Wreck n roll auto body

LOS ANGELES — Golfing champion Tiger Woods was hospitalized in Los Angeles on Tuesday with severe leg injuries suffered when his car swerved off a road and rolled down a steep hillside, requiring rescue crews to pry him from the wreckage, authorities said.

The injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told a news conference hours later, adding that Woods was conscious and “able to communicate” when rescue personnel arrived.

The sheriff said there was no evidence of impairment when Woods was assessed by emergency workers at the scene, and that no blood samples were drawn by investigators after he was rushed by ambulance to the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Sheriff’s deputy Carlos Gonzales, who was the first to reach the wreck, described Woods, who was wearing his seatbelt, as “calm and lucid,” and said he recognized the golfing great after Woods told the officer his name was “Tiger.”

The full nature and extent of Woods’ injuries remained unknown, and it was not immediately clear what effect the accident might have on the future of his career.

Woods, 45, who has endured a series of back and knee injuries in recent years, is considered the greatest golfer of his generation. He is the only modern pro to win all four major golf titles in succession, taking the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000 and the Masters title in 2001, a feat that became known a the Tiger Slam.

Woods suffered serious injuries to both legs in Tuesday’s wreck and was initially listed in serious but stable condition, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby told reporters. CNN reported Woods sustained compound fractures to his legs.

Surgery and ‘multiple leg injuries’

In a statement given earlier to Golf Digest magazine, Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, said the winner of 15 major championships, was undergoing surgery for “multiple leg injuries.”

The cause of the accident was under investigation, but the sheriff said there was no indication that the driver was under the influence of any substances or that weather was a factor.

Video footage from the scene showed Woods’ dark gray 2021 Genesis sport utility vehicle badly crumpled and lying on its side near the bottom of the hillside, its windows smashed.

Woods, one of the world’s most celebrated sports figures, was the sole occupant of the car when it crashed about 7:12 a.m. near the suburban communities of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, the sheriff’s department said.

Woods’ vehicle swerved into the roadside curb, struck a tree, and “there were several rollovers” before the SUV came to rest, Villanueva said. The sheriff said the stretch of roadway, known for its sloping terrain and curves, “has a high frequency of accidents.”

The sheriff also said the distance the vehicle traveled before leaving the roadway, leaving no visible skid marks, pointed to the car “going at a relatively greater speed than normal.”

The sheriff’s department initially said a hydraulic tool known as “the jaws of life” was used to pry Woods from the wreckage. Fire department officials said later that emergency personnel pulled Woods from the vehicle through the front windshield after the glass and surrounding frame were removed.

Transformational talent

Woods’ success on the greens elevated him to worldwide superstardom, ushering in an era of multimillion-dollar endorsements and lucrative appearances. As the first African American to achieve major golf stardom, Woods’ success also helped transform the sport itself, broadening its appeal far beyond golf’s traditional domain of white, male and middle-class enthusiasts.

He was also a major influence on a modern generation of golfers that included such pros as Australian former world No. 1 Jason Day, who has said he read a book about Woods and decided to copy the American’s rigorous work ethic.

Woods, whose career has been hampered in recent years by back injuries and who had his fifth back surgery in December, hosted the PGA tour’s annual Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club over the weekend but did not compete.

He was seen at the Rolling Hills Country Club on Monday with actress Jada Pinkett Smith, retired basketball star Dwayne Wade and comedian David Spade.

‘Praying for TW’

News of Woods’ accident sent shock waves through the sports world.

“Praying for my brother @TigerWoods as we all anxiously await more news,” retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez said on Twitter. “Thinking of him and his entire family.”

“I am sick to my stomach,” fellow PGA Tour golfer Justin Thomas said during a news conference in which he called Woods one of his closest friends. “I just hope he’s alright.”

Former Woods girlfriend, Olympic skiing gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, tweeted simply: “Praying for TW”

The PGA Tour issued a statement from Commissioner Jay Monahan. “We are awaiting further information when he comes out of surgery. On behalf of the PGA TOUR and our players, Tiger is in our prayers and will have our full support as he recovers.”

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has played golf with Woods on several occasions and awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, issued a statement urging Woods to get well soon, adding: “You are a true champion!”

California-born Eldrick “Tiger” Woods turned professional in 1996 and won his first U.S. Tour title in only his fifth start. Since then, he has virtually redefined the game.

Woods held the top spot in professional golf’s world rankings for a record total of 683 weeks, winning 14 major championship titles from 1997 to 2008.

After a series of injuries and personal issues derailed his career at times, Woods claimed his 15th major title at the Masters in 2019, his fifth time earning the coveted green jacket given to Masters champions.

His 15 major titles stand second only to the record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.

Nguyen Thanh Tai (left), Nguyen Dien Nam and their machine

The first class after Tet holiday at the Nguyen Van Cu Secondary School in Thu Dau Mot City of Binh Duong province on February 22 went smoothly. Students had medical examinations but the process took little time and did not require many workers thanks to the body temperature machine invented by two of the school’s students, Nguyen Thanh Tai and Nguyen Dien Nam.

After seeing teachers and students at schools queuing up to have their temperature taken and hands disinfected, they decided to create an automatic equipment to measure body temperature, spray disinfectant and control students’ daily attendance as well.

During a lesson in late 2020, Tai told his teachers about the idea. The teachers had also heard of a similar idea from Nguyen Dien Nam, another student. Tai and Nam did not know each other at that moment.

The idea from the two students was applauded by the school’s board of management which then assigned teacher Le Thi Thuong to help them.

After four months, it was completed and put into use at the school.

The device measures students’ body temperature, sprays disinfectant when students raise their hands and manages students’ attendance via fingerprint scanning.

Tai said the inventors felt a bit worried on the first day of use. But they later

“There was just a minor error, which has been fixed,” Tai said.

The equipment operates based on the heat sensor system inside. The machine uses power from electricity sources or a solar cell put above in case the electricity is cut.

The machine is fitted with a temperature sensor which is taller than the students’ average height. Users just need to stand 20-30 cm away from the machine. The sensor measures their temperature and shows it on the LED screen mounted to the dashboard.

Since students’ height varies, the students equipped it with a camera which recognizes images and automatically raises or lowers the temperature sensor eye. Meanwhile, disinfectant from the tank inside is sprayed through a pipe.

The machine is also equipped with a fingerprint sensor. Students have to have their fingerprints scanned for the attendance register.

The entire process lasts only five seconds.

Xuan An

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

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

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

Local automobile group exports over 200 units, parts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dinh An Economic Zone – driving force for Mekong Delta region

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

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

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

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

Conference discusses role of Vietnam in Asia-Europe partnership

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Investment booms as Soc Trang improves business climate

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

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

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

Nine of them are FDI projects.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Legal move supports realty market development in 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Businesses urged to capitalise on opportunities to increase exports

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Domestic food and beverage industry has development potential

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Foreign investors divest Ninh Van Bay due to bleak performance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Upbeat export-import picture in early 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Larger frame of mind for logistics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Models to follow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Impetus for rubber suppliers to bounce back even higher

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Less worried farmers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vietnam leading car dealers struggle with Covid-19 impacts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Europe’s medicines regulator said on Thursday it had started a rolling review of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, an important display of confidence in the shot that paves the way for its potential approval across the 27-nation bloc.

Hungary became the first EU country to grant the Russian vaccine emergency national approval in January, Slovakia has ordered shipments, and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said his country could move to use Sputnik V.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement it would review data from ongoing trials of the vaccine until there was enough evidence for a formal marketing authorisation application.

EMA’s ‘rolling reviews’ are aimed at speeding up the approval process by allowing researchers to submit findings in real-time before final trial data is ready.

“While EMA cannot predict the overall timelines, it should take less time than normal to evaluate an eventual application because of the work done during the rolling review,” it said.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF sovereign wealth fund that is promoting Sputnik V internationally, hailed the start of EMA’s rolling review as an important moment for Russia which he said showed its application had been a strong one.

“Sputnik V can act as a bridge between Russia and Europe, but its roll out should not get bogged down in politics,” Dmitriev told Reuters, praising Germany, France, Italy and Austria for what he called their pragmatic approach to Sputnik V.

The shot’s efficacy was initially greeted with scepticism by some Western scientists after Russia approved it in August last year without waiting for the results of full clinical trials.

However, scientists said it was almost 92% effective in fighting COVID-19, based on peer-reviewed late-stage trial results published in The Lancet medical journal last month.

The two-shot vaccine uses two different weakened common cold viruses to deliver immune-building protein to the human body.

Dmitriev said Moscow could provide vaccines for 50 million Europeans starting from June if the shot won EU-wide approval, adding he expected several EU countries to approve the use of Sputnik V this month for their national use.

He did not name the countries.

The European Commission said on Thursday there were no talks under way to buy Sputnik V for the portfolio of COVID-19 shots ordered by the EU.

Europe has so far approved vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca/Oxford, while ongoing reviews for CureVac and Novavax’s candidates are underway.

The EMA is expected to give its verdict on J&J’s single-shot vaccine on March 11.

A worker collects latex from a rubber tree (Illustrative photo: VNA)

The rate is expected to hit 92 percent by 2022.

The VRG has built a set of standards and introduced VRG-branded rubber products since 2018, bolstering consumption of its products along with Vietnam’s rubber brand in the international market.

VRG-branded products reached 255,407 tonnes last year, accounting for 68 percent of the group’s total output, from just 20,790 tonnes recorded in 2018.

The VRG reported 21.17 trillion VND in revenue and 5.23 trillion VND in post-tax profit in 2020, year-on-year increases of 6.9 percent and 36.4 percent, respectively./.

CPI in February highest in 8 years

Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in February was up 1.52 percent over the previous month and 0.7 percent year on year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

This is the highest February CPI growth recorded in the last eight years.

However, the index in the first two months decreased 0.14 percent year-on-year.

Compared to the previous month, an upturn was seen in the prices of ten out of 11 main groups of goods and services, with housing and construction materials taking the lead (4 percent). It was followed by food and catering services (1.61 percent); transport (1.55 percent); drinking and tobacco (0.9 percent); garment and textile, headwear and footwear (0.25 percent).

The price of education services remained stable compared to the previous month.

The GSO’s Price Statistics Department explained that the CPI in February saw a strong rise due to the higher demand for food and foodstuffs for the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

The prices of medicine and medical supplies in January-February increased by 0.88 percent compared to the same period last year, the price of gas in the month climbed 3.05 percent year-on-year.

There were a number of reasons for the decrease in CPI in the last two months. The petrol and oil prices decreased by 15.78 percent year-on-year while the electricity price in January fell by 16.88 percent over the same period last year, making the average electricity price in the first two months of 2021 down by 9.95 percent.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for travel and tourism decreased compared to the same period last year. On average, in the last two months, the air ticket price dropped by 35.65 percent, train fares down 12.39 percent; and tour prices decreased by 4.99 percent.

At the same time, domestic gold price in February was up 0.25 percent over the previous month, while that of US dollar was around 23,145 VND per USD, down 0.17 percent month-on-month and 0.76 percent year-on-year.

GSO said the core inflation in February, which is CPI excluding grain food, fresh foodstuff, energy and the State-managed medical and educational services, increased by 0.48 percent from the previous month, and 0.79 percent compared to one year ago.

The two-month core inflation grew by 0.64 percent year-on-year.

The core inflation rates in February and the first two months of 2021 compared to the same periods last year were the lowest in the past five years./.

Vietnamese salangane nests headed for China

Vietnam’s bird-nest exports are expected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars when the world’s largest market, China, opens up this year.

Chinese demand for bird’s nest is growing, but Vietnamese firms need to take new measures to officially export to that country rather than involve in informal border trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said.

Do Tu Quan, head of the Vietnam Swiftlet Farming Association, said Vietnamese exporters hope the two countries would quickly reach agreement and the first order to China could be delivered this quarter.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said the industry has been developing rapidly in the country, mostly in the south, but the unofficial border trade has been resulting in low value and profits.

There are 20,000 nests farmed in 42 of the country’s 63 provinces and cities with approximately 120 tonnes worth 450 million USD harvested annually, according to Tien.

But exports to China account for only 8 percent.

China banned import of bird’s nests of unclear origin from Vietnam in 2011 following a fake product scandal.

It lifted the ban in 2015 and replaced it with tough rules aimed at improving safety and traceability.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have all completed legal procedures to export bird’s nest to China, but Vietnam cannot export officially due to several reasons, including the lack of quality standards for the product and export standards.

In recent years the MARD has sought to promote exports to foreign markets, including China.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, negotiations to export the product to China have mainly been conducted through online meetings but are almost complete, deputy director of MARD’s department of livestock breeding Nguyen Van Trong said.

Local bird’s nests eligible for exports could meet a third of the demand in China, opening up huge opportunities, Trong said.

The Vietnamese swift-breeding industry began to thrive in 2010, with its production accounting for 3 percent of the global output.

While bird’s nests are a speciality with high economic value and one of the 10 most expensive dishes in the world, their production in the country remains far below traditional agricultural products, and they have yet to be classified as a key national product./.

Vietnam lures 5.46 billion USD in foreign investment

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

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

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

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

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

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

Credit market share of private banks rise

Private banks have posted significant growth in credit market share in the past five years.

According to statistics from Viet Dragon Securities Company (VDSC), 26 listed banks by the end of 2020 increased their total credit market share to 71.3 percent from 65.4 percent at the end of 2015.

Of which, the group of private banks, whose credit market share is more than 2 percent each, posted a 3.5 percent growth in credit market share in the period, VDSC statistics showed.

Among those banks, MBBank ranked first with an increase of 90 basis points, followed by Techcombank and VPBank with rises of 86 and 78 basis points, respectively.

The three banks also had compound annual credit growth of more than 20 percent while their capital adequacy ratios also topped the list.

Sacombank was the only bank to lose credit market share with a reduction of 2 basis points.

VDSC’s statistics also showed banks made a strong shift to corporate bonds in 2020 so as to spur credit growth in the year when loan demand was affected adversely. The contribution rate of corporate bonds to banks’ credit growth in 2020 ranged from 20-38 percent.

According to VDSC, Vietnam’s economy has been heavily dependent on credit. Therefore, to maintain the country’s GDP growth rate of 6-8 percent in the coming years as projected, VDSC estimated the credit growth of the banking industry to stay at double digits.

VDSC forecast credit growth of the banking industry this year would be 13.1 percent on average. Major private banks, including Techcombank, MBBank, VPBank and ACB, are expected to maintain their credit growth higher than the industry’s average rate.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) targeted a credit growth rate of 12 percent this year, equivalent to the growth of 12.13 percent last year. However, it said the goal is not a fixed figure, as it might adjust it if necessary.

According to SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu, in case the COVID-19 pandemic is totally controlled, and the economy needs fast recovery, leading to increased credit demand, the SBV will expand credit to support businesses and economic recovery. Vice versa, if there are signs that the economy needs tighter control to curb inflation, the credit growth will be slashed.

The support for businesses during the post-pandemic period was defined as one of the major tasks of the banking sector in 2021, Tu noted./.

E-commerce continues to thrive amid pandemic

Revenues posted by e-commerce platforms for January were up 30 percent year-on-year despite there being fewer promotions than in previous years, figures from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the platforms reveal.

To bolster consumption during the pandemic, supermarkets and cafés have offered take-out and pushed ahead with online shopping via social networks like Facebook and Zalo and their own websites.

Online customers of Co.opmart Ha Dong, for instance, were 20-25 percent higher in number compared to January last year.

The Big C supermarket chain rolled out promotions for online shoppers and offered free delivery for purchases of 200,000 VND or more. Upon its launch, bookings via telephone surged 200 percent year-on-year.

VinMart also introduced an online shopping feature in its VinID app.

As of February 17, revenues of companies and retailers in Hanoi had risen 7-10 percent compared to the previous Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, according to the city’s Department of Industry and Trade.

Online shopping turnover increased 20-25 percent and made up 5-7 percent of sales. The number of customers using online payments also went up, by about 15 percent compared to the same period last year.

Order numbers on some e-commerce platforms rose remarkably as Tet approached. Tiki, in particular, recorded a year-on-year surge of 50 percent in transaction numbers in January.

Necessities such as rice, dried food, canned food, and powdered milk also debuted on e-commerce platforms, a move that helps consumers avoid going to crowded places.

For their part, retailers have stepped up telephone bookings and delivery and boosted inventories by 30-40 percent compared to normal.

The expansion of e-commerce platforms is part of a scenario proposed by the MoIT in response to the pandemic, said Dang Hoang Hai, Director General of the ministry’s Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency.

The ministry has also partnered with logistics and e-commerce platforms to hasten the shipment of orders to support consumers, he added./.

Logistics services to make up 5-6 percent of GDP by 2025

Vietnam is planning to raise the contribution of logistics services to its gross domestic product (GDP) to 5-6 percent by 2025, according to a recent decision signed by the Prime Minister.

Logistics services are expected to grow 15-20 percent within the next five years and the country will secure 50th position or higher in the Logistics Performance Index.

The PM’s Decision No 221/QD-TTg, which took effect on February 22, amended and supplemented a decision issued on February 14, 2017 that approved the action plan for improving the competitiveness of and developing Vietnam’s logistics services to 2025.

It also supplements the roadmap for carrying out the action plan.

From 2023, relevant agencies are set to review the action plan’s implementation and prepare the foundation for building a strategy for logistics services development in 2025-2035, with a vision to 2045.

In 2024, they will continue taking measures to promote the competitiveness of and develop such services in Vietnam while preparing a development strategy for 2025-2035.

Implementation of the action plan will be assessed in 2025 and the strategy for 2025-2035 carried out from the same year./.

Japan’s Dentsu company praises Vietnamese engineers

Director of Japan’s Dentsu company Iri Kazuaki has said that Vietnamese engineers have made important contributions to its operations over recent years.

Dentsu specialises in technical design for important infrastructure in Japan, such as optical cable systems, cable television, 5G data transmission networks, mobile information, and railway communications systems.

Ten Vietnamese engineers are currently working for the company in Japan and 85 others at its branches in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Kazuaki lauded the Vietnamese engineers for being diligent and careful with a good basic knowledge. After a certain period in the workplace, they are able to perform many roles.

Many experienced Vietnamese engineers in Japan could be responsible for providing technical guidance or instructions on site.

Five of the 10 Vietnamese engineers have earned Japanese national certificates on electrical engineering, while the remainders are expected to join a competition to earn them.

According to Kazuaki, the company plans to recruit 400 Vietnamese engineers over the next five years.

Figures from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare showed that Japan was home to the largest number of Vietnamese citizens living and working abroad last year, with more than 443,000, followed by those from China, with over 419,000, and the Philippines with more than 184,000./.

Domestic property market sees recovery: ministry

The Ministry of Construction (MoC) believes the domestic real estate market has overcome the most difficult period due to positive developments in the market as well as the whole economy in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The industrial property segment can be considered a bright spot of the domestic market for many reasons such as the European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) coming into effect and plans for the relocation of many multinational corporations to Vietnam, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s successful disease control is also an important factor to attract more foreign investment.

Those factors would set a good foundation for the real estate market to develop stably in 2021, a representative of the ministry said.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, most businesses in the real estate sector started operating again.

Although the market still faces many difficulties, real estate developers have offered solutions to attract customers like changing areas for developing property projects to catch up with trends of shifting FDI inflows and urbanisation in localities outside big cities, according to the ministry./.

Bac Lieu working hard to fight illegal fishing

The Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu has adopted a wide range of measures to raise awareness and legal understanding among local fishermen about preventing and fighting illegal fishing.

The provincial fisheries industry has witnessed strong development over recent years, contributing significantly to increasing incomes for fishermen. But legal violations in fishing activities remain common.

According to Tran Xi Khuol, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Fisheries, fishing has been considered a key economic sector of Bac Lieu for many years.

But problems linger, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, especially fishing without permits, a lack of safety equipment on fishing vessels, and fishing reports not being submitted in line with regulations.

Though patrols have been carried out regularly, violations have not been handled thoroughly, Khuol said.

The main cause of the situation is that fishermen do not fully understand the 2017 Law on Fisheries, he believed.

Local authorities have promoted communications activities to raise public awareness about the law, relevant legal documents, and technical measures, helping local fishermen comply with the law and contributing to preserving, managing, and utilising aquatic resources sustainably.

The provincial People’s Committee has so far organised 18 programmes on legal matters for 1,086 ship owners and fishermen.

The province has also supported local fishermen in building large-capacity vessels and upgrading equipment and logistics services, while creating favourable conditions for them to maintain operations in traditional fishing grounds.

Bac Lieu has 1,142 registered fishing boats, including 485 with a minimum length of 15 metres.

As of October 8, 2020, it had issued 720 fishing permits under the 2017 Law on Fisheries, including 453 offshore fishing permits and 267 onshore fishing permits. It also has 350 fishing vessels equipped with cruise control devices, or 72.2 percent of the total.

In the first nine months of 2020, nearly 1,200 vessels and three shipbuilding yards were inspected, with 11 administrative violations detected./.

Ca Mau province looks to develop vibrant blue economy

Endowed with a 254-km coastline and an abundance of aquatic resources, the southernmost province of Ca Mau has viewed sea-based economic development as an inexorable trend to help it create breakthroughs in socio-economic development.

Priority on infrastructure development

Due attention has been given to developing infrastructure in order to develop the blue economy in an effective and sustainable manner that is commensurate with the province’s advantages and potential.

Ca Mau plans to continue calling for investment in infrastructure at the 10,802-ha Nam Can Economic Zone, which is envisaged to become a sea-based economic zone with sound logistics services to meet regional and international distribution demand.

It is also encouraging investment to build Song Doc and Nam Can towns into third-tier urban areas by 2025.

Along with developing fifth-tier urban areas in coastal districts such as Dam Doi, Ngoc Hien, Phu Tan, Tran Van Thoi, and U Minh, the province will invest in engineering and shipbuilding industries at the Song Doc, Khanh Hoi, and Rach Goc estuaries, while carrying out construction of the Tan Thuan, Rach Goc, and Cai Doi Vam industrial clusters.

Socio-economic infrastructure in coastal communes, districts, and islands are being completed, providing the conditions necessary for blue economic development.

The province has given top priority to investment in important economic sectors such as aquaculture, tourism and services, renewable energy, and the maritime economy.

It is also improving local fisheries infrastructure to enhance logistics services, and calling for investment in logistics centres in Hoa Trung, Nam Can, Song Doc, and Hon Khoai.

Comprehensive development of the blue economy promoted

Known as one of Vietnam’s four key fishing grounds and with abundant and diverse aquatic resources, of which many have high economic values, Ca Mau has sharpened its focus on developing fisheries exploitation, which is a spearhead economic sector.

The province targets catching 800,000 tonnes of fish and seafood by 2030.

Along with developing a strong fishing fleet of more than 4,500 vessels, the province will also re-arrange seafood production based on expanding cooperatives and collectives to benefit fishing families and the sustainable protection of the ecosystem.

Ca Mau will fund the upgrading of infrastructure at fishing ports and storm shelters, as well as complete a fishing vessel information system to give timely warnings to fishermen in case of incidents at sea or to facilitate search and rescue efforts.

It will work to create concentrated aquaculture areas that produce high-quality aquatic species, apply state-of-the-art technologies into production, and develop a traceability system for products.

Relevant authorities will expand monitoring systems in concentrated aquaculture areas, to provide environmental and disease warnings to farmers.

The province will also work to create jobs for 25,000 local people living in coastal resettlement areas./.

Tien Giang invests 650,000 USD in irrigation projects along coastal districts

The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang has invested 15 billion VND (650,000 USD) in 70 in-field irrigation projects on 27,000ha of farming land in the coastal districts of Go Cong Dong and Go Cong Tay during the 2020 – 21 dry season.

The projects include building or upgrading in-field irrigation canals and ditches that ensure water and help to prevent saltwater intrusion in the dry season.

The projects have protected more than 18,000ha of rice, 6,000ha of vegetables and 3,000ha of other crops from water shortage and saltwater intrusion in the winter – spring crop.

They have also helped to secure daily-use water for 38,000 households in coastal areas.

In Go Cong Dong, apart from investing in in-field irrigation canals and ditches, local authorities have built four new sluices for taking irrigation water since the beginning of the dry season.

The district has organised the collection of rubbish and water hyacinths on in-field irrigation canals and ditches so that irrigation water can flow easily into each field.

The district has taken measures to restructure agricultural production to suit each area, according to local authorities.

In the winter – spring crop, farmers in Go Cong Dong have expanded cultivation of vegetables and other crops on 1,500ha.

Go Cong Dong and Go Cong Tay districts normally face severe saltwater intrusion in the dry season and face shortage of irrigation water at the end of the winter – spring crop.

The two districts have also expanded advocacy activities about the impact of saltwater intrusion to the public.

Local authorities in the two districts have encouraged farmers to dredge irrigation ditches in orchards to preserve fresh water for irrigation.

Ngo Van Dung, head of the Go Cong Tay Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the district has invested in irrigation projects and taken measures to cope with saltwater intrusion and drought.

Besides investing in in-field irrigation canals and ditches, the district has built 124 temporary dams to preserve irrigation water for the dry season, he said.

In the ongoing winter – spring crop, the two districts have solved the shortage of irrigation water for growing rice and other crops as more irrigation projects have been built and the winter – spring crop rice was planted earlier than normal.

Farmers are having a bumper harvest of winter – spring rice, getting a yield of 6.5 tonnes per hectares, up 1.2 tonnes against the last winter – spring crop, according to local authorities.

Profits from growing vegetables are two to three times higher than from rice, said local authorities./.

Investors confident in Vietnam’s innovative startup ecosystem

Investors are confident in the potential of Vietnam’s innovative startup ecosystem, and believe the country will become a big investment market in the region and the world, according to head of the Vietnam representative office of Genesia Ventures, an investment fund of Japan, Hoang Thi Kim Dung.

According to a report published by Do Ventures – a venture capital fund that focuses on making investments in tech startups in Vietnam and Southeast Asia – in 2020, Vietnam’s innovative startup ecosystem ranked third in Southeast Asia, after Singapore and Indonesia.

Vietnam’s national innovation startup ecosystem is likely to earn a berth in the top 15 emerging ones in the Asia-Pacific region by 2030, the report said.

The Prime Minister in 2016 approved a project to support the national innovative startup ecosystem through 2025 under Decision No. 844/ QD-TTg (Project 844), which was designed to promote and support the formation and development of startup projects or startup enterprises and urgently complete the legal system to support innovative startups.

To further promote the development of Vietnam’s innovative startup ecosystem in an intensive manner, recently the PM has approved the amending and supplementing of a number of articles in Decision No 844/QD-TTg.

Vietnam hopes to establish international cooperation programmes with partners in at least five prestigious innovative startup ecosystems in the world by 2025, and attract more foreign resources to support domestic innovation startups.

According to statistics from the Project 844’s office, there are nearly 100 venture capital funds in Vietnam, including about 20 domestic funds. Each investment fund has different networks and strengths, so startups need to thoroughly research and group potential investors in accordance with their development orientation and goals./.

Vietnam offers investment opportunities to Indian businesses

Vietnam’s growing importance in the global supply chain has created strong potential for the nation’s relationship with India to flourish, especially in terms of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector.

During the event, Pankaj Gupta, chairman of the IIA, pointed out that some large Indian firms such as Adani Group, Mahindra, SRF Chemicals Ltd, and Suzlon Energy Ltd have shown a keen interest in investing in the Vietnamese market.

According to speakers, Indian businesses are greatly interesting in exploring investment opportunities in the fields of energy, mineral exploration, agrochemicals, production of sugar, tea, coffee, information technology, and automotive components.

Alongside the participation in several free trade agreements (FTAs), in addition to factors such as rapid economic growth, improved infrastructure, political stability, cheap labour costs, and a young workforce, Vietnam has plenty of investment incentives to offer to foreign firms looking to do business locally, participants noted.

Experts also pointed out that there are numerous challenges posed for foreign enterprises that operate in the field of oil and gas exploration, all of which are currently subject to a high corporate tax rate of between 32% and 50%.Other issues such as a language barrier, a shortage of ATMs, and a lack of other reliable transaction systems, can also hinder financiers.

Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau underscored the importance of domestic political stability, the local business climate, and growing bilateral relations, as well as the opening of direct flights which has facilitated trade activities between the two countries in recent times.

He emphasised that both sides have great potential for development co-operation in such fields as support industries, and the manufacturing of auto parts, motorcycles, materials, textiles, footwear, and home appliances.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency of Vietnam, as of December, 2020, India has invested in approximately 300 valid projects in Vietnam with roughly US$900 million of capital, ranking 26th among foreign investors in the country.

Hanoi police summon suspect of foreign sexual assaults

The Hanoi police have summoned an individual suspected of carrying out sexual assaults against foreign women in the capital.

The guy known as D lives in Ba Dinh district, said the police.

Foreign victims of the assaults were invited to the police station to identify the suspect.

K.M.C, an Irish woman, said that she was sexually assaulted by two men while walking down Dang Thai Mai street in Tay Ho district on February 20. She confirmed D was one of the two youngsters who attacked her that night.

However, D pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The police said they are investigating 25 other young people believed to be closely tied to the case.

The Irish woman is the victim of the recent sexual assaults in Hanoi.

VN has learned that a group of young men  aged 15-20 were said to have carried out sexual assaults against foreign women living in Tay Ho district of Hanoi capital in recent times.

They normally drove unmarked motorcycles past the women walking down streets such as To Ngoc Van, Quang Na, Quang Ba and Dang Thai Mai and committed violent sexual assaults on sensitive parts.

A victim even said the suspects strangled her, threw stones at her and snatched her belongings.

Tay Ho district is known as a place where a lot of foreigners rent properties to work and live in Hanoi.

Vietnam records US$589 million trade surplus with the UK

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the UK reached US$657.35 million during January, representing an annual increase of 78.57%, according to the European-American Market Department.

The department reported that Vietnamese exports to the European market stood at US$598 million, marking a rise of 84.61% compared to the same period from last year.

The trade surplus of goods to the UK throughout January hit US$598 million, recording an increase of 113.7% on-year.

Among products that recorded impressive export growth, telephones and components topped the list with a boost of 371.6%, followed by machinery, equipment and tools, and spare parts, up 110%, and computers and electronic components, up 91%.

Notably, local agricultural products also maintained steady growth, with exports of vegetables and fruits increasing by 148% from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the main import items from the UK were metal products, (excluding steel), pesticides, raw materials, and textile materials.

The Department attributed the impressive trade growth to the enforcement of the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) which first came into effect on January 1, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On February 26, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reported that January witnessed the total export value of aquatic products reach US$606 million, an annual rise of 23.4%.

Of the figure, tra fish recorded an increase of 21.7%, with white-leg shrimp seeing an increase of US$32.5.

Key export markets for Vietnamese aquatic items included the United States, up 25.6%, Russia, up 72%, and Australia, up 105%.

Banks launch bailout packages for coronavirus affected firms

With the third wave of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic causing numerous challenges for local businesses, several banks such as BIDV, Vietcombank, VietinBank, and Agribank have devised solutions aimed at supporting Vietnamese companies, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has launched a short-term preferential credit package worth VND10,000 billion which will run from February 24 to September 30 in support of those affected by the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

This comes after BIDV also deployed preferential short-term and medium-long-term credit measures worth over VND100,000 billion for SMEs, while also supporting them in digital transformation.

Meanwhile, the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) reduced interest rates to loans from February 22, 2020, to May 22, 2020, for 105,000 existing clients with credit package worth VND350,000 billion.

Nghiem Xuan Thanh, chairman of Vietcombank’s Board of Directors, said the financial institution will continue to provide businesses with support to help them weather the COVID-19 crisis.

For his part, Le Duc Tho, chairman of VietinBank’s Board of Directors, revealed that his bank is devising suitable solutions for each group of affected clients, by adjusting the lending term and service costs in order to help them restore production and business as soon as possible.

Moreover, the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) has pledged to offer additional credit packages aimed at bolstering production of businesses, especially those operating in priority areas over the year ahead.

Huynh Ngoc Huy, chairman of LienVietPostBank’s Board of Directors, said the bank will deploy appropriate credit packages and soft loans specifically for firms, along with developing more advanced utilities on the digital banking platform in order to provide clients with enjoyable experiences.

With regard to the real estate sector, Nguyen Tuan Anh, director general of the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors under the State Bank of Vietnam, has stated that SBV will continue to reduce lending rates to help property firms and individuals purchase houses with the aim of developing the local real estate market.

The Vietnamese economy is projected to enjoy a rapid recovery over the course of the coming year by many international organisations, with an anticipated growth rate of between 6.7% and 6.8%. Due to this, SBV is keen to keep interest rates at a stable level to support the macro-economy and boost businesses amid the complicated developments of COVID-19.

Startups driving health innovations

The pandemic has sped up digital transformation in healthcare, prompting numerous innovative startups to step up their game to fill the gaps in the market.

General director Bui Trieu Anh Tuan noted that MedPro has partnered with nearly 30 hospitals to provide services like online booking, cashless payment system, and smart medical cards. Its partners include leading hospitals in many localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai, and Can Tho and this year, the startup will expand its coverage to Hanoi, Haiphong, Danang, Binh Dinh, and Binh Duong, with a potential customer base of two million people.

Similarly, Zoop Care is a platform facilitating communications and collaboration between healthcare providers and consumers. The company is actively expanding its operations in Vietnam to contribute to higher quality and more cost-effective healthcare.

Lucy Duong, COO of Zoop Care, said that during market research, the team noticed that it was common for service providers to sort tasks manually with great difficulties. Daily administrative tasks such as appointment scheduling or patient registration are mostly done on paper, with no effective archiving method in use. In addition, multiple mediums are often employed to contact and manage customers. This disconnected approach prevents them from optimising their operations.

“We developed Zoop Care as a broadly centralised platform to detangle all knotted ends. It serves as an all-encompassing solution, enabling seamless communication with customers,” she said, noting that Zoop Care is designed with many useful features, such as online booking, automatic reminders, smart calendar, treatment reminders, automatic response collection, and real-time reporting.

Meanwhile, eDoctor provides a virtual space to connect patients and doctors during social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Deputy CEO Alain Huynh said that the potential for digital healthcare is huge as the healthcare market will double in the next 7-10 years. Digital healthcare makes up less than 1 per cent of the total market size currently, a figure which is projected to skyrocket.

“So we have great room for players in many sub-sectors such as pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical technologies, retail, wellness, and telemedicine which are all at the forefront of digital innovation,” Huynh said. “Customer behaviour and the market may change forever if lockdown and social distancing remain the major measures to fight the coronavirus. The right solution at the right time will give startups the greatest competitive edge.”

A report by Fitch Solutions identified great promise in digital healthcare. Internet access is widespread and the country has seen rapid development in 4G and 5G. Building on these foundations, the government is driving a digitalisation agenda in hospitals and clinics. As a result, Vietnam has seen a growing number of foreign players showing eagerness to invest in these startups to capitalise on the market potential.

Medix Global is looking to forge collaborations with local partners, especially in the fields of cancer, cardiovascular, and diabetes, through the company’s investment arm, Medix Ventures.

Medix chief executive and founder Sigal Atzmon said, “Since our launch in July, Medix has already seen significant demand for our services as customers look for support on their medical journey. With this in mind, we are looking for innovative companies in Vietnam or international companies looking to expand into Vietnam that can combine data-driven solutions in the healthcare space. This will increase the efficiency and technologies necessary to bridge gaps and provide better access to quality care.”

She said that Medix would focus on providing personalised support by tapping into innovative services that improve not only the individual’s experience but that also benefit Vietnam’s healthcare landscape.

Long An international port to be expanded

Dong Tam Group (DTG) has announced that it is completing the remaining legal procedures for expanding the Long An international port in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, enabling its berths No. 8 and No.9 to receive 100,000DWT ships.

As scheduled, the project will be completed in 2023, lifting the total length of the wharf system to 2,368m, enabling the handling of over 80 million tonnes of goods per year.

DTG also has a plan to build a terminal serving ships transporting gas, oil and other liquids, turning the Long An international port into a multi-purpose seaport.

The Long An international port covers an area of 147 ha, including 7 wharves with a total length of 1,670m, which are capable of receiving 30,000-70,000 DWT ships, and four barge berths that are able to accommodate barges of 2,000 tonnes. It boasts experience and other favourable factors in handling super-sized and super-weight items which require complicated cargo handling process.

In 2020, the port signed strategic cooperation agreements with partners in the Mekong Delta region, helping businesses reduce costs, improve competitiveness and maximise operation efficiency.

Previously, on January 22, a strategic cooperation agreement was signed between representatives of the port and those from units specialising in developing major wind power projects in Vietnam./.

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