances, circus and magic performances, folk games, demonstrations of calligraphy. 

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh City named after President Ho Chi Minh (1976-2021), the main road connecting the park’s entrance on Truong Dinh Street and King Hung Memorial Temple is decorated with flowers simulating the Truong Son mountain range.

The festival will close on February 17 (the sixth day of the lunar year).

Ethnology museum promotes traditional Tet’s values

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi organised a programme on February 4 (the 23rd day of the last month of the lunar year) themed “Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet) – a sacred space”, with the participation of researchers and folk artists. 

Every year when spring arrives, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology organises many activities with bold national identity, rich in cultural values to welcome new year.

The programme features the participation of folk researchers and artisans with a variety of contents such as: Sharing the meaning of Lunar New Year’s Day, featuring the installation of ‘cay neu’ (a tall bamboo tree with decorations used to ward off evil spirits), introducing the meaning of a traditional tray altar on Tet holidays and the “Ong Cong – Ong Tao” (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ritual; writing calligraphy and printing Dong Ho paintings; and wrapping banh chung (square glutinous rice cake).

Coming to the programme, visitors also have the opportunity toenjoy the performance of water puppetry and play folk games of some ethnic groups, such as: fighting buffalo, catching trach in jars, tug of war, walking on stilts, and sack racing.

In recent years, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology’s activities have always attracted large numbers of not only tourists but also families living in Hanoi, increasing the deep understanding of the rituals and traditional cultural beauty of the Vietnamese people. The programme also contributes to preserving the Vietnam’s traditional values.

Through activities and programs to help tourists, especially children to understand more about the Vietnamese Tet’s rituals, especially the fine traditional cultural features of the national New Year holidays that should be preserved.

Minister officially orders classes to go online

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha has asked local schools to start online classes amid the spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The ministry is working with the Education Union of Vietnam to visit and support students, teachers and parents who are being quarantined for Covid-19 prevention. As of February 4, 53 localities announced that they had allowed students to stay home.

According to the minister, statistics from the previous stay home order show that 20% of the children in remote and rural areas still couldn’t access online classes. Nha directed and asked the education sector to continue to expand and improve online education.

35,037 schools, or 83.6% of schools in Vietnam, have installed mobile apps to fill medical declarations online as well as to better implement preventive measures.

“We have experience this time, so we must do better,” he said. “Responsible agencies must quickly complete the regulations about managing online classes for education facilities. We’ll ask telecommunication firms to help with infrastructure and services for online classes.”

He went on to say that an online library of online courses would be built and shared publicly.

“We must be pro-active and calm and have plans for specific scenarios to ensure the health of both students and teachers as well as education progress,” he said.

On January 30, the Ministry of Education and Training sent an official document to departments of education across the country, asking them to prepare to move classes online in case students are asked to stay home.

Three more hotels in HCM City provide paid quarantine service

Three more hotels in HCM City have been allowed to offer paid quarantine services for Covid-19 prevention.

The figure has increased the total number of municipal hotels used as paid quarantine areas to 32 to date. These hotels have around 2,500 rooms in total.

The HCM City Department of Tourism has considered permitting 29 other hotels to offer paid quarantine services in case of a wider Covid-19 outbreak.   

Since the Covid-19 outbreak in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces, the HCM City tourism sector has tightened control over Covid-19 prevention, said Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the city’s Department of Tourisms.

Hoa added that the department has prepared scenarios in case of Covid-19 resurgence in the city.

According to the HCM City’s Covid-19 prevention and control steering board, the quarantine fees range between VND1.35-6 million per day, depending on their star ranking.

All paid quarantine hotels have to conform to the city’s Covid-19 prevention and control steering board as well as local authorities’ instructions.

Hotels also need to provide training courses for all of their staff to serve people during the quarantine time to ensure safety for Covid-19 prevention.

It is compulsory for hotels to co-operate with local health agencies to update people’s health condition during the quarantine period.

Hotels have to inform local authorities of quarantine violations.

Cải lương guru offers Tết gifts to poor artists

Poor artists and their children living in HCM City will receive Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday gifts this weekend thanks to a charity programme launched by People’s Artist Kim Cương, a guru of cải lương (reformed opera). 

Cương and dozens of veteran and young theatre performers raise VNĐ1.5 billion (US$65,000) funds for her art programme called Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm (Traditional Performers Together).

More than 150 actors, including elderly and backstage workers, will receive Tết gifts worth VNĐ6 milllion ($240) each. 

Forty children from artists’ families with good study results will receive scholarships worth VNĐ3 million ($120) each. 

Many food and clothes will also be offered. 

“Our artists performed for free in the show Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm in December to encourage organisations and individuals to contribute to charity,” said 83-year-old Cương, a member of the HCM City Association in Support of Disabled People and Orphan Children. 

“We hope poor artists, who have devoted their life to Vietnamese art, will have a happy Tết.” 

Last year, Cương’s annual charity show Nghệ Sĩ Tri Âm featured 120 theatre performers, including cải lương stars Út Bạch Lan and Kim Tiểu Long. The event received clothes, food, and VNĐ1 billion (US$45,000) in cash.

Born in 1937 to a traditional family in Sài Gòn (now HCM City), Cương began her love for cải lương through her parents, and the late talented performers Nguyễn Phước Cương and Bảy Nam, owners of Đại Phước Cương Troupe.  

She started her career when she was 17, after training with her mother, Nam, and actresses Phùng Há and Năm Phỉ, who are recognised as some of the most talented cải lương performers in the country. 

She played leading roles in famous plays, such as Giai Nhân Và Ác Quỷ (The Beauty and Beast) and Phụng Nghi Đình (Tragic Love Story). 

In the 1960s, Cương became involved in drama, a modern imported genre of theatre, working to combine cải lương and drama. 

She later opened Kim Cương Drama Troupe, the first and leading drama troupe in the south, managing a staff of more than 70 actors. 

Cương worked as a scriptwriter and became a phenomenon in the industry in the 1960s and 1970s. 

She wrote 50 plays during her career, most highlighting southern women and their characters. Her works have been staged many times by leading drama troupes across the country.  

She had also performed in more than 30 films. 

Baby girl saved from most severe type of immunodeficiency

The child patient spent a whole year in hospitals to fight her serious illness of innate combined immunodeficiency and other diseases. — Photo from the Ministry of Health

It’s always a bold decision to conduct a bone marrow transplant to save a baby who suffers from combined innate immunodeficiency and many other diseases.

The success rate of the stem cell transplant is just 10-20 per cent, but without the transplant, the baby would die before they turn a year old, said Associate Professor and Dr Trần Minh Điển, deputy director of the National Children’s Hospital.

According to health experts, immunodeficiency is a genetic defect that makes the child’s body unable to fight off pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. Therefore, children often get serious, persistent or recurrent infections. Depending on the type of immunodeficiency type, patients will develop different infections.

Thiên Ngọc, a baby girl born in late 2019 in the southern province of Đồng Nai was diagnosed with combined innate immunodeficiency when she was around three months old.

Doctors at HCM City-based Children’s Hospital No.2 came to that inclusion after treating her for repeated diarrhoea, sore throat and pneumonia.

At times, when the child recovered and was set to be discharged, she suffered a fever again, said Trần Quỳnh Hương, head of the Respiratory Department at the hospital – who examined and treated the baby.

In February 2020, Hương for the first time contacted doctor Nguyễn Ngọc Quỳnh Lê from the Department of Immunology-Allergy-Arthritis at Hà Nội-based National Children’s Hospital to discuss the case.

For the following three months, they called each other regularly to talk about the child’s conditions, discussing possible treatment and tests as well as seeking a healthcare unit that could offer a stem cell transplant for the baby.

At that time, a bone marrow transplant was identified as the only way to save the baby. With the advanced technique, stem cells from a healthy donor that are genetically suitable to the recipient would be taken and replace the dysfunctional stem cells.

Bone marrow transplant (hematopoietic stem cell transplant, or HPSCT) involves the administration of healthy hematopoietic stem cells in patients with dysfunctional or depleted bone marrow. This helps to augment bone marrow function and allows, depending on the disease being treated, to either destroy tumour cells with malignancy or to generate functional cells that can replace the dysfunctional ones in cases like immune deficiency syndromes, hemoglobinopathies, and other diseases.

“It was a challenge for both doctors and the patient’s family as in Việt Nam, only the National Children’s Hospital has sufficient equipment and experience to conduct the transplant,” Hương said.

Transferring a patient from HCM City to Hà Nội during the pandemic was not easy, while the medical cost would be far out of reach for the patient’s family.

“Seeing Lê’s enthusiasm and the chance to save the baby, we had the motivation to work with relevant parties to speed up the patient transfer and transplant,” doctor Hương said.

In late May 2020, the baby’s health condition worsened and doctors from the two hospitals – one in the south and the other in the north – had an online meeting.

Deputy director of National Children’s Hospital Điển said they were bold to receive the child with such serious health conditions.

“The success rate is only ten to 20 per cent while few such successful transplants were recorded in the world,” he said.

Doctor Hương from HCM City’s Children’s Hospital said that doctors not only completed insurance procedures for the baby but also called on donations for transferring her to Hà Nội and covering costs that health insurance did not cover. The patient’s family at that time could afford only VNĐ700 million (over US$30,000) while the medical cost for such a transplant could reach billions of Vietnamese đồng.

On May 29, 2020, Hương and a nurse escorted the child to Hà Nội on a Vietjet flight thanks to the airline operator ensuring proper medical and security conditions amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Hương said that when arriving at the National Children’s Hospital, the child was suffering from severe pneumonia that required supplemental oxygen, tuberculosis complications, diarrhoea caused by Rotavirus, rectal prolapse due to prolonged diarrhoea, and severe malnutrition.

It took two months to improve the baby’s health so that she would be healthy enough to undergo the first stem cell transplant.

Nguyễn Thanh Bình, vice head of the Blood Testing Department at the National Children’s Hospital said that the hospital took bone marrow from the baby’s mother for her transplant after finding no suitable bone marrow donor.

“Previously, the hospital succeeded in conducting such transplants,” Bình said, adding that the technique was complicated and costly in which only stem cells and good cells were kept while bad cells which cause harmful reactions would be removed.

As the baby was in poor health, using chemicals to kill marrow could put the baby at risk of many complications, even death, doctor Chi said.

After discussing with experts from Hong Kong and reviewing foreign medical records, doctors decided to conduct two bone marrow transplants for the baby.

The first transplant using no chemicals aimed to revive part of the baby’s immune system to help her fight against bacterial infections. The second transplant would use chemicals under treatment protocol to kill all the baby’s faulty hematopoietic stem cells and transfer the mother’s healthy stem cells to the baby.

The first transplant was conducted on July 22, 2020. After that, the baby got a high fever and diarrhoea for four straight weeks, Chi said, adding that they were thinking the transplant had failed.

However, continuing efforts were made to save the baby. She gradually recovered from the fifth week, with no fever and diarrhoea.

The second transplant was conducted on November 23, 2020 – three months after the first one. 

Undergoing intensive care for a month after the second stem cell transplant, the child patient did not have any complications. Results showed that the mother’s stem cells are growing well inside the baby.

“All hardships, difficulties and stress we faced when treating her seemingly disappeared, the baby is healthy, has gained weight and is very active,” doctor Lê said.

Spring seemed to come early to the doctors and the baby’s family since the moment she was announced as not having the life-threatening illness – combined immunodeficiency – anymore.

“Facemask bus” comes into operation in HCMC

Residents in Ho Chi Minh City were surprised seeing a bus equipped with an automatic device deliver free facemasks to passengers at HCMC Youth Cultural House in District 1 on February 6. 

This is Dony Mask antibacterial fabric facemask recognized in accordance with Germany’s REACH standard. 

Passengers lined up, kept the safe distance of two meters from each other to receive two facemasks each and washed their hands with hand sanitizers.

From now until Tet Holiday onward, the bus is expected to deliver facemasks at Mien Dong (Eastern) and Mien Tay (Western) coach stations, Tan Binh Cultural Center, public places and industrial parks.

The bus is expected to provide 100,000 antibacterial fabric facemasks during Tet holiday. 

HCMC to continue working on two key transport projects in Tet holiday

Ho Chi Minh City will continue working on the tunnel project at Nguyen Van Linh-Nguyen Huu Tho intersection and Nguyen Huu Canh Street upgrading project during Tet holiday, according to Director of the HCMC Management Board of Investment and Construction of Traffic Projects Mr. Luong Minh Phuc. 

The number of vehicles travelling through the intersection is too high as the tunnel project plays an important role of linking to seaports and Hiep Phuoc Port Industrial Park. 

Ho Chi Minh City decided to promptly construct the main items of the tunnel project on Tet holidays when travel and transport demand will reduce. It is expected that the tunnel project heading to Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in Binh Chanh District will be put into exploitation by the end of the year.

After that, contractors will try their best constructing the vice-versa tunnel project which would be expected to put the whole project into operation in 2022.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Huu Canh Street upgrading project has reached around 80 percent of the work volume and it is expected to be put into operation on April 30, 2021.

Hai Phong controls all people coming into, out of city from 12 p.m. on January 6

In an effort to reduce the risk of Covid-19 exposure and to help prevent the spread of the virus, the northern coastal city of Hai Phong has controlled all people come into and out of the city starting from 12 p.m. on January 6, said the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee. 

Arrivals must present their official confirmation from commune-level People’s Committees, schedules and accommodations. Local residents who leave Hai Phong City for other localities must also display their certifications on travelling issued by the commune-level People’s Committees.

Transport operators and businesses have to arrange places for drivers of trans-provincial coaches and trucks to stay.

People returning from the northern provinces of Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and other affected areas will be sent to quarantine areas.

The municipal government allows travelers from localities not affected by the pandemic with the commune-level certifications of arrivals and departures granted by the local authorities.

Teams for Covid-19 Prevention and Control in communes must track the people’s travelling history and monitor the latest arrivals. The municipal Police Department has asked the Waterway Traffic Police to constantly inspect river routes sharing borders with Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and Thai Binh provinces.

Hai Phong has established eight Covid-19 monitoring and control checkpoints in districts of Thuy Nguyen, Hai An, Duong Kinh, An Lao, An Duong, Tu Ky and Vinh Bao.

Bac Giang sees fruitful results of personnel rotation

The rotation of senior State officials to key leadership positions at grassroots levels has proven effective in the northern province of Bắc Giang for years.

The activeness, creativeness and high responsibility of such officials had made a difference in the localities where they arrived.

Dương Văn Phong, vice chairman of Tiến Dũng Commune People’s Committee in the province’s Yên Dũng District, was rotated to the position in 2020.

Before that, he worked in the district People’s Committee including as the vice secretary of the district’s Youth Union Party Committee and vice head of the district’s agriculture department.

A graduate of Thái Nguyên Agriculture and Forestry University, Phong has a passion for farming.

Leading a commune where locals heavily rely on farming, he had the opportunity to make use of what he studied and what he was good at, Phong said.

The young vice-chairman introduced safe vegetable models and modern farming technologies to local farmers including Israeli automatic watering and fertilising systems.

As a result, clean vegetables from local co-operatives were accepted by major distributors like BigC, Vinmart and Saigon Co.op supermarkets.

Phong said many local co-operatives were increasing investment and expanding production to better meet market demand.

Another young official of Yên Dũng District, Nguyễn Mạnh Chiến, was rotated to Trí Yên Commune and has worked as chairman of the commune People’s Committee and secretary of the commune’s Party Committee since 2018.

Before the rotation, Chiến was the chairman of the Yên Dũng District’s Farmer’s Association and a top leader of the district’s Youth Union.

With experience from frequently working with farmers and young people, Chiến made decisive moves in Trí Yên Commune, which focused on improving local transport infrastructure and implementing high-tech agriculture.

In October last year, Trí Yên Commune was recognised a new rural area model, with all local roads being improved, expanded and concretised.

Agriculture production models in the commune are seen as good examples for other localities to follow.

Vice head of Personnel Organisation Department of Yên Dũng District Party Committee Trần Văn Quỳnh said that in the last five years, the district moved six district senior officials to the grassroots level, of them, two are a commune People’s Committee chairman cum secretary of commune Party Committee, two others hold the position of People’s Committee chairman while two work as the secretary of commune Party Committees and vice chairman of commune People’s Committee.

“The personnel rotation policy pushes every official to make efforts to show their ability and impress both leaders and people,” Quỳnh said.

Vice secretary of Yên Dũng District Party Committee Tạ Quang Khải said he highly appreciated the performance of rotated young officials as they had experience and responsibility.

“In any position, assigned any tasks, they have fulfilled excellently and more importantly, they have gained the trust of local people,” Khải said.

Before any rotation, district leaders must know about difficulties, desires and expectations of local people, then select suitable personnel for the localities, Khải said.  

Enterprise and social responsibility efforts in the context of COVID-19

In 2020, facing COVID-19, the Vietnamese economy has been suffering from severe aftershocks. However, in that context, we also witnessed resilience in maintaining jobs for employees, vigorous recovery and restructuring efforts of enterprises to overcome the crisis and work to repel the pandemic. Especially, many businesses showed their social responsibility and solidarity.

The same goes for Samsung Vietnam. An unprecedented challenge from the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of the values of co-prosperity and development. Continuing to implement social responsibility activities is one of the ways Samsung reveals these values. 

Samsung Vietnam donated VNĐ10 billion, including cash and protective clothing, to the Vietnamese Government for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, more than VNĐ1.6 billion donated by employees’ through CSR kiosks and factory grassroots labor union contributions was also presented for COVID-19 prevention and control in Việt Nam.

To assist the Government in accelerating the deployment of technology applications in preventing the pandemic, Samsung Vietnam also presented the group’s most advanced smartphone products to serve testing and developing the application for COVID-19 in Việt Nam. At the same time, Samsung Vietnam also provided large-screen displays and televisions to assist authorities in monitoring the pandemic.

Strive to maintain community activities

Besides supporting Việt Nam’s pandemic prevention, various community activities of Samsung have continued to grow despite the pandemic.

Most recently, factories and employees of Samsung Vietnam donated VNĐ5 billion to support fellow Vietnamese in the central provinces affected by floods. The donation was given through the Fatherland Front Committees of Bắc Ninh, Thái Nguyên and partly transferred directly to people in flooded areas. 

Previously, to share the heavy losses caused by flooding in the Central region, Samsung Vietnam factories simultaneously launched a fundraising programme. The total amount came from the employees’ donations along with contributions from the trade union fund and the factory’s social responsibility fund.

In addition, Samsung Vina Electronics, the sales and marketing units of Samsung in Việt Nam, have carried out the program “Joining hands with people in the Central region to overcome the effects of floods and storms” in six affected provinces. The most affected areas are Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên Huế, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi. Accordingly, Samsung will repair and maintain all Electronics-Refrigeration products for free, support 50 per cent of the price to replace new genuine components; do laundry for free, to ensure the hygiene and well-being of residents in the floodplain, and donate Samsung washing machines to the locality after the programme ends.

“Blood for Vietnamese 2020” is also a programme that Samsung continued to implement in 2020 in the conditions of ensuring safety against the pandemic. Since 2010, Samsung has implemented the “Blood for Vietnamese 2020” programme, so far it has contributed more than 87,000 blood units for emergency and disease treatment and is expected to contribute an additional 10,000 units of blood this year.

As part of a series of activities that light up the aspirations to reach the young generation’s science dreams, Samsung has built Hope School for the poor in Bắc Ninh and Thái Nguyên provinces. In 2020, Hope School in Bắc Giang has officially started construction in Đinh Hương Village, Thắng Town, Hiệp Hòa District, Bắc Giang Province. At the same time, Samsung also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the Samsung Hope School project in Mai Pha Commune, Lạng Sơn City. It is the fourth school in the Samsung Hope School project.

In addition, amid the pandemic, many meaningful activities, and humane programmes of the Samsung Vietnam community have brought happiness, hope and motivation to many people such as: donating wheelchairs, awarding scholarships, along with many other programmes.

Families in Nghệ An still waiting for houses after three years

Tết (Lunar New Year) is approaching and more than 60 households in Lượng Minh Commune of the central province of Nghệ An will be forced to spend the holiday in makeshift huts because two projects to resettle the people in proper houses lack capital.

Along road 543B passing Lương Minh Commune of Tương Dương District, dozens of makeshift tents made of bamboo are home to the local people of ethnic minority hamlets Minh Phương, Lả and Xốp Mạt.

This is the third year hundreds of people will spend Tết in the temporary houses, still awaiting resettlement.

Lô Văn Thành, a resident of Minh Phương Hamlet, said: “In August 2018, the Bản Vẽ Hydro-Power Plant discharged water with a record flow which washed away dozens of houses along the Nậm Nơn River in Lương Minh Commune.”

“Fortunately, 34 households in the villages were promptly evacuated,” he said.

However, since then Thành’s family and other households have lived in makeshift tents waiting to move into resettlement areas in Lả Hamlet.

“My whole family of 10 people has lived in a temporary house about 30sq.m wide, built from wooden panels, roofed with leaves for the past three years,” Thành said.

“When the rain was heavy, the whole family could not sleep because of the water leaking and strong wind,” he said.

“The hard work of adults was clear, but the poor children. This is the third Tết we don’t have a real home to celebrate like other people,” he said.

Not far away from Thành’s family, the situation of Lô Thị Lan’s family in Minh Phương Hamlet is not much better.

During the floods in August 2018, the homes of Lan’s family and 30 other households in the hamlet were swept away.

Many families had to build shelters on the mountainside or road 543B.

Some other families still have to live in their relatives’ homes to wait for moving to the resettlement area.

Lan said: “When setting up temporary camps on the side of the road, the local government said it would take about six months to move to the resettlement area.”

“But we have lived here for three years. My family had to fix the ‘house’ three times because whenever it was raining, water flowed into the tent, causing furniture in the house to be damaged,” Lan said.

“The biggest desire of the people is that the authorities soon complete the resettlement sites for people to move to new places,” she said.

According to Vi Văn Phúc, chairman of Lượng Minh Commune, there were 63 households of the commune in Lả and Xốp Mai hamlets who were supposed to move to the two resettlement areas.

But the two resettlement projects had been paused for years because of a lack of capital, Phúc said.

The families were living in bad conditions without electricity and clean water, he said.

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Trung Sơn, vice director of the project management board of Tương Dương District, said in 2018, the People’s Committee of Nghệ An Province issued a decision to set up an investment project to construct a resettlement area in Lả Hamlet to evacuate 34 households out of landslide-prone areas.

In August 2020, 12 households who were severely affected by the flood in 2018 were added to the list of the project’s beneficiaries, bringing the total number of households to be resettled to 46, Sơn said.

The project was estimated to cost VNĐ14.8 billion (US$641,000).

After two years of implementation, the project had completed ground clearance with total capital disbursement of VNĐ7.4 billion (US$320,500) from the province.

Currently, the remaining capital for implementing other items had not been allocated for the contractor to complete the project, Sơn said.

The other project is the construction of resettlement area for 17 households in Minh Phương Hamlet and Xốp Mạt Hamlet which regularly flood.

The project planned to be invested with VNĐ7.3 billion (US$320,000) but so far only a third of the total capital from the Tương Dương District fund has been allocated.

To implement this project, the contractor had to spend its money to carry out 90 per cent of the project volume.

However, when the project was about to be completed, natural disasters caused damage to the construction so work was to paused to fix the problem.

There were many difficulties in the process of implementing these two projects and they had their design adjusted twice because the number of reallocated households increased, said Sơn.

In addition, the appraisal process for the adjustment took a long time which led to the construction delay, he said.

In October last year, many communes of the district were seriously affected by three big storms and heavy rains.

At present, the two projects reportedly are short of over VNĐ12 billion (US$520,000) to finish the electric network and provide clean water and communal houses, Sơn said.

The construction of two resettlement projects in Lương Minh Commune was extremely urgent, so all concerned authorities should pay attention to finding capital to complete the projects to soon stabilise the lives of the 63 families, Sơn said.

Deputy Minister of Health calls for pandemic prevention alongside economic development

All close contacts with COVID-19 patients, designated F1, must be put in centralised quarantine, while people designated F2 should be quarantined at home under Ministry of Health (MoH) regulations, a senior health official has said.

Deputy Minister of Health Đỗ Xuân Tuyên said on Friday after much speculation about quarantine for COVID-19 prevention over the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

For those who are F3 and are allowed to home quarantine, they are required to declare and monitor their health, and quarantine at home so that if any problems arise, they must immediately handle them, he said.

“In areas which are not affected with the pandemic and are not locked down, activities should still be carried out normally following the Prime Minister’s direction to ensure both economic development and pandemic prevention,” said Tuyên.

He said, in recent times, some localities have not fully envisioned an outbreak and have not fully understood when a lockdown would be placed.

“For a ward with many streets, if a COVID-19 case appears in a street, it would be locked down whereas streets with no cases are free,” he said.

The MoH has assigned the General Department of Preventive Medicine to urgently compile guidance documents about when and how lockdowns will be imposed for nationwide implementation.

“We are not subjective and are ready to have a response whenever an outbreak occurs. Reality has proved that when a new COVID-19 case occurs, like in Quảng Ninh and Hải Dương provinces, we all have a very quick response,” said Tuyên.

Due to the work of the National Steering Committee, localities are doing relatively well and the two outbreaks of Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh are still under very strict control.

When a new infection is detected, the patient must be quarantined, he said.

“Only then can we manage to prevent the pandemic from spreading to the community,” he said.

In areas where there are no cases and activities are normal, people still have to fully comply with anti-pandemic measures under the direction of the MoH and the National Steering Committee, Tuyên added. 

Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu tightens forest-fire prevention measures

The southeastern province of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu is taking urgent measures to prevent forest fires as the area enters the peak period of the dry season.

Agencies have to identify major forests at a high risk of fire and spread, and localities must be prepared to prevent and control fires.

The province has 33,600 ha of forests, accounting for nearly 17 per cent of the province’s total land area.

Forest fire-prevention drills have been held at district and provincial levels, while firebreaks, reservoirs and canals that would help prevent forest fires were completed before January 20.

The province’s Forest Protection Sub-department has inspected high-risk forests around the clock since last December.

The sub-department has temporarily stopped all activities that clean vegetation in forests during the peak dry season.

Trần Giang Nam, deputy head of the sub-department’s Nature Conservation and Forest Management and Protection Division, said: “Forest owners have established plans for reservoirs, firebreaks and controlled forest burning to prevent and control fires.”

The sub-department has also increased public awareness about forest fire prevention and control.

One forest fire, at the Trương Phi Mountain in Đất Đỏ District’s Phước Hải Town, has occurred in the province in the dry season, destroying 1ha of bushes and grasses.

Đất Đỏ and the neighbouring district of Long Điền typically have forest fires every year.

Nguyễn Văn Lời, deputy head of the Long Điền – Đất Đỏ Forest Protection Bureau, said the two districts have mountainous terrains and no fences surround the forests, which allows people to enter forests to harvest honey and burn incense, causing forest fires. 

Xuyên Mộc District, which has the largest forest area in the province, is also a hotspot for forest fires in the dry season because of alternating residential and forested areas.

Phạm Hữu Phương, deputy head of the Xuyên Mộc Forest Protection Bureau, said the bureau would establish measures to prevent and control forest fires this dry season.

The district has completed the preparation of facilities and human forces for fire prevention and control, he said.

The district will pay more attention to prevent and control forest fires from now to after Tết (Lunar New Year), which falls on February 12, he said.

In the 2019 – 20 dry season, the province had eight forest fire cases, causing damage to 2.1ha of forest, down two cases against the 2018 – 19 dry season.

AstraZeneca vaccines prove safe, effective, will be delivered to Viet Nam by mid-year

The Ministry of Health has approved the use of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca following the primary analysis of Phase III clinical trials from the UK, Brazil and South Africa, which confirmed that it is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations, more than 22 days after the first dose, according to a press release from AstraZeneca Vietnam issued on February 4.

AstraZeneca Vietnam and the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company will work together to supply 30 million doses in the country, starting mid-year.

A representative from VNVC told the Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) that the company has completed negotiations on the deal with AstraZeneca – a global biopharmaceutical business from the UK.

Supply Director of VNVC Vũ Thị Thu Hà said her company has made the best preparations to receive the vaccines and give injections to residents.

The analysis result of the vaccine was published as a preprint in The Lancet.

Results demonstrated vaccine efficacy of 76 per cent after the first dose, with protection maintained to the second dose. With an inter-dose interval of 12 weeks or more, vaccine efficacy increased to 82 per cent.

The analysis also showed the potential for the vaccine to reduce asymptomatic transmission of the virus, based on weekly swabs obtained from volunteers in the UK trial. The data showed that PCR positive readings were reduced by 67 per cent after a single dose, and 50 per cent after the two dose regimen, supporting a substantial impact on transmission of the virus.

The primary analysis for efficacy was based on 17,177 participants with 332 symptomatic cases from the Phase III UK, Brazil and South Africa trials led by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, a further 201 cases than previously reported.

Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said: “This primary analysis reconfirms that our vaccine prevents severe disease and keeps people out of hospital. In addition, extending the dosing interval not only boosts the vaccine’s efficacy, but also enables more people to be vaccinated upfront.”

Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, and co-author of the paper, said: “These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that has helped regulators such as the MHRA in the UK and elsewhere around the world to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation. It also helps to support the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine.”

Data will continue to be analysed and shared with regulators around the world to support their ongoing rolling reviews for emergency supply or conditional approval during the health crisis.

AstraZeneca is also seeking Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization for an accelerated pathway to vaccine availability in low-income countries. 

Efforts made to promote sale of crops in virus-hit provinces

Efforts are being made to promote the sale of crops, fruits and meat of farmers in coronavirus-hit provinces, including the two hardest-hit Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday nears.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total winter crop area which had not been harvested was more than 7,830 ha, or 35 per cent of the northern province’s total crop area. In Kinh Mon District, there was about 3,500 ha of onion, 350 ha of carrot in Nam Sach and 400 ha in Cam Giang, 200 ha of vegetables in Gia Loc, 200 ha in Tu Ky and 400 ha in Kim Thanh.

In Quang Ninh, the total unharvested crop area was more than 2,000 ha, mainly potato, corn and vegetables with a total yield of about 30,000 tonnes.

The ministry said that it was important to raise solutions to promote the sale of farm produce for farmers in locked-down areas.

The ministry said that prices of farm produce in Hai Duong had decreased by around 10-20 per cent since the outbreak of virus clusters late last month.

Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the ministry’s Department of Crop Production, the sale of carrot and potato was the most difficult at the moment because these two products had high output volume while domestic consumption accounted for just 10 per cent and the rest must be exported.

The capacity of cold storage in Hai Duong was limited, which would be a problem if the virus was not put under control before Tet, he said.

He added that the transportation of goods to/from locked-down areas was very difficult. Local markets were also tightening disease control measures.

Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh were the major markets for the consumption of Hai Duong’s farm produce. However, these provinces were banning all vehicles and people from Hai Duong, which affected the consumption. Wholesalers from other provinces did not want to come to Hai Duong to collect farm produce with hesitation over the virus and worries that they must practice social distancing.

According to Hai Duong Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, around 128,000 tonnes of vegetables, meat and fish in the province were waiting for consumption.

In that context, it was important to promote consumption in the province, increase storage and implement processing for longer preservation, the ministry said.

It was a must to apply prevention measures following the guidance of the Ministry of Finance when transporting products out of the virus-hit areas, the agriculture ministry said.

At the same time, preparations must be made for the next cultivation season.

Recently, Quang Ninh Province Department of Industry and Trade helped connect for the sale and 17 million potatoes, worth VND153 million (US$6,600).

Six enterprises also bought more than 10,000 chickens for farmers in Chi Linh City.

Passenger bus fares hike as Tet nears

Passengers bus tickets have increased by up to 50% as travel demand has increased near Tet.

Because of Covid-19, the number of passengers at Giap Bat Bus Station on February 1 was more like a normal weekend than the seasonal rush expected before Tet. Some short-trip buses to Ninh Binh, Thai Binh and Nam Dinh only have five to seven passengers. Hoang, an employee of Thien Truong Company, said in previous years, they had to work full capacity and even used back-up buses.

Nguyen Anh Toan, director of Transerco, said they had started the transportation plan for Tet with 2,200 back-up buses at major bus stations like My Dinh, Giap Bat, My Dinh, and Gia Lam. The number of passengers is expected to increase by 130%-150%. However, they haven’t had to use back-up buses yet.

Despite the slight increase in the number of passengers, fares have increased by 30%-50%. The fares for buses to Thanh Hoa Province increased from VND120,000-VND150,000 to VND180,000-VND200,000.

Nguyen Tat Thanh, director of Giap Bat Bus Station, confirmed that many transportation firms had applied for a price hike. During Tet, most buses only run with passengers one-way and have to return empty so they have raised prices to pay for extra costs.

Procedures for the price hikes were already completed with the departments of finances and departments of transport before the new Covid-19 outbreak.

Third Covid-19 field hospital to be handed over to Hai Duong

More than 200 workers and soldiers on February 6 completed renovating 5,000 square meters of floor area at the Sao Do University in the northern province of Hai Duong into a third Covid-19 field hospital, which is ready to be handed over for the province to treat coronavirus patients.

It took just a week to complete the renovation work. The three-story field hospital is located far away from residential areas. Its ground floor was equipped with testing and treatment facilities as well as is a place for receiving coronavirus patients. The remaining floors accommodate patient rooms and a number of functional units.

The hospital has 239 beds, which will be extended to 300 if necessary.

Early this month, the equipment used at a similar hospital at Da Nang city’s Tien Son sports center was transported to the Sao Do University to set up the field hospital.

All of the engineers and workers involved in the construction of the field hospital had their health monitored regularly by the Hai Duong Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the construction.

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

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VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS FEBRUARY 9

September 2, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

Demand for top meat drives funding

Demand for top meat drives funding

In the midst of the rising demand for quality pork, Vietnam has witnessed growing investment in the clean meat market. 

Last week, AVG Capital Partners, a private equity fund from Russia, signed an MoU with Thanh Hoa People’s Committee to develop a $1.4 billion pork processing complex in Nghi Son Economic Zone.

With an area of 1,000 hectares, the complex has a designed capacity to produce five million hogs a year. It will boast 43 commercial pig farms and three hybrid pig farms, a mixed feed factory with a capacity of two million tonnes a year, as well as a slaughterhouse and processing plant with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes a year.

Phong Quach, head of business development at Ipsos Strategy3 in Vietnam, said that as a general principle, any high-tech investment in agriculture is good for Vietnam. This is because the Vietnamese agricultural sector is still trying to attract more technology that can provide higher output for both the domestic and export markets.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has identified in its objectives for 2030 that it wants to strive for high-value added agricultural outputs rather than volume.

Quach added, “When we take a closer look at different points in the value chain and investments, there are different dynamics in the competition depending on the node we review. The latest investment from AVG Capital Partners is a feed-farm-food (3F) investment encompassing the entire production chain. However, the output capacity of the processing facility is much higher than its supply, with 600,000 tonnes of processed meat against five million hogs a year.”

This would suggest that there is still significant opportunity for Vietnamese farms to supply this facility. If AVG Capital Partners is looking to source hogs from Vietnamese farms, this would be a vote of confidence for local farming while epidemics still wreak havoc in the global husbandry industry, Vietnam included, according to Quach.

Another player, CJ VinaAgri, a member of CJ Group in Vietnam, has officially launched its clean meat retail chain Meat Master in Ho Chi Minh City. The chain supplies quality meat produced under the 3F model. The move is part of CJ Group’s efforts to increase its presence in Vietnam and tap into the promising market.

C.P. Group from Thailand is meanwhile investing in its retail channel to deliver chilled and processed meat like Fresh Mart and C.P. Pork Shop. The revenue of C.P. Vietnam’s farm and food business has increased to $640 million in the recent two quarters, with earnings from the feed segment reaching around $200 million per quarter. C.P. has the largest farms in the country with an output of 16,000-17,000 pigs a day.

Dutch animal feed giant De Heus meanwhile has joined forces with local Hung Nhon Group to develop the DHN Dak Lak Agricultural High-Technology complex.

The project is expected to form a disease-free zone and provide high productivity pig and chicken breeds to the market. The $66-million venture will feed 2,500 grandparent and great-grandparent pigs, as well as 25,000 parent and gilt pigs to the market when it is launched.

Vu Manh Hung, general director of Hung Nhon Group said, “We will invest in a clean meat store chain with a closed process from breeding and processing to distributing products directly to consumers to reduce intermediate and transport costs.”

Key players share the approach to raising quality and standards to achieve success, reacting to a strengthening demand among Vietnamese consumers – especially the middle class – for clean and safe food. The Vietnamese meat market is huge and fresh, high-quality, and high-st,andard products make up only a fraction of the total market so the sector will continue to attract investment.

Quach pointed out that the major difference among players lies in their retail strategy. In Vietnam, based on Ipsos’ experiences, there are three dominant meat retail strategies, including one that leverages modern trade, one that focuses on wet markets, and one that works independent from the marketplace.

The first two strategies have a clear focus on customer base and emphasise convenience, which is critical for Vietnamese consumers. Locations are picked through researching consumer habits to create the shortest possible meat shopping journey within the total shopping journey.

“Meanwhie, the retail format of CJ Meat Master follows the third category. Its first shop in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City is at a spot where there are no wet markets, convenience stores, or supermarkets nearby. This means that the retail format does not intend to leverage any available food and meal shopping traffic nearby and instead take advantage of other types of traffic and strategic purposes,” Quach added.

Ahead of the game, Masan MEATLife, a subsidiary of Masan Group, launched its certified branded chilled meat line MEATDeli in 2018 using European processing technology and standards. In particular, Masan has stepped up its game by acquiring Vingroup’s VinCommerce and VinEco arms, putting MEATDeli products on the shelves of VinMart.

Both the clean meat and processed meat markets are still very small in Vietnam but the growing middle class in Vietnam sets it up for tremendous opportunities.

“Therefore, it is critical for local and foreign players to understand the needs of Vietnamese consumers and provide a quality offering that takes into account local shopping culture and craft a long term journey for their shift to clean and safe meat production,” Quach concluded.

Dong Nai looks for investor for 300-hectare industrial park

Dong Nai province is looking for an investor to develop Cam My Industrial Park with the total investment capital of VND2.71 trillion ($117.83 million).

The industrial park (IP) is one of three IPs approved by the prime minister. The two others are the 300-hectare Gia Kiem and the 190ha Phuoc Binh IP. At present, the provincial Department of Planning and Investment is completing dossiers to call for investment in infrastructure development for the three projects. Cam My IP has yet to complete site clearance.

Once the three IPs come into operation, Dong Nai will have a total of 35 IPs in its master plan for the 2021-2030 period.

According to the plan, the province will have an addition of eight IPs in the period of 2021-2030, including four new projects with the total area of 4,300ha in Long Khanh, Trang Bom, Nhon Trach, among others and four expansion projects, including Dau Giay, Long Khanh, and Tan Phu.

According to a study by the province, enterprises shifting operations from China to Vietnam are boosting IP development and industrial real estate in Dong Nai.

The province also has numerous advantages for IP development while numerous large-scale infrastructure projects are under construction, including Long Thanh International Airport as well as the Dau Giay-Lien Khuong and Ben Luc-Long Thanh highways.

Dong Nai is one of the leading provinces attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, the province exceeded its investment attraction target of 2020 with more than $402.2 million.

Especially, FDI in the province’s IPs hit a five-year record in the first days of the year, according to the provincial Industrial Zones Management Authority. Notably, the province attracted FDI of more than $226 million in 11 projects in the first 10 days of the new year.

Three new projects accounted for $190 million with the other eight being existing projects that expanded investment by $36 million.

Animal feed exports increase in 2020

Vietnam acquired $800.7 million in export turnover from animal feed in 2020, up 16.98 per cent on-year, according to statistics published by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

This sharp increase in December was fuelled by a high growth rate in three leading markets of China, Cambodia, and the US at 84, 66, and 69 per cent, respectively.

At present, the three largest export markets in terms of animal feed are China, Cambodia, and the US, which account for 10 per cent of the total export value of these goods.

Notably, Vietnam acquired $221.23 million from China (up 15.68 per cent), $122.32 million from Cambodia (up 23.15 per cent), and $114.5 million from the US (up 125 per cent).

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the country’s export turnover from these products to key markets increased in 2020. However, turnover in many small markets declined such as Japan with $26.2 million, down 27 per cent on-year; South Korea with $19 million, down 18.5 per cent; and Indonesia with $11 million, down 33 per cent.

The MoIT forecasted that with the existing productivity in collaboration with the large-scale expansion, animal feed will be one of the goods categories having export turnover over $1 billion.

However, the export value of animal feed only accounted for one-fifth of the import turnover of $3.9 billion in 2020.

Vietnam is now home to 265 animal feed production businesses, 180 of which are domestically run. Although domestic enterprises outperformed in terms of quantity, foreign firms still led the way in terms of capacity and market share.

Japan’s health names latch onto Vietnam

More Japanese pharma and healthcare companies are heading to Vietnam as drug demands in the local lucrative market are on the rise.

The second-largest pharmaceutical company in Japan, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., has entered a licence agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation to register and launch edaravone brand Radicava in Vietnam. The medication treats patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and helps with recovery from a stroke.

Yukinori Tominaga, general director of Daiichi Sankyo Vietnam Co., Ltd., told VIR, “We are going to provide more access to new medications in order to increase options for Vietnamese doctors to improve the quality of life in Vietnamese people.”

The agreement is one of several plans by Daiichi Sankyo for Vietnam in 2021. It aims to contribute to the enrichment of quality of life in the country through the innovative pharmaceuticals from Daiichi Sankyo and external resources, as the Mitsubishi Tanabe case, in order to address diverse medical needs.

Having established a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City in 2014 to provide support activities for the sale and promotion of its pharma products, last year Daiichi Sankyo strengthened its presence in Vietnam by announcing the establishment of its Vietnamese arm as a wholly-owned subsidiary to conduct sales activities. This is to better respond to the changing business environment of the pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam and to strengthen its business operations, focusing on new products.

The Tokyo-based company researches in the field of innovative drugs, with subsidiaries operating worldwide. In fiscal year 2019, Daiichi Sankyo generated a revenue of almost ¥982 billion ($9.46 billion), up from approximately ¥930 billion ($8.96 billion) in the previous fiscal year.

Tominaga admitted that during 2020 with the global health crisis, Daiichi Sankyo has suffered some negative impacts especially in primary care, but avoided significant impacts throughout the year.

Daiichi Sankyo is one of several Japanese companies in the health sector with more presence in Vietnam, which is deemed a safe place to do business and which has growing demands for innovative medicines and high-end services, in a move to diversify their supply chains.

According to a representative from the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), besides traditional investment sectors like manufacturing, Japanese investors are also grasping onto other sectors such as healthcare, clean energy, and customer services.

As demonstrated in the list of 30 Japanese companies planning to move from China to Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Laos announced last year by JETRO, half of those will shift to Vietnam, with the majority operating in the health sector. They include names like Inoue Iron Works, Able Yamauchi, Showa, Techno Global, Hashimoto Cross, and Matsuoka. They specialise in pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment, medical gloves, masks, and other medical clothing among others.

Matsuoka Corporation, which produces protective clothing for the health sector, plans to invest ¥3 billion ($28 million) in An Nam Matsuoka Garment Company, its Vietnamese manufacturing unit, to start production of protective wear and other items in the next few months.

Elsewhere, seeing growth potential in Vietnam, Taisho Group, one of the five largest pharmaceutical firms in Japan, increased its ownership in Hau Giang Pharmaceutical JSC, the biggest publicly-traded drugmaker in Vietnam, to 50.78 per cent in 2019 as a way to deepen its footprint there.

Similarly, Nipro Pharma Corporation – Japan’s biggest prescription drug contract manufacturer – is expanding its operations in Vietnam with a new project worth $300 million in Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) after investing $150 million in the first plant in the northern port city of Haiphong.

A source from SHTP told VIR that Nipro is completing procedures to enlarge its facility by increasing the investment capital by about $270 million.

Experts forecast that private domestic and foreign investment in the Vietnamese health sector will be on the rise as the state has plans to divest its stake in a number of powerful pharma firms, including leading pharma firms Vinapharm and Traphaco. The sector’s existing challenges, including hospital overloads and downgrades, also bring about chances for financiers to venture further into.

According to data researchers Fitch Solutions, the country’s total health expenditure was about $17 billion in 2019, or 6.6 per cent of the country’s GDP. The company also projects that the figure will reach $23 billion in 2022 with compound annual growth rate of 10.7 per cent.

Development drivers and expectations for Vietnam in 2021

Vietnam successfully managed to ride out the unprecedented challenges in 2020 and is gradually recovering with new development drivers and expectations in 2021.

The drivers of and expectations for the Vietnamese economy in 2021 are primarily built on the achievements in containing Covid-19, with Vietnam recognised as one of the most successful countries in the world, as well as economic resilience and a positive growth rate of 2.91% in 2020.

Entering 2021, Vietnam is quite confident with a US$340 billion economy, among the 40 largest economies in the world and the fourth largest economy in ASEAN; GDP per capita of US$3,521; a trade surplus of US$19.1 billion; and foreign reserves of more than US$90 billion.

The growth drivers in 2021 will be strengthened and supplemented by institutional breakthroughs and an improved business environment, making Vietnam one of the best investment destinations in the world. The business community continues to record growth in both quantity and quality, with many companies working towards breakthroughs in industrial production and technology and deeper participation in regional and global value chains. Growth in 2021 is also expected to be driven by successes in economic restructuring, especially in agriculture and tourism.

The drivers for 2021 will also come from the country’s sustainable development achievements. With a human development index (HDI) of 0.704, Vietnam has been included in the group of countries with high HDI for the first time, ranking at number 117 among 189 countries and territories. Vietnam’s human capital index is also higher than the average of countries with the same income level. Vietnam is one of the first countries to fulfil the UN’s goal on sustainable multidimensional poverty reduction.

Other drivers for 2021 include a strong digital push in the business community, major improvements in telecommunications infrastructure and the building of electronic government and smart cities.

The expectations of comprehensive and profound breakthroughs on the path of reform and modernisation in Vietnam are also being elevated by the high consensus in personnel work and the quality of documents at the 13th National Party Congress, the people’s confidence in the Party, and the dynamism, innovation and responsibilities of a new crop of officials elected at the 13th Party Congress.

Vietnam is now in possession of an economy, strength and international prestige like never before, as recognised by both people at home and the international community. Such accomplishments are an affirmation of the quality of institutions and the effectiveness of policy response and market response of the Party, State and entire business community and people of Vietnam.

With new confidence and good spirit following the success of the 13th Party Congress, we are fully confident that Vietnam will continue to emerge as bright spot in terms of socio-economic development in a more sustainable and effective manner in 2021.

IPC has new general director

Lam Hoai Anh, deputy general director of HCMC Finance and Investment Company (HFIC), has been appointed as new general director of HCMC-based Tan Thuan Industrial Promotion Co., Ltd (IPC).

On February 5, HCMC Vice Chairman Le Hoa Binh handed over the municipal government’s decision on the appointment to Anh, the local media reported.

Anh, born in 1972 in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, will hold the post for five years.

HCMC Vice Chairman Binh said Anh is an active and enthusiastic official. He had worked in the finance sector, which will help him do the new job well.

Despite difficulties in the initial stage, Binh expected Anh would coordinate with the board of directors and the member council of IPC to develop the company.

Anh’s predecessor is Pham Phu Quoc, a National Assembly deputy of HCMC, who had resigned after he was found holding Cypriot citizenship.

Covid-19 dashes aviation, tourism sectors’ hopes to earn profits during Tet

Many enterprises in the aviation and tourism sectors as well as hotels had expected to earn profits during the upcoming Lunar New Year or Tet holiday to make up for their losses last year, but their hopes have been destroyed due to the new Covid-19 wave.

Flights have been suspended as many air passengers returned their tickets, while tours during the holiday have been canceled. In addition, many stores and restaurants in many localities have been temporarily closed.

Vietravel has suspended all of its tours to the northern region and is working out response plans in case the pandemic takes a turn for the worse. Vietravel Airlines, which has been put into operation for over a month, has also faced multiple difficulties.

Vietravel Holdings Chairman Nguyen Quoc Ky said travel companies had invested heavily in their products and services for Tet but the pandemic has upset their plans. If the situation gets more complicated, even those that survived the previous two pandemic waves will find it hard to overcome this one.

As a result, laborers will be put at a disadvantage. Only half of Vietravel’s employees have returned to work.

Not only travel firms, lodging facilities have also faced the same fate. According to Savills Hotels, the new Covid-19 wave has hindered the recovery of hotels.

Savills Hotels director Mauro Gasparotti said the pandemic has hit not only localities with Covid-19 outbreaks but also others.

Some conferences have been suspended, directly affecting the Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition tourism segment.

He forecast the situation this year might be similar to that of last year if the international tourism segment is not resumed.

As for the aviation sector, the number of air passengers has declined 15% over the period that new Covid-19 cases had not been confirmed.

In addition, the demand for flights to Danang and HCMC plunged 35% and 34%, respectively, according to OTA Insight.

As a result, Vietnam Airlines’ losses of more than VND11 trillion may need more time to be recouped. Moreover, it will be difficult to introduce a credit package worth VND14 trillion for the national flag carrier.

Meanwhile, Vietjet Air has significantly cut expenditures.

According to SSI Securities Corporation’s recent report on the outlook of the aviation sector this year, the market will remain gloomy as the United Kingdom’s coronavirus variant has been found in many countries. The aviation sector will not recover until the end of 2021, when Covid-19 vaccines are approved.

Development of Tan Phu-Bao Loc expy project approved

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed in principle that the Lam Dong Province government will be in charge of developing the Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway project, which connects Lam Dong with the neighboring province of Dong Nai, during the 2021-2025 period under the public-private partnership format.

The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong was asked to mobilize capital to ensure that an appropriate amount of the province’s budget is invested in the project, reported Thanh Nien Online.

The ministries of Transport, Planning and Investment, Finance and the relevant agencies have to create optimal conditions and facilitate investment procedures for the project, PM Phuc said.

The Transport Ministry was told to work with Lam Dong’s government to comprehensively assess the impact of the construction of the project along with other build-operate-transfer projects to avoid possible disputes and ensure investment effectiveness. The ministry has to coordinate with other agencies to study the construction of the Dau Giay-Tan Phu and Bao Loc-Lien Khuong expressways.

PM Phuc asked the three ministries to give their feedback on the allocation of the State budget during the 2021-2025 period for the road project as proposed earlier by Lam Dong.

The provincial government of Lam Dong has to quickly conduct the project’s pre-feasibility study and report to the higher authorities by March for consideration and approval, select qualified investors and funding organizations for the project and execute the project in a lawful, transparent and efficient manner.

Earlier, in January last year, Lam Dong sought an approval from the Government leader to develop the 67-kilometer Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway project with four lanes, as a component of the 200-kilometer-long Dau Giay-Lien Khuong expressway project, which is set to link the Central Highlands provinces and the southeastern provinces.

The Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway will require some VND18.2 trillion in investment, with some VND9.7 trillion backed by the investor and an equal amount funded by the State budget.

Ministry plans to develop Can Tho-Ca Mau expy in 2021-2025

The Ministry of Transport plans to add the Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway project to the list of public investment projects in the 2021-2025 period instead of after 2030 as approved earlier by the prime minister.

The ministry announced the decision in a document sent to the Party Committee of Soc Trang Province and the provincial delegation of National Assembly deputies on their proposal to complete an expressway from HCMC to Can Tho and develop the Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway project parallel to the Quan Lo-Phung Hiep route to ensure that economic centers are connected in the localities that the expressway will pass through, the local media reported.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the Trung Luong-My Thuan section of the HCMC-Can Tho Expressway has been opened to traffic, while work on the My Thuan-Can Tho section started early this year and was expected to be completed in 2022 and that on the My Thuan 2 bridge project in 2023.

The Ministry of Transport is drawing up a plan to develop the road system in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050, proposing adjusting the roadmap to invest in the Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway and some other projects.

The ministry has assigned the Cuu Long Corporation for Investment Development and Project Management of Infrastructure to prepare the prefeasibility reports for these projects.

After the National Assembly and the Government handed over the mid-term public investment capital in the 2021-2025 period, the ministry will coordinate with the relevant ministries, agencies and localities to review and choose important and urgent projects for the Government and the National Assembly to develop first.

As for the Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway project, besides three plans proposed by the consulting firm, the ministry has asked Cuu Long Corporation to direct the consulting firm to study a new direction of the expressway that is parallel to National Highway 1 and five to seven kilometers from Soc Trang City of the province of the same name and Bac Lieu Province.

The direction will ensure the connection of cities in the region and ease traffic on National Highway 1, especially at the gateways of large cities.

Smuggling activity recorded most on aviation route

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the situation of smuggling and cross-border trafficking of goods in January tends to decrease compared to the same period in 2020, but the nature of smuggling cases is still complicated, more sophisticated and the number of seized goods increased. 

As from December 16, 2020 to January 15, 2021, the customs forces discovered 803 cases and seized violated goods with total amount of more than VND518 billion (over US$22 million), performed state budget collection of VND12.5 billion (US$540,000), prosecuted two cases and transferred five cases to other agencies to prosecute.

The smuggling activity took place the most on aviation route.

The number of arrests has increased sharply; the violated goods are high value, tiny, easy to hide such as drugs, weapons, gold, rhino horn, ivory, pangolin scales, cell-phones, alcohol, tobacco, etc.

Investors need to protect themselves against market volatility

Vietnam’s stock market this week has recovered again with gaining trading sessions and impressive trading volume. The shock caused by the historic slump on January 28 when the VN Index volatilized 6.67 percent, along with the state of no buyers, seems to have been left behind. However, the lesson from that historic stock market crash will never be old when being placed in the context that hundreds of thousands of new investors have entered the stock market lately.

After the losing trading session on January 28, the most exciting topic on securities forums at that time was ‘What makes the stock market so volatile?’. Investors cited all the reasons, even conspiracy theories, such as market manipulation by the “strong hands” and cornering the market combined with shutting down the trading system. Not so many investors dare to accept the truth that they were the reason for those fluctuations.

When stocks climb up wildly, no one mentions their extraordinary excitement but immerses in the increasing profits day by day, feeling the joy of gaining a few more percentage points of profit every day. When the market flips over, the crowd unexpectedly becomes concerned about the management responsibilities of the regulator for such a sudden plummet in the market. They seem to think that the regulator must make the market go up.

From a psychological perspective, trying to find external reasons to explain an adverse outcome or a mistake of oneself is actually an avoidance of responsibility or a state of trying to soothe the pain. This kind of sentiment is quite common in the stock market. Therefore, books on securities investment and trading all emphasize the principle of eliminating emotions from decisions.

This principle has only a few short lines, but it is summarized in hundreds of years of securities trading of investors. Many new investors in the stock market only want to see drawings describing investment strategies and tips on making stock investments profitable, easy to understand and practice immediately. However, they are reluctant to absorb the experiences written in multi-page books.

They know the support, resistance, and technical buy point of stocks. However, they do not understand the risk-return tradeoff principle in each transaction, the win/loss ratio, and the principles of capital management, trading, portfolio building, and risk management.

F0 investors – newcomers to the market – before every decision to buy or sell, usually pay attention to profit first. Meanwhile, experienced investors often concern about the maximum risk they will encounter and whether it is worth the expected return or not. For instance, when an investor decides to buy stock A at VND25,000 per share, if he thinks that the price will go up to VND30,000 in the next week, giving him a profit of 20 percent, then he is an F0 investor.

On the contrary, if he thinks that the price of stock A does not increase as expected but decreases, so he will cut loss at VND24,000, then he is an Fn investor. When putting risks before profits, investors are responsible for their capital and have determined that securities investment is a long-term career instead of an opportunity to make money quickly.

The fierce turbulences, like the market volatility last week, have occurred many times in the past 10 years and contributed to eliminating several generations of amateur investors. What goes up must come down: that is the rule. Market trends also have many different levels.

A long-term uptrend based on macroeconomic growth or micro-growth of enterprises still mixes with short-term downtrends when supply and demand dominate in a period. The current market is a short-term downtrend in a long-term uptrend. Therefore, long-term investors do not need to panic, even though the downward volatility can reach dozens of percentage in just a few days. It is an opportunity to restructure the portfolio, take partial profits on the portfolio, and buy back stocks at lower prices, or even buy more stocks.

In contrast, short-term speculators have to focus on protecting cash assets. For not knowing whether we are making long-term investments or speculating, it will lead us to emotional transactions going along with the majority and being dominated by unusual movements in the market. Worse, we will trade stocks erratically, making consecutive mistakes and being kicked out of the game.

Supply of affordable housing still fails to meet demand

The supply of affordable housing in general and social housing, in particular, in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh in the past years, has always failed to meet the needs of the people. Especially, in HCMC, although the city government has had many programs and plans to develop social housing, the number of projects that have been completed and put into use remains small. 

Some large-scale social housing projects that have been put into use in recent years include the HQC Plaza project in Nguyen Van Linh Street in Binh Chanh District, invested by Hoang Quan Real Estate Joint Stock Company, with a scale of 1,750 units, inaugurated at the end of 2019 and the HOF-HQC Ho Hoc Lam project, invested by the HCMC Housing Development Fund (HOF) in association with Hoang Quan Real Estate JSC. The project has a total investment of more than VND608 billion, with a scale of 718 apartments. It is the first public-private partnership project implemented to solve the needs of social housing in HCMC.

Earlier, the apartment project of the Ministry of Public Security in No.3 Street in Binh An Ward in Thu Duc City, invested by Phu Cuong Investment Joint Stock Company, was also put into use in 2016. The 20-story apartment building with functional areas, including residential apartments, parking areas, a kindergarten, and a technical infrastructure system, covers more than 20,020 square meters. It has 956 apartments and a floor area of 128,425.51 square meters. However, according to authorities, the number of social housing projects is much less than the demand.

According to real estate experts, although accounting for 70-80 percent of the demand for housing in big cities like HCMC, the supply of affordable housing is extremely scarce or even unavailable in the market. From 2019, the chances for young people to buy houses were lower and lower because the kind of apartments priced at VND1.1 billion-VND1.5 billion per unit was almost no longer available in the market. Specifically, from the past 3 to 5 years, the price of Grade C and Grade B apartments from VND16 million to VND21 million per square meter has now reached VND25 million-VND36 million per square meter. Thus, people with a need for affordable housing can only rely on social housing projects.

“We really need an apartment to settle down, but with limited financial resources, we can only look forward to social housing projects to enjoy the policy of this program. However, for many years, our dream has not come true yet because the number of these projects is too low. I have searched for them, but they are unavailable,” shared Mr. Binh, a person looking to buy an affordable house.

According to the HCMC Housing Development Program for the 2016-2025 period approved by the municipal People’s Committee in Decision No.5086/QD-UBND on November 14, 2018, in the 2016-2020 period, the city would strive to complete about 1.78 million square meters of housing floor area. In fact, only 1.28 million square meters of floor area were completed, equivalent to 15,177 apartments.

In the 2021-2025 period, HCMC plans to develop about 2.27 million square meters of social housing floor area, equivalent to about 25,000 apartments, to meet a part of the demand. According to Mr. Huynh Thanh Khiet, Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Construction, the department will continue to monitor and urge the implementation of 19 social housing projects, with a scale of 26,983 apartments, to meet the set target. The department will also update and review commercial housing projects with a scale of 10 hectares that have identified a 20-percent land fund to implement social housing and urge the implementation to ensure the achievement of the target of building social housing in these projects.

The Department of Construction has updated 65 commercial housing development projects, which have a land-use scale of 10 hectares upwards and have to spend 20 percent of residential land on building social housing, with a total area of about 197.3 hectares, equivalent to about 146,550 apartments. According to Mr. Khiet, the department plans to develop and manage social housing in the city in the 2021-2025 period to submit to the municipal People’s Committee for promulgation.

However, how to mobilize social resources and various economic sectors to participate in this housing segment is not an easy problem. Although there are many incentives for enterprises to develop affordable housing and social housing, they remain apathetic. Mr. Nguyen Van Duc, Deputy Director of Dat Lanh Real Estate Company, one of the pioneering enterprises in building affordable houses in HCMC, analyzed that enterprises were not interested in affordable housing because the return was low, at only VND1 million-VND2 million per square meter. If there are financial problems, they will go bankrupt or suffer losses. In terms of legal procedures for low-income housing or high-end apartment projects, they are the same complicated as each other.

Mr. Ngo Quang Phuc, CEO of Phu Dong Group, said that the core solution to increase the supply of affordable housing is to create equal competition in the market and transparency in investment procedures for affordable housing. Especially, it should put an end to the “ask-give” situation to attract large enterprises with great potentials. According to Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA), one of the reasons why the supply of affordable housing is scarce in the market is that the approval process for building construction is usually time-consuming.

On the other hand, the State Bank of Vietnam is currently implementing a schedule to gradually restrict credit to the real estate market, causing enterprises to face difficulties in seeking alternative capital sources.

“To increase the supply of housing, the State needs to continue to launch financial support packages to develop social and affordable housing, creating favorable conditions for investors, as well as buyers. At the same time, localities, including HCMC, should put forward solutions to consolidate and speed up the approval process of projects to stabilize the real estate market and prevent projects from being delayed, affecting the approval of new projects,” Mr. Chau suggested.

Hanoi starts conducting national 2021 economic census

The data collection period is set to take place from March 1 to July 30, 2021 on various economic component groups.

Result from the national 2021 economic census would serve as the foundation for the calculation of the country’s GDP and GRDP data.

“The main objective of the economic census is to collect data from different economic components and assess their development in terms of quantity, scale and number of employees,” stated the Head of Hanoi’s Statistics Office Dau Ngoc Hung at the meeting marking the launch of the national 2021 economic census in Hanoi on February 5.

According to Mr. Hung, the economic census will also evaluate the efficiency in Vietnam’s process of economic restructuring and revising growth model.

“Throughout the process, the government will have a better understanding on the application of IT and modern technologies under the Industry 4.0 in the business community,” noted Mr. Hung, saying this is an opportunity for enterprises to inform the authorities of their difficulties in accessing financial resources or integrating into the global economy.

The target in this national 2021 economic census include manufacturing facilities, businesses, public-non business units, associations, non-governmental agencies in Vietnam, and religious groups.

The National Statistics Office will collect information via 22 questionnaires in online platforms or direct interview.

The data collection period is set to take place from March 1 to July 30, 2021 on various economic component groups.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Ha Minh Hai, who also heads the Steering Committee on 2021 economic census in Hanoi, said statistics data holds great significance to support the city’s leaders in the process of management.

Mr. Hai requested the municipal Statistics Office to enhance the quality of analysis and economic forecast to better meet the demand for information in the current environment.

The municipal Statistics Office is set to announce the result of the economic census in December 2021, and the official result in the first quarter of 2022.

Vietnamese shoppers seek premium goods for Tet

In-home consumption will drive Vietnam’s fast-moving consumer goods sales in this Lunar New Year.

The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on employment will lead to Vietnamese consumers optimizing spends and looking for better bargains, according to Mr. Richard Thomas, Director of Intelligent Analytics at NielsenIQ Vietnam. 

Lunar New Year, the biggest festive event in Vietnam, is a banner event in Vietnam’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) calendar. Normally, its sales are 12%-15% higher than non-festive periods and close to 20% of total FMCG sales of the whole year.  

Given that the country’s economy is dependent on exports and tourism, the adverse impact on the key sectors have resulted in job losses and a rise in constrained consumers in the country.  

Despite toned-down celebrations, Tet will still boost FMCG sales, Ms. Didem Sekerel Erdogan, Senior Vice President, Intelligent Analytics, APAC & EEMEA at NielsenIQ, predicted. “Local manufacturers and retailers have a unique opportunity to help consumers continue their beloved festive traditions during the pandemic by anticipating and adapting to changing consumer needs,” she said.  

Vietnam’s retailers and manufacturers, when planning their promotional strategies for the Lunar New Year, should focus on offering free gifts and direct discounts as the most sought-after promotions in Vietnam, according to NielsenIQ. 

According to NielsenIQ, local retailers and manufacturers invest heavily on promotions and price reductions during banner festive events such as Lunar New Year. These promotions, which are among the most effective ways to drive sales, can sometimes result in “promotional wastage” – where brands lose money because of ineffective promotions.  

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to promotions, as consumers respond differently to deals across different categories,” Ms. Erdogan said and suggested that, in order to capitalize on festive sales, brands and retailers must rethink their promotional strategies and ensure they are promoting the right products using the right mechanics and at the right price to better meet the needs of Lunar New Year shoppers. 

In addition, local manufacturers and retailers should also offer special promotions on premium gifting categories such as abalone, chicken essence, bird’s nest and liquor as insulated spenders may have additional budgets to spend due to scaled down parties, open houses and celebrations. 

Ms. Erodgan believes that these time-tested Lunar New Year traditions will continue during the pandemic, but they will take different forms and be smaller in scale. “We expect a rise in home-cooking, for example, as families avoid crowded restaurants for the reunion dinner,” she explained. “Smaller-sized social gatherings may also impact the sale of alcoholic beverages – with consumers choosing quality over quantity, thereby favoring premium brands.” 

Spending habits will differ between constrained consumers (consumers who have been financially impacted by the pandemic) and insulated consumers (those who have been shielded from financial impact), according to NielsenIQ. 

Constrained consumers will gravitate towards economic pack sizes, attractive promotions and deals, while insulated consumers may choose to indulge even more in anticipation of a more positive Year of the Buffalo, thus seeking more premium items. 

Covid-19 boosts online shopping for Tet

E-commerce floors have pre-stocked goods and integrated new technology for online shopping activities.

Covid-19 has beefed up online shopping for the Tet holiday as it is the time when Vietnamese consumers spend the most throughout year. 

Ms. Thu Hang, an accountant from Techcombank in Hanoi, is busier than usual with financial settlements at the end of the year, and online shopping on e-commerce sites is a salvage solution for her to prepare for Tet, especially in the context of the outbreak of Covid-19.  

This year, Tet items such as kitchen guard meat, dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, sausages, and clean food are more available on e-market than the previous year at the convenience of local consumers like Ms. Thu Hang. Many retailers have offered more promotions and diverse products with reasonable prices. 

In order to meet the demand of online shopping during the Lunar New Year, e-commerce floors have pre-stocked goods and integrated new technology for online shopping activities. 

Compared to the previous Tet holiday, Tiki, a Vietnamese online marketplace, increased at least its goods supply by 30%, focusing on packaged food, beverages, nutritional products, milk, spices.

“We expect sales in this year’s Lunar New Year at Tiki will grow up to 70% over the same period last year”, a representative from Tiki said. 

Shopee, owned by Singapore-based tech group Sea, has worked with its vendors, brands and shipping partners to launch a new program for Tet delivery during the Lunar New Year.  

Brick-and-mortar retailers such as Saigon Co.op, Big C and Megamarket have turned to their websites and apps to stimulate consumption . Co.opmart supermarkets saw an increase of 30-40% in online orders in recent days. Sales of Tet gift baskets through e-retailing have increased by 200% compared to the same period last year. 

Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro) in cooperation with BRG Retail has promoted online shopping channel through its BRG Shopping app and Facebook fanpage, according to Deputy General Director of Hapro Do Tue Tam. 

According to a representative of BigC/GO!, the supermarket chain also receives orders via Zalo and offer free delivery during this Tet season, in addition to receiving orders by phone and website as usual. 

“Covid-19 has created an opportunity for businesses to boost the process of digital transformation, including online sales. We believe that this year’s Lunar New Year will see a boom in online shopping,” Mr. Nguyen Anh Duc, General Director of Saigon Co.op, said.

Nearly 50% of Japanese firms gain profit in Vietnam in 2020

Almost half of Japanese firms in Vietnam said they would expand investment in the country in the next one or two years.

In a difficult year of Covid-19, 49.6% of Japanese companies operating in Vietnam remained profitable and 20.3% at the break-even point.

Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Hanoi Takeo Nakajima revealed the information at a meeting with Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong on February 4.

“Nearly half or 46.8% of Japanese firms in Vietnam said they would expand investment in the country in the next one or two years,” added Mr. Nakajima as he referred to the data from the JETRO survey on the performance of Japanese enterprises in 20 countries and territories, which was conducted from August 24 to September 25, 2020.

“The rate was lower compared to previous years, but remained fourth among countries/territories in the Asia-Pacific,” he said.

According to Mr. Nakajima, in 2020, companies in the survey expressed more concern over risks in the investment environment of the host country, including the legal framework, tax policies and administrative procedures.

“There are firms that want to utilize the local supply chains to support their operations, but Vietnam’s supporting industries have not been able to meet their demands,” said Mr. Nakajima, adding more firms are looking to partner with Vietnamese startups.

Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong expressed his impression of JETRO’s survey that has provided a comprehensive picture over Japanese business and investment activities in Vietnam.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has caused negative impacts on Japanese firms in Vietnam, the survey showed most are optimistic for 2021,” said Mr. Dong.

“This requires stronger efforts from local authorities in keeping the pandemic under control and addressing concern of the business community,” Mr. Dong added.

In 2020, Vietnam became the top choice for Japanese firms that participating in a government program to move production facilities out of China, with  37 out of the total 81 having chosen Vietnam as their destination. Thailand came in second place with 19 companies.

The majority of Japanese firms looking to move to Vietnam are in the fields of medical equipment, in addition to those producing semiconductors, phones and parts, and air conditioners, among others.

Vietnam, Japan banks provide joint financial services

The Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) has recently entered into a strategic cooperation deal with Kiraboshi Business Consulting Vietnam, the representative of Kiraboshi Bank of Japan.

Under the deal, SCB will work closely with the Japanese partner to take care of individual clients of the partner living, working and traveling in Vietnam. The two sides will provide financial solutions for corporate Japanese businesses operating in Vietnam, the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported.

According to the two banks, such comprehensive cooperation will enable the two banks to develop into a major financial cooperation alliance in the future that is to support businesses and investors of the two countries.

They will also expand cooperation to serve clients of other countries alongside Vietnamese and Japanese ones.

SCB Acting General Director Jeremy Chen explained said that more and more Japanese organisations and businesses are interested in investing in the Vietnamese market, and this is why SCB has teamed up with the Japanese partner to provide financial support and advice for clients./.

Hai Phong grants investment approval to LG Display’s project

Chairman of the People’s Committee of northern Hai Phong city Nguyen Van Tung on February 7 granted a certificate to LG Display Vietnam Hai Phong’s project adding 750 million USD in investments.

The additional amount brought the investment capital of the entire project to 3.25 billion USD in total, making it the foreign-invested project with the highest value in the port city.

It is set to begin in next month and become operational two months later, creating an additional 5,000 jobs and contributing about 5 million USD annually to the State budget.

LG Display Vietnam Hai Phong’s project was first approved in April 2016 with an investment of 2.5 billion USD, specialising in the production of LG Corporation’s OLED and LCD screens, among others.

In 2020, it posted 5.98 billion USD in sales revenues, a year-on-year surge of 624 percent.

As of early February, Hai Phong had attracted 823 million USD in foreign investment, rising six-fold against the amount recorded in the first two months last year. The figure is projected to hit 910 million USD by the end of this month./.

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

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The poor, as well as businesses, fall into ‘black credit’ trap

September 2, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

The poor, who lack financial information and knowledge, are often hurt by black credit. But many businesspeople have also become victims.

A businesswoman in the field of aesthetics said she borrowed VND25 billion in total from a group of lenders, including a loan with an interest rate of 1.5 percent per day.

She later paid VND17.7 billion via bank account and paid other amounts in cash. But as the business faced problems, the lenders came to her house and forced her to write a debit note saying that she owed VND33 billion to them.

They took her household registration book and identity card, while threatening that if she could not pay, her family ‘won’t live in peace’. They also filmed and took pictures of the meetings between them, tarnishing her reputation.

Usurers vow to collect debts at any cost and are ready to use any cruel method.

The noteworthy aspect is that the victim not only borrowed money from this group, but also from other groups at interest rates that were even higher, 1.75-2.5 percent per day.

The businesswoman is not alone. A number of businessmen in Ba Ria – Vung Tau have been victims of Thien Soi, an usurer. One of them borrowed VND32.5 billion from him at the interest rate of VND3,500 on every VND1 million per day.

The borrower had paid VND28 billion in cash by June 2020 and four land plots valued at VND160 billion. However, he was still told to pay VND18 billion more.

Another person borrowed VND10 billion and paid VND11 billion, but still owed VND10 billion.

Analysts believe that there are many other victims, but they have not reported their cases to the police.

In 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, as businesses met difficulties, many had to seek capital from black credit.

Nguyen Manh Hung, president of Nafoods Group, said at a conference in early 2020 that because of the lack of capital, many businesspeople, who were his friends, had to seek payday loans, because they could not access bank loans.

The poor, who lack financial information and knowledge, are often hurt by black credit. But many businesspeople have also become victims.

The businesspeople had to pay a lot for the loans, VND3,000-5,000 per day for every VND1 million.

The last resort

Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc said businessmen have to seek black credit as the last resort. Since they cannot get loans from banks with interest rates of 9-13 percent per annum, they have to seek payday loans at exorbitant interest rates.

As for black credit, if noting that borrowers have to pay VND3,500 a day for every VND1 million they borrow, the interest rate would be 10.5 percent a month and 126 percent per annum.

This means that if borrowers borrow VND1 billion, they would have to pay VND1.26 billion in interest a year.

If the interest rate is 1.5-2.5 percent per day, it would be 45-75 percent a month and 540-900 percent per annum.

The problem is that borrowers have to pay debts once every 7-10 days. If not, they will have to bear compound interest and the amount of money they have to pay will increase rapidly.

A businessman told VietNamNet that he is well aware of the ‘black credit trap’, but in many cases, businessmen have no other choice than to borrow money from usurers.

He said it is not easy to access bank loans. In order to get the loans, one needs to have collateral and show feasible business plans. As businesses have to follow complicated procedures to get loans, they tend to seek black credit to enjoy simple procedures and get disbursement immediately.

A market survey by InsightAsia Research Group in late 2019 showed that 62 percent of SMEs said the biggest problem is financial capability. This explains why black credit can develop strongly.

To help make loans more accessible to businesses, experts believe that it is necessary to simplify procedures for lending, step up the development of digital banking, and allow fintechs to provide the services.

Pham Nam Kim, a respected economist, said MYbank, belonging to Alibaba Group, and established in 2015, can approve loans within three minutes thanks to a customer data analysis system and digital technology. And the default rate on loans is very small, just 1 percent. He believes that MYbank should be referred to by Vietnamese agencies. 

Tran Thuy

P2P lending needs better management to avoid black credit

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has warned about the increasing use of foreign peer-to-peer (P2P) lending in Vietnam with potential risks of black credit.

2020: black credit pushes people to the wall

Black credit grew strongly in 2020 when many people lost jobs because of Covid-19 and faced financial problems.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Black credit, P2P, Covid-19, vietnam economy, Vietnam business news, business news, vietnamnet bridge, english news, Vietnam news, vietnamnet news, Vietnam latest news, Vietnam breaking news, Vietnamese newspaper, Vietnamese newspaper articles, news vietn, credit loans for poor credit, business loans bad credit, black credit cards, new business loans bad credit, business charges for credit card transactions, business energy tax credit, how do businesses report to credit bureaus, unsecured business line of credit, unsecured business loans bad credit, unsecured startup business loans bad credit, unsecured start up business line of credit

VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS FEBRUARY 10

October 2, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

HCM City targets domestic market for tourism recovery

The Ho Chi Minh City tourism sector this year plans to focus on digitalisation of the industry and promotion of domestic tourism amid a downturn in tourism because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sector will continue its efforts to boost domestic tourism as the main factor driving the recovery of the tourism industry.

The tourism communication and stimulus campaign, ‘Hello Ho Chi Minh City,’ has been implemented to promote the city as a safe, vibrant and friendly destination.

Tourism cooperation and linkages between HCM City and the Northeast, Northwest and the Central regions will also serve to boost domestic travel.

The city aims to receive 33.5 million domestic visitors this year if COVID-19 remains under control in the country./.

Tet sales increase sharply on low prices

With a week to go for Tet (the Lunar New Year) sales of goods bought to celebrate the Lunar New Year have increased by 30-40 percent from normal times, according to market observers.

They attribute it to prices remaining steady and people’s increasing income at the end of the year.

Saigon Co.op’s supermarket chains have managed to meet market demand thanks to early preparation of goods, accurate forecast of demand and discounts, Nguyen Anh Duc, its permanent deputy general director, said.

In January sales increased by 37 percent compared to the same period in the previous month, with growth of fresh and processed foods, cosmetics, kitchen appliances, and garments being high, he said.

There have been no shortages of goods, especially pork, and no price hikes, he said.

Dinh Quang Khoi, head of marketing and customer care at MM Mega Market Vietnam, said customers have bought Tet goods earlier than usual, and retail sales increased by more than 10 percent compare with same periods of last year, while the increase is 5 -6 percent if the wholesale segment is included.

Shopping malls in Ho Chi Minh City like Vincom Central Dong Khoi, Takashimaya and Aeon Celadon Tan Phu are crowded, especially at weekends.

Sales of processed foods are expected to go up by more than 20 percent.

People are switching more and more to poultry meat and eggs instead of pork because the pork price is rising to the delight of companies like San Ha, Ba Huan and Vinh Thanh Dat.

According to experts, the prices of many items have never been so stable as this year as the Covid-19 pandemic caused global demand to shrink.

Many products could not be exported, and so producers and distributors switched their focus to the domestic market, increasing supply.

To sustain demand in this scenario enterprises have had to improve quality and keep prices competitive./.

HCM City in top six most preferred markets for investment: CBRE

There was an increase in interest in Ho Chi Minh City which ranked sixth among Asia Pacific investors’ most preferred property markets for investors, according to a survey by market research firm CBRE polling more than 490 Asia Pacific-based investors in November and December 2020.

With the diversification of supply chains encouraging more manufacturing investment in the city, industrial and logistics assets are keenly sought after, said the CBRE’s 2021 Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey.

“HCM City has already been on the radar of investors in recent years, especially those who are looking to invest in Southeast Asia, as the city is viewed as having the potential for greater appreciation in property values and higher yields,” said Dang Phuong Hang, CBRE Vietnam Managing Director.

The survey outlines top 10 Preferred cities for cross-border investment, with Tokyo (Japan) in the first place, followed by Singapore, Seoul (the Republic of Korea), Shanghai and Beijing (China), HCM City, Shenzhen (China), Sydney (Australia), Osaka (Japan) and Melbourne (Australia).

Investors who expressed interest in investing in Southeast Asia indicated that they are willing to pay more for real estate purchase. 39.4 percent of these investors are comfortable to pay more than 10 percent higher this year than what they are willing to pay in 2020, while 19.7 percent are willing to paying up to 10 percent higher.

In the search for returns, investors looking at Southeast Asia are turning to value-added and core assets, even though there are some who are starting to look at distressed assets. Industrial/logistics and office remain their preferred sectors, while the hospitality sector is gaining favour.

Henry Chin, CBRE’s Global Head of Investor Thought Leadership and Head of Research, Asia Pacific, said: “stronger interest in core investment reflects investors’ greater emphasis on tenant credit and stable cash flows.”

“Assets with a solid rent roll of three years or longer typically attract far more bidders than those lacking this type of security,” he added.

Logistics was the most popular sector for investment as the pandemic-driven acceleration of e-commerce consumption boosted demand for this asset class. While interest in the office sector weakened, investors retain an optimistic view towards this sector, expecting a contraction in office purchasing activity of no more than 10 percent over the next three years./.

January sees largest capital injection into stock market since early 2020: SSI

January saw the largest amount of investment capital poured into Vietnam’s stock market since the beginning of 2020 on the back of strong exchange traded fund (ETF) inflows, according to a report by SSI Securities Corporation.

Vietnam is Asia’s only stock market with non-stop capital injection over the last four week as it attracted more than 100 million USD last month thanks to massive ETF inflows, outweighing the net capital withdrawal of around 23.5 million USD, said SSI’s February strategic stock market report entitled “Co hoi trong bien dong” (Opportunity in volatility).

ETFs have also raked in about 129 million USD, or two third of the total inflows in 2020, mostly into VFM Diamond ETF (1.31 trillion VND or 57.15 million USD) and VFM VN30 ETF (860 billion VND).

The market also experienced strong foreign buying in the last three days of the month, raising foreign players’ net purchases of shares in January to about 127 billion VND.

SSI stated that Vietnam has become a quite attractive market largely owing to the country’s successful containment of COVID-19, positive economic growth and the fact that it remains a destination of the ongoing global production shift.

Though the pandemic has been a key contributor to the market volatility during this period of time, capital injection from ETFs into Vietnam remains a positive driver of the stock market, SSI said, adding that this also means increasing level of volatility.

According to the report, more than 81 billion USD was poured into stocks in both developed and emerging markets across the worrld last month, also with the domination of the ETFs./.

Vietnam increases pork imports to cool off rising domestic prices

Vietnam imported more than 141,000 tonnes of pork worth 334.4 million USD in 2020, representing a rise of 382 percent and 500 percent over the previous year, respectively, customs statistics showed.

The increase in imports was to make up for the shortage in pork supply caused by African swine fever which pushed up domestic prices in the first months of 2020.

The pork was mainly imported from Brazil, Russia, Poland, the US and Canada. Brazil was the largest exporter of pork to Vietnam last year, accounting for 24.5 percent of the import volume.

The average pork import price was 2.2 USD per kilo.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam approved 25 countries to export livestock and poultry meat to Vietnam, including more than 800 enterprises from 19 countries allowed to export pork to Vietnam.

Vietnam imported more than 43,300 pigs for breeding, mainly from Thailand, Canada, the US, Denmark and Taiwan (China).

Live hog prices tended to increase in many provinces across the country from early January due to increases in consumption demand ahead of Tet (Lunar New Year) to around 80,000 – 84,000 VND (4 USD) per kilo, around 5,000 VND higher than the end of December.

However, in recent days, pork prices decreased by around 1,000-5,000 VND per kilo.

Nguyen Van Trong, Deputy Director of the ministry’s Department of Livestock Production, said pork prices dropped in recent days because processing companies reduced their purchases as they had enough goods for consumption during Tet.

The enhanced prevention against smuggling of pork to China together with the increase in supply also helped lower pork prices.

Now Vietnam had 27.3 million pigs, an increase of 21 percent over a year ago and equivalent to 88.7 percent of the time before the disease occurred.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that early preparations were made to ensure enough supply of pork for Tet with many enterprises launching price stabilisation programmes./.

Australian expert highlights Southeast Asia’s trade prospects

Richard Maude, Senior Fellow at Australia’s Asia Society Policy Institute, has spoken highly of trade prospects of Southeast Asian nations against the backdrop of COVID-19.

In an article, he said that global trends in trade, foreign investment and production offer a mix of peril and opportunity for the Southeast Asian governments as they try to steer their damaged economies towards recovery.

“Beset by lockdowns, disrupted supply chains and travel restrictions, world trade volumes fell by historically steep levels in the first half of 2020. Southeast Asia was no exception – the region’s economies rely heavily on external demand and many play increasingly significant roles in East Asian supply chains,” he continued.

In the second quarter of 2020, for example, the value of goods exported from the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fell by 15 percent on a year-on-year basis and imports fell by 27 percent.

Foreign direct investment flows to Southeast Asia also declined sharply early in 2020.

The vertiginous plunge in world goods trade, at least, may now be bottoming out, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains decidedly gloomy about prospects for a trade-led recovery in Asia.

Even so, amid all the uncertainty and downside risk, Southeast Asia may yet find itself better placed than other regions to trade itself out of trouble, the expert said, citing that East Asian economic regionalism will strengthen as one of the reasons.

Most major East Asian economies – China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan – have managed to re-open their economies. China’s giant economy in particular is once again growing and helping keep Southeast Asian trade afloat.

Domestic consumption in Southeast Asia could double to 4 trillion USD over the next ten years.

Within the region, there are also signs the deep economic slump of the first half of 2020 is easing, at least in those parts of the region where the pandemic has been tamed. The decline in ASEAN global goods exports and imports, for example, slowed in the third quarter of 2020 on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

Vietnam, one of the best performing ASEAN economies, managed to eke out a small increase in economic growth in 2020, he cited.

Once it enters into force, the newly signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal will give intra-Asian trading another boost. It is an incentive for large corporations to locate as much of their supply chains as possible within the bloc.

“ASEAN is also well placed to benefit from supply chain diversification within East Asia. Some manufacturing was already shifting to Southeast Asia before the pandemic.”

The pandemic has now reinforced interest from companies from around the world in regionalisation and supply chain diversification. Some governments, Japan, for example, is offering financial incentives to some of its companies to build production sites in Southeast Asia.

Like the rest of the world, the region faces headwinds and uncertainties, Maude noted, putting forth some suggestions for regional countries to use trade to help drive economic recovery./.

Tet sales increase sharply on low prices

With a week to go for Tet (the Lunar New Year) sales of goods bought to celebrate the Lunar New Year have increased by 30-40 per from normal times, according to market observers.

They attribute it to prices remaining steady and people’s increasing income at the end of the year.

Saigon Co.op’s supermarket chains have managed to meet market demand thanks to early preparation of goods, accurate forecast of demand and discounts, Nguyen Anh Duc, its permanent deputy general director, said.

In January sales increased by 37 per cent compared to the same period in the previous month, with growth of fresh and processed foods, cosmetics, kitchen appliances, and garments being high, he said.

There has been no shortages of goods, especially pork, and no price hikes, he said.

Dinh Quang Khoi, head of marketing and customer care at MM Mega Market Viet Nam, said customers have bought Tet goods earlier than usual, and retail sales increased by more than 10 per cent compare with same periods of last year, while the increase is 5 -6 per cent if the wholesale segment is included.

Shopping malls in HCM City like Vincom Central Dong Khoi, Takashimaya and Aeon Celadon Tan Phu are crowded, especially at weekends.

Sales of processed foods are expected to go up by more than 20 per cent.

People are switching more and more to poultry meat and eggs instead of pork because the pork price is rising to the delight of companies like San Ha, Ba Huan and Vinh Thanh Dat.

According to experts, the prices of many items have never been so stable as this year as the Covid-19 pandemic caused global demand to shrink.

Many products could not be exported, and so producers and distributors switched their focus to the domestic market, increasing supply.

To sustain demand in this scenario enterprises have had to improve quality and keep prices competitive.

One Commune One Product attracts Tet shoppers

Many products made under a programme called ‘One Commune One Product’ have become a big hit with consumers seeking to buy gift hampers for Tet (Lunar New Year).

Sticky rice grown by the Khau Nua Lech Thuong Quan Rice Cooperative in Bac Kan Province’s Ngan Son District is one such.

The co-operative has had to mobilise a lot of manpower to fulfil the mountain of orders it got.

Its rice is renowned for its plasticity and aroma, and is well known to consumers across the country.

According to a co-operative spokesperson, 100 additional workers were hired for packaging and delivery but demand still not be met.

In the last month or so it supplied more than 10 tonnes of rice to markets such as HCM City and Ha Noi.

Phan Thanh Hieu, director of the Phuong Nam Food Joint Stock Company, said this year, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, businesses had prepared for low demand, but two high-end products, organic ST 25 and ST 25 rice varieties, grown together with shrimp in Soc Trang Province, are out of stock.

“We have had to turn down many orders or deliver less than the ordered quantity though the rice prices are four to five times higher than that of other rice. ST 25 grown together with shrimp has a price of VND285,000(US$12.4) for 5kg, VND15,000 higher than ST 25.”

Le Kieu Phuong, director of Phuc Thinh Production and Commerce Co. Ltd, said her company recently got a One Commune One Product (OCOP) certificate for its three prawn cracker production lines in Ca Mau Province.

It is now working on selling the products to major supermarket chains before Lunar New Year with the aid of the certificate, she said.

In Dong Nai Province, where more and more people are becoming interested in regional specialties, seven OCOP producers have signed contracts with Central Retail Viet Nam to sell 21 items.

Nguyen Thi Bich Van, media director of Central, said the two supermarkets would design their display shelves to ensure OCOP products easily catch the eye of shoppers as part of a commitment to support them.

MM Mega Market is also selling 56 OCOP confectionery and jam products for Tet at discounts of up to 50 per cent to introduce them to customers.

Do Quoc Huy, marketing director of Saigon Co.op, said the company is helping develop OCOP goods, but their limited production means they could only be sold locally and not across its retail chains.

The two-year-old OCOP programme has helped a number of localities develop a wide variety of agricultural and non-agricultural products, providing steady incomes to many locals.

COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage travel industry

A resurgence of Covid-19 just before the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday has hugely impacted travelling, again demonstrating its impact on the tourism industry.

“There has been an immediate impact on the hospitality business with several cancellations across the country, not only in the affected destinations but anywhere with access via an airport,” Mauro Gasparotti, director of Savills Hotels Asia Pacific, said.

“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,” Gasparotti said.

Travel interest is diminishing amid a mist of uncertainty with air travel demand dropping 15 per cent immediately after the news release.

Online flight search demand to Da Nang and HCM City during this peak period of the year dropped 35 per cent and 34 per cent week-on-week respectively, according to OTA Insight.

Some companies immediately enforced travel restrictions, with requests to limit attending events and large gatherings.

This has directly affected MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) business in city hotels, where several conferences have been put on hold or delayed.

Drive-to destinations have also been affected by weekend cancellations.

Last year international arrivals to the country numbered just 3.8 million, a 78 per cent decline from 2019.

Domestic traveller numbers fell 34 per cent to 56 million.

Hotels and resorts suffered badly, with many being forced into temporary closure.

Last year occupancy and average daily rates (ADR) both dropped, while revenues fell 70 per cent.

In Ha Noi, the average occupancy was 32 per cent compared to 80 per cent in 2019 while it dropped to 23 percent in HCM City from 72 per cent.

The national average of 62 per cent in 2019 plummeted to just 24 per cent last year.

January started on a positive note, with hotels in key destinations seeing increased MICE and event bookings while at some resorts corporate bookings started to return, Gasparotti said.

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

“The good news is that several destinations are still performing at acceptable levels.”

The performance in December and January was positive for destinations like Phu Quoc and Vung Tau, which appeal to both local leisure travellers and year-end company trips.

Some hotels have used promotions, such as ‘staycation’ packages and F&B deals to nurture local demand, which have propped up their numbers.

Fruit and vegetable exports decline by 7.6% in January

Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports in January endured a drop of 7.6% to US$260 million compared to the same period from last year, largely due to unpredictable developments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The MARD’s Agro-Processing and Market Development Authority stated that China was the leading importer of local fruit and vegetables last year, making up 56.3% of the total market share, although fruit and vegetable exports to this market fell by 25.7% to US$1.84 billion compared to 2019.

Elsewhere, the United States market ranked second with US$168.8 million, followed by Thailand with US$157.2 million, the Republic of Korea with US$143 million, and Japan with US$127.7 million.

Furthermore, January saw the country’s import value of fruit and vegetables enjoy an annual increase of 22.3% to US$140 million, with China, the US, and Australia representing the three largest suppliers to the Vietnamese market.

Moreover, the import value of fruit and vegetables from China in 2020 decreased by 21% compared to 2019’s figures, while imports from the US and Australia witnessed respective increases of 2.3% and 1%.

Due to complicated developments relating to COVID-19, the nation’s fruit and vegetable export activities have been significantly impacted as consumers have changed their shopping habits with several countries also moving to tighten import procedures as a way of securing their borders.

Experts have therefore advised local firms to strive to strengthen their supervision over product quality to avoid violating quarantine regulations, and ensure that food and safety rules are followed as a means of facilitating relevant customs clearance processes.

Acceleration opportunity for Vietnamese AI startups

The AI Accelerator Challenge 2021, organised by VSV Foundation under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology and funded by the Australian Embassy, is officially open for registration.

The AI Accelerator Challenge 2021(AAC 2021) is an acceleration programme specifically designed for Vietnamese AI startups with innovative ideas and products that address the practical needs of the market.

AAC 2021, themed “AI in pandemic – Adapting to the new normal”, has been organised with the goal of identifying, incubating, promoting, and developing potential AI-powered applications in numerous fields such as finance, commerce, electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, education, transportation, and smart city development. Participants will have the opportunity to undertake a 4-week online training course, after which the top five teams will be awarded prizes including a service support package worth VND500 million($21,740), a business promotion and mentoring course worth VND200 million ($8,700) and up to VND200 million in seed investment with no equity required.

The programme will assist Vietnam’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as help to foster the development of a vibrant AI startup environment. “Vietnam should be very proud of its successes in tackling COVID-19,” said Andrew Barnes, Australian Chargé d’Affaires to Vietnam. “Through sponsoring programmes to promote innovative applications using AI, Australia is demonstrating its strong commitment to assisting Vietnam in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting economic recovery, and strengthening its innovation system.”

“The government is trying to implement many activities to cope with disruptions caused by COVID-19, in which innovation and the application of advanced science and technology have been defined as the key to increase the resilience of businesses and the recovery of the economy. AI is one of the core technologies that promise to revolutionise many of Vietnam’s key socioeconomic sectors such as health, education, business, commerce, finance, and agriculture,” Deputy Minister Bui The Duy from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) added.

“We are proud to be a part of this programme,” said Thach Le Anh, founder of VSV Foundation. “AAC 2021 will not only allow Vietnamese AI startups to receive mentoring from top AI technology experts but also support them with business development and fund-raising, including by raising capital from angel investors and leading domestic and foreign venture capital funds. The startups will be able to raise up to VND2 billion ($86,960) after the programme ends.”

This programme is funded by Australia’s flagship Aus4Innovation programme which will disburse AUD11 million ($8.44 million) over four years (2018-2022) to strengthen the Vietnamese innovation system and prepare for Vietnam’s economic and digital future. It is funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and managed by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in strategic collaboration with the MoST.

Investors give EVN Genco 2 cold shoulder at IPO

Despite Power Generation Corporation 2 (EVN Genco 2) owning substantial interests in several thermal and hydropower plants, 99.97 per cent of the stake it offered at its initial public offering (IPO) was unmarketable.

The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HSX) has published the results of the auction registration for the stake of EVN Genco 2.

The company offered 580 million shares or 48.9 per cent of its charter capital to investors with the initial price of VND24,520 ($1.06) per share and expected to acquire VND14.225 trillion ($618.5 million) from the sale.

However, only 14 investors registered to join the auction, registering 262,500 shares, including 200,000 shares from a single foreign investor, 10,500 shares by five Vietnamese people, and 52,000 shares by eight domestic investors.

At present, EVN Genco 2 owns a 100 per cent stake in Trung Son Hydropower One Member LLC, which operates Trung Son hydropower plant with the designed capacity of 1 billion kWh per year.

It also owns a series of thermal power companies including Pha Lai, Haiphong, and Thac Mo, among others.

According to its financial statement, the company generated 17.8 million kWh, equaling 97 per cent of its plan for the whole year and 7 per cent of the power coursing through the whole national power grid.

The unmarketable IPOs of EVN Genco had precedent because they own too many member companies and subsidiaries. Buying stakes in the plants one by one will help investors limit risks.

Previously, EVN Genco 3 failed in its IPO in February 2018 when only 2.8 per cent of the offered shares was sold.

Vietnam targets 60 – 62 bln USD from agro-forestry-fisheries export by 2030

Vietnam has set a goal of earning around 60-62 billion USD from agro-forestry-fisheries export by 2030 under a project recently approved by the Prime Minister.

The project looks to fully and sustainably join the global supply chain of agro-forestry-fisheries, improve the quality and value of their export to meet regulations of importers, and develop their trademarks in international markets.

Of the figure, 25 billion USD will be from major farm produce, 16-17 billion USD from forestry products, 15 billion USD from aquatic products, 3-4 billion USD from animal husbandry products, and nearly 2 billion USD from others.

Agro-forestry-fisheries export is expected to grow by some 6-8 percent annually. About 40 percent of export will be national brands, 70 percent have their origins traced, and around 60 percent of exports are processed and deeply processed ones.

To such end, the project targets fine-tuning mechanisms and policies to ensure food safety and develop support industry, assisting firms in protecting intellectual property right in export markets, popularising trademarks on domestic and foreign media./.

Central localities seek new development routes amid COVID-19

Central provinces must adjust their socio-economic development goals and strategies to minimise the adverse effects brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters in 2020, officials have said.

Nguyen Tan Tuan, Chairman of the People Committee of Khanh Hoa province, said while the province’s tourism industry was hit especially hard, growth in the industrial sector managed to stay positive.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have made it our highest priority to keep the virus in check. Our effort has allowed us to attract a number of foreign investors as they moved from regions hard-hit by COVID-19,” Tuan said.

He said the province has been making use of the downtime to upgrade and invest in its tourism infrastructure, waiting for international tourists to return. In the meantime, Khanh Hoa has started several promotion campaigns to attract domestic travellers.

Meanwhile, Quang Nam made significant gains in developing modern agriculture in 2020 despite being one of the central provinces severely hit by natural disasters last year.

“Agriculture has always been a key priority in our province’s development scheme. During the pandemic, it has become Quang Nam’s economic driver,” said Le Van Dung, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee.

Dung said with tourism and commerce disrupted because of the pandemic and natural disasters Quang Nam chose to make large investments in industrial projects to mitigate the economic damage to the province in the long run.

Quang Ngai, a traditionally strong economic performer in the region thanks to being home to the country’s largest oil complex the Dung Quat Refinery, has been looking for ways to become less reliant on the oil industry.

Dang Van Minh, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the province has been working with its partners to set up numerous large-scale industrial parks.

“We want to become one of the country’s best destinations for investments and industrial development. The province aims to build a transparent and healthy business environment to win over potential investors,” said Minh.

Meanwhile, Da Nang, the central region’s main economic hub and the city most affected by the pandemic with nearly 200,000 jobs lost during 2020, said it has set a new course to push for greater digitalisation of commerce, smart city technologies and star ups culture.

“The city aims to diversify its economy. While we still identify tourism and services as major industries we want to see strong development on the fronts of information technology and digitalisation in the near future,” said Nguyen Dinh Vinh, head of the municiapal Party Committee’s Board for Information and Education./.

Cambodia to resume farmed fish import from Vietnam

The Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on February 8 issued a press release on the resumption of the import of aquatic products, including farmed fish, from neighbouring countries, including Vietnam.

The import suspension was announced by the Cambodian side one month ago.

On January 19, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh sent a letter to Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak, saying Vietnam’s shipments of farmed fish failed to pass through customs and were returned.

The import ban showed signs of running counter to the trade liberalisation spirit of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the ASEAN Economic Community, of which both countries are members, he said.

In the press release, the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it will continue to collect feedback from the Cambodian Aquaculture Association, importers and exporters, and concerned agencies that are Cambodia’s trade partners to build and recognise technical standards.

Le Bien Cuong, head of the Vietnamese trade affairs office in Cambodia, told the Vietnam News Agency on February 8 that the Cambodian side has shown its goodwill and active response.

Cambodia would consider imposing additional non-tariff technical measures in farmed fish import, including certificates of product origin and quality, he said.

According to the Vietnamese ministry, in recent years, Vietnam has exported about 60 million USD worth of aquatic products to Cambodia annually. Although Cambodia is not a major market of Vietnamese aquatic products, its stable import demand has contributed significantly to cross-border trade development, as well as job creation and income generation for local residents./.

VinFast acquires licence to test self-driving electric vehicles in California

VinFast has just become the 57th automaker to receive a licence to test self-driving electric vehicles in California, the US.

The company said its three SUV models VF31, VF32 and VF33 met the highest global safety standards including five-star ratings from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the European New Car Assessment Programme.

VinFast has just become the 57th automaker to receive a licence to test self-driving electric vehicles in California, the US.

Automakers, including big names such as Apple, Tesla, BMW, and Volkswagen according to California’s Department of Motor Vehicles website, have also secured their licences to test run their vehicles in the Golden State, the world’s largest technology and innovation hub.

All three of the company’s models are to be equipped with level 2-3 autonomous features, which include 30 smart features divided into seven groups: intelligent steering assist system, lane control system, active journey control system, multi-point collision warning system, comprehensive collision mitigation system, intelligent automated parking system and driver monitoring system.

Models VF32 and VF33 will be sold in the US, Canada and Europe markets from 2022. The launch of high-tech electric vehicles, including electric scooters, electric buses and personal electric cars, is part of VinFast’s pre-defined roadmap since entering the automotive market three years ago.

Customers can start ordering the cars in May this year in Vietnam and in November in the US, Canada and the EU.

In Vietnam, Vietnamese automakers also started to install electric vehicle charging stations at commercial centres at Vinhomes Ocean Park, Vincom Long Bien in Hanoi to serve the first electric cars produced, expected to be available this year.

VinFast sold 31,500 cars in Vietnam last year, with its VinFast sedan and SUV models among the bestsellers in their respective segments./.

Agricultural, forestry, fisheries exports up sharply in January

Vietnam’s exports of agricultural, forestry, and fisheries products grew 27.1 percent year-on-year to 3.49 billion USD in January.

Rubber was the best performer in the opening month of the year, following on from its uptrend last year and totalling 200,000 tonnes worth 321 million USD, increases of 2.2-fold and 2.4-fold, respectively, year-on-year.

Shipments of key forestry products totalled 1.33 billion USD, up 47.8 percent year-on-year. Exports of wood and timber products alone reached 1.25 billion USD, up 48.4 percent.

Fisheries exports rose 19.6 percent to about 600 million USD, following repeated declines last year, especially after the outset of COVID-19.

Prawn exports experienced the highest growth last year among all fisheries items, up 11 percent to 3.7 billion USD.

Several major export earners, meanwhile, declined in January, including rice, fruit and vegetables, coffee, and pepper.

The country exported around 280,000 tonnes of rice for 154 million USD in the month, down 29.5 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

A similar trend was seen in fruit and vegetables, with shipments reaching just 260 million USD, a year-on-year decline of 7.6 percent./.

Da Nang developing supporting industries

The central city of Da Nang has set a goal of developing supporting industries in tandem with high-tech industry to create products with high added value for export.

Under action programme No 01-Ctr/TU issued by the municipal Party Committee on December 10, 2020, the industry-construction sector is to grow by 11-11.5 percent annually between 2020 and 2025.

The municipal Department of Industry and Trade has reported that several large-scale projects in supporting industries have gradually joined the global supply chain.

Since 2016, Da Nang has attracted 24 new supporting industry projects worth over 9 trillion VND, two of which are foreign-invested, with 240 million USD, specialising in manufacturing aviation and automobile spare parts.

Da Nang is now home to around 110 supporting industry firms, accounting for 6.3 percent of all industrial enterprises in the city.

However, the number of domestic companies in the field remains limited, and most are of small scale with average technological capabilities. Meanwhile, foreign firms mostly process and assemble imported materials because the rate of domestically-made items remains low. Links between foreign and domestic businesses, meanwhile, are still less than needed.

General Director of the Long Hau Company, Tran Hong Son, said a number of local companies have yet to meet requirements for being recognised as supporting industry enterprises or manufacturers under Vietnam’s regulations.

He suggested quickly completing planning for an area devoted to supporting industry enterprises inside the Da Nang Hi-tech Park (DHTP) and putting it into operation to attract capable investors.

Head of the management board of the DHTP and industrial parks in Da Nang, Pham Truong Son, said the municipal People’s Committee has completed the planning for a supporting industrial park in the DHTP, which has been submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

Once approved, Da Nang will outline a list of sectors in need of investment and then set up the park, the first of its kind in supporting industries in the city. Investors in the park would work with those at DHTP to create an industrial ecosystem.

If Da Nang develops supporting industries, investment will also pour into nearby localities, he said.

Under Politburo Resolution No 43/NQ-TW, Da Nang is to be a nucleus of the central key economic region and will develop hi-tech industries and information technology. To this end, Son suggested making the best use of its geographical location, infrastructure, human resources, and supporting industry.

Under the pending plan, the supporting industrial park is to cover an area of over 102 ha in Hoa Vang district, adjacent to the DHTP and the city’s information technology park.

In line with Resolution No 01-NQ/TU from the standing board of the municipal Party Committee, supporting industry enterprises will increase in number by 2030 and be capable of producing highly-competitive products, focusing on spare parts, software, and key services in support of priority industries. The city will also attract multi-national groups to guide and facilitate technology transfer.

By 2025, the city expects to have over 150 supporting enterprises, with at least 10 percent of domestic supporting enterprises being able to supply products to manufacturers. The value of the supporting industry will make up around 30 percent of added valued in the manufacturing and processing sector. At least one multi-national group or company is to invest in manufacturing end products.

Of the more than 300 supporting enterprises to be in business by 2030, at least 15 percent are to be able to directly supply products to manufacturers and assemblers. The value of the supporting industry will account for nearly 40 percent of added value in the manufacturing and processing sector and at least one multi-national group or company will invest in manufacturing end products./.

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

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Vietnamese Tet in Germany

February 12, 2021 by en.qdnd.vn

Only a few Vietnamese people can be spotted at international airports in the country. Meanwhile, in previous years, as Tet was coming near, Vietnamese people lined up at airports, waiting three to four hours for flights.

In an article sent to the People’s Army Newspaper, PhD Nguyen Canh Nhu wrote about what Vietnamese expatriates in Germany were doing to celebrate Tet as they cannot fly home to enjoy a happy Tet in their motherland this year.

left center right del
At a program to welcome the lunar New Year 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Photo: Nguyen Canh

According to the Vietnamese intellectual, in the weeks leading up to Tet, Vietnamese trade centers in such big German cities as Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, and Hamburg were crowded and people could feel the Tet spirit. Vietnamese locals were buying Vietnamese jams, candies, and ingredients for Chung cake. People could also buy already-boiled Chung and tet (cylindric glutinous rice cakes) cakes at Asian people-run shops. Roosters, branches of peach and kumquat, and pickled onion were also available in pavilions.

“During Vietnamese Tet, Vietnamese people still have to go to work. Therefore, after work, they spend time wrapping chung cakes, cleaning up, and decorating their ancestors-worship altars to welcome the lunar New Year holiday,” Nhu wrote.

He added that in the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, Vietnamese families rushed to a restaurant in the Dong Xuan trade center in Berlin, where the Vietnamese embassy in Germany hosted a Tet program. During this program, the participants tasted traditional Vietnamese dishes and enjoyed artistic programs in which sometimes domestic artists performed.

PhD Nhu shared that where his family lives there are 14 other Vietnamese families. They often gather on weekends or on festive days. Apart from some returning home for Tet holidays, the remaining families enjoy Tet together.

He recalled that seven to eight years ago, the Lunar New Year fell on the weekend, therefore, families sat together late at night, chatting and recalling their unforgettable memories of Tet in their motherland.

In the article, Nhu also wrote that before Tet, Vietnamese families in Germany maintained the tradition of worshipping the “Ong Cong – Ong Tao” (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) on the 22nd or 23rd day of the last lunar month of the year. When watching clips of Vietnamese people releasing carps into lakes and rivers, German people hailed the Vietnamese noble tradition.

According to Nhu, on the first day or the fifteenth day of the lunar New Year, Vietnamese people often visit pagodas which are built under the auspices of Vietnamese people.

“Vietnamese people have lived in Germany for dozens of years now. Germans consider them foreigners who have integrated into Germany well thanks to their industriousness and Vietnamese students’ thirst for knowledge,” Nhu wrote. He added that Vietnamese children, regardless of their birthplaces, are fluent in Vietnamese and blend well into Vietnamese and German cultures.

“There are about 170,000 Vietnamese in Germany. They are always turning their hearts to their roots. That is vividly demonstrated via their Tet-welcoming program,” Nhu concluded his article.

Translated by Mai Huong

Filed Under: Uncategorized vietnamese embassy germany, vietnamese tet 2017, Tet Vietnamese

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