Vietnam is striving to produce about 3,000 - 5,000 MW of offshore wind power by 2030 and 21,000 MW by 2045.

Addressing a webinar on August 18, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) Phan Xuan Dung said the country will benefit from the development of offshore wind power, whose cost will gradually decrease in the future.

The development will also help create new jobs, attract investment, and reduce carbon emissions, he noted.

Many experts at the event, held by VUSTA and the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition, held that the country still lacks legal regulations and technical standards for the production, installation, operation, and maintenance of offshore wind power.

A mechanism for offshore wind power purchase is also necessary to stimulate this market, they said.

Speakers and other participants also suggested the State devise a specific mechanism for developing offshore wind power farms since this type of renewable energy will generate sustainable benefits, helping to guarantee energy security and promote citizens’ sense of responsibility towards the protection of Vietnam’s maritime sovereignty./.

VN-Index falls for second day to hover around 1,360 point-level 

Viet Nam’s stock market ended mixed yesterday as the benchmark reversed the morning course on resurging selling pressure.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index fell in a choppy session to get closer to the 1,360 point-level. Accordingly, the market benchmark lost 2.15 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,360.94 points. It inched higher in the morning trade on key material stocks.

The market’s breadth was negative with 197 stocks declining while 172 stocks rose. But the liquidity was lower than some recent sessions as investors poured nearly VND24.41 trillion (US$1.06 billion), equivalent to a trading volume of 689.8 million shares.

The index’s reversal was mainly driven by a sell-off in bank stocks in the afternoon trade. The 30 biggest stocks tracker, VN30-Index also slid by 0.31 per cent to 1,489.54 points.

Sixteen stocks of the 30 biggest stocks in the VN30 basket decreased, while 11 climbed and three ended flat.

Even though many big banks recorded losses in the market, real estate stocks still led the trend.

The trio stocks of the Vin family, including Vinhomes JSC (VHM), Vingroup JSC (VIC) and Vincom Retail JSC (VRE), fell 0.89 - 1.01 per cent in market capitalisation.

Other stocks contributing to the losses were VPBank (VPB), down 1.69 per cent, Techcombank (TCB), down 0.94 per cent, and JSC Bank for Investment and Development Of Vietnam (BIDV, BID) down 0.7 per cent.

However, the losses were limited by gains in some large-cap stocks, especially in the material sector.

Of which, Masan Group (MSN) was the biggest gainer yesterday, up 1.51 per cent. It was followed by Vinamilk (VNM) and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), up 0.78 per cent and 1.53 per cent, respectively.

The move was in line with expectations from Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS). In a daily report to investors, the securities firm said that the VN-Index may continue to struggle and fluctuate between the resistance zone of 1,370-1,380 points and the support zone of 1,325-1,350 points.

It also suggested that investors who have gradually taken profits from their portfolios last week should take a wait-and-see approach this week, and should not buy-in at the current price range.

Investors’ sentiment was also weighed by selling activities from foreign investors as they continued to net sell a value of more than VND1 trillion on the two main exchanges.

Of which, they net sold a value of nearly VND1.89 trillion on HoSE and a value of VND41.62 billion on the northern bourse.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), meanwhile, the HNX-Index rose 0.5 per cent to 344.82 points. The index closed the morning trade at 345.63 points.

During the trading session, more than 157.3 million shares were traded on HNX, worth over VND4.2 trillion.

Provinces in Mekong Delta help businesses maintain production

A business in Dong Thap province prepares meals for workers (Photo nld.com.vn)

Tra Vinh province’s Department of Planning and Investment, for example, said that investment permits and certifications were granted to 14 new domestic investment projects in the first six months of the year.

Lam Huu Phuc, deputy director of the department, said the province was working with companies to help them overcome problems and recover quickly. It has reduced taxes, loan interest and certain bills.

Twenty-five businesses are providing accommodations to staff to continue production, as of August 11. The businesses were asked to strictly follow pandemic regulations and work with health authorities on contact tracing and quarantining infected cases.

Meanwhile, Can Tho city attracted two foreign investment projects worth a total of 1.31 billion USD in the first six months of the year, ranking third in the country in terms of FDI attraction, after Long An and HCM City.

The city will establish a centre to further expedite administrative procedures, according to its People’s Committee.

Around 100 businesses in the city have maintained production by arranging staff accommodations. The city's departments are keeping an eye on how well they follow pandemic regulations.

Other provinces in the Mekong Delta are requiring businesses to adhere to strict regulations, such as Dong Thap province, which has been checking up on local businesses and helping them overcome challenges, and monitoring industrial parks' compliance.

Pham Thien Nghia, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said that businesses can work with health authorities to have regular COVID-19 tests and vaccines for staff.

However, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Can Tho city, many businesses, especially small to medium sized, are struggling in the delta, especially those that cannot afford to arrange accommodations for their staff.

Large businesses are also worried about lowered production output, stressed-out workers, and loss of foreign customers.

Some businesses are struggling with unclear regulations surrounding essential goods, test results, and travel across provinces.

They also need lower loan interest rates, more vaccinations for staff, and more government support.

In the first six months of the year, more than 5,100 new businesses opened in the Mekong Delta, but nearly 5,000 businesses were in the process of dissolving or had already dissolved.

Around 1,800 businesses have temporarily closed./.

98% of enterprises in Can Tho suspend operations due to pandemic

Up to 9,800 of nearly 10,000 enterprises in Can Tho City have suspended their operations due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.

Among the 1,090 industrial production firms in the city, 1,018 firms have shut down temporarily, accounting for 93.39%.

In industrial and export processing zones, only 20 of 170 enterprises remain operational. Over 38,000 employees of these enterprises have temporarily stopped working.

The director of a seafood processing and exporting firm at the Tra Noc Industrial Park said when the pandemic broke out in Can Tho in mid-July, the firm had to ask over 3,000 workers to stop working temporarily as it could not deploy the stay-at-work mode for thousands of people for months. Each worker would receive VND100,000 per day.

On July 13, the Can Tho government asked enterprises in the city to apply the stay-at-work mode to be allowed to operate during the pandemic.

Since July 16, enterprises which did not register to apply the mode had to suspend their operations.

Can Tho recorded more than 3,300 Covid-19 cases since July 7. The city has 170 areas under lockdown.

Vietnam drafts digital transformation plan for businesses

At least 800 businesses, 100 cooperatives, and 4,000 business households in fields of manufacturing and processing, agriculture, tourism, are expected to become successful models in digital transformation by 2025.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) set out the target in its latest proposal on the national supporting program to aid businesses, cooperatives, and business households in the digitalization process in the 2021-2025 period, with funds allocated from the state budget and support from organizations or businesses taking part in the program.

According to the MPI, the program’s goal is to speed up the digital transformation in Vietnam amid a difficult economic environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic by raising the business community’s awareness of this process and supporting them to digitalize operation, corporate governance, and production procedures for greater competitiveness and capabilities.

By 2025, the program expects 100% of manufacturing facilities to be aware of the benefit of digital transformation, and 500,000 businesses to receive some sort of support from the program, including training, consultation, or applying solutions for digitalization.

To realize such goals, the program would set up a network of 500 organizations and individual experts to facilitate digital transformation in the business community, along with a database consisting of 100 technological solutions for digital transformation that would be available for businesses.

In addition, the MPI proposed the development and launch of a portal and smart app for digitalization to enhance engagement between parties in a cyber environment.

Enterprises seen as having high potential for digital transformation would be supported with 50% of consultation fees when requesting support from the network of digitalization experts.

Ca Mau eyes annual growth of 8 percent in agricultural exports

The southernmost province of Ca Mau is working to achieve an annual growth rate of 8 percent in agricultural exports during 2021 - 2025, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

To that end, it is moving to tap into local advantages and promote production to improve the competitiveness of farm produce, especially such key products as shrimp, sea crab, organic rice, wood, and banana.

The shrimp industry is the largest foreign currency earner for the province. From now to 2025, Ca Mau will keep the shrimp farming area stable, at about 280,000ha, while boosting productivity, output, as well as quality.

The eco-farming area, mainly integrated mangrove - shrimp aquaculture and rice - shrimp farming, will be expanded to 49,000ha. The co-culture of shrimp with other aquatic species will also be developed on about 250,000ha.

The province will boost shrimp export to potential markets, including the EU, Japan, the US, Eastern Europe, Middle East, China, and the Republic of Korea, to make use of the signed free trade agreements so as to earn nearly 5.65 billion USD in revenue from now to 2025.

Without as favourable conditions for rice production as other localities in the Mekong Delta, Ca Mau has still managed to form large-scale and sustainable rice farming areas.

It aims to raise to the organic rice cultivation area to 2,500ha by 2025 and rake in 22 million USD from selling this produce to Singapore, Europe, the US, Hong Kong (China), and the Republic of Korea during 2021 - 2025.

Forestry has also been given priority, with partnerships in the wood sector’s value chain from afforestation to wood logging, processing, and sale promoted.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Van Thuc said Ca Mau will work to have 10,000ha granted the sustainable forest management certificate and 100 percent of wood products made from forest trees with legal origin.

It hopes that 90 percent of the commercial forest area, equivalent to 54,000ha, will have sustainable management plans, generating 20 million USD in processed wood exports, mostly to Europe, in five years./.

Tan Thanh Border Gate resumes operations as of August 18

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), on the morning of August 18, informed that the Tan Thanh Border Gate in Lang Son Province, where agricultural products and cross-border traded goods are exported to the Chinese market, will be reopened from today after the two sides have been consensus on customs clearance process.

According to information from Lang Son Province, customs clearance activities through Tan Thanh Border Gate in Lang Son of Vietnam and Po Chai Border Gate in Guangxi Province of China will return to normal from August 18.

The two provinces have agreed on the customs clearance process to ensure the circulation of imported and exported goods and safety against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The MoIT announced that it would continue to coordinate with Lang Son Province and Northern border provinces to closely monitor the import and export of goods across the border to promptly handle arising problems.

Previously, on August 16, it was reported that China suddenly stopped importing and exporting goods at Po Chai Border Gate in Guangxi Province. The MoIT collaborated with Lang Son Province and the Vietnam Trade Office Branch in Guangxi to verify this information.

The verification results on August 17 shows that there was no official announcement from China about suspending customs clearance at Po Chai and Tan Thanh border gates.

However, after some Covid-19 cases related to long-haul drivers carrying exported goods through these border gates, the border gate management authority of Guangxi Province temporarily halted customs clearance activities to review and agree with Lang Son Province on measures to strengthen the process of freight forwarding through Tan Thanh area, intending to ensure smooth circulation of imported and exported goods and safety for pandemic prevention between the two sides.

Con Dao Airport to be expanded to serve 2 mln passengers per year

The airport on Con Dao Island, the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, will be expanded and upgraded to better serve rising passenger demand and the operation of new-generation aircraft.

In the adjusted airport planning by 2030 recently approved by Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The, Con Dao Airport will have a capacity of 2 million passengers and 4,400 tonnes of cargo per year and be able to handle Code-C or equivalent aircraft.

A new passenger terminal is expected to be built to the southeast of the existing facility. An area to the west of the passenger terminal has also been zoned for constructing a cargo terminal.

The zoned land area covers more than 181ha, including over 104ha of the existing airport and 77ha of additional land. That consists of about 52.5ha for civil aviation, 9.3ha for military aviation, and 119ha for joint use.

The Ministry of Transport said the growth of passenger traffic at Con Dao Airport has outpaced the prediction in the old planning, and the current throughput has exceeded the existing terminal’s capacity.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, this airport still served 447,750 passengers in 2020, up 4.1 percent from 2019.

It was designed to handle ATR-72 and equivalent planes. However, carriers are set to gradually replace ATR-72, as well as A320 and A321, with new-generation jets like A319neo, A320neo, A321neo, and equivalent aircraft.

Given this, airport upgrade and expansion are necessary, the ministry noted./.

Associations hoping to aid vaccine access

Business associations are looking for new vaccine procurement schemes to maintain business continuity.

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee last week sent an urgent document to the Ministry of Health (MoH) to report on the purchase and import of five million doses of Moderna vaccine. It requested the MoH to allow public-private partnerships and organise the collection of vaccination fees.

According to Duong Anh Duc, Deputy Chairman of the committee, on June 15 the city got the nod from Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on the purchase and import of vaccines. Since then, the city sent a letter to Saigon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Sapharco) under VinaCapital to conduct negotiations with Moderna vaccine distributor Zuellig Pharma to buy five million doses for the city.

After several discussions, the municipal authorities approved the contents of the draft MoU with Sapharco, VinaCapital, and Zuellig Pharma. On July 7, Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issued Official Letter No.2261 assigning Sapharco and VinaCapital to negotiate the deal.

Sapharco has said it is working on a draft contract with Moderna representatives. If everything goes well, the vaccine doses are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021 or the start of 2022. The company also requested that at least two million Moderna doses are delivered to the city in October, and is negotiating to have at least 10 million additional doses by the second quarter of next year as booster shots.

Earlier, the four industry trade groups of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, the Vietnam Leather, Footwear, and Handbag Association, the Vietnam Electronic Industries Association, and the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City also sought the prime minister’s approval to buy vaccines from a company in the United Arab Emirates to provide free injections to their employees. The trade groups will pay for the vaccines in a hope to ensure production and avoid supply chain disruptions.

Last week, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh greenlit the four trade groups’ proposals and instructed the MoH to negotiate with the UAE’s company to purchase, preserve, and organise vaccinations.

Foreign associations are looking at innovative schemes to secure vaccines. “We have seen the pandemic continue to be unpredictable and widespread in Vietnam, and many German companies have been feeling the initial impact of the virus. There is a number of investors from Germany who must postpone their investment plans or even stop planned constructions due to the current situation,” said Marko Walde, chief representative of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (AHK Vietnam).

“We have been trying to access the vaccines ourselves, directly with the support of the authorities at the national and provincial level,” he added. “The most challenging factors are the huge demand and the initiative at the governmental level. In other words, the global demand for vaccines dwarfs the supply, and it is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure vaccines are available worldwide.”

AHK Vietnam is now in contact with several vaccination manufacturers, with the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, on the purpose of getting hundreds of thousands of doses for Vietnam, especially for German companies here and their local employees. With this initiative, AHK Vietnam hopes to support Vietnam in accelerating vaccinations and find the way out of this pandemic.

According to Mary Tarnowka, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Vietnam, it is supporting the Vietnamese government’s goals of controlling the virus and enabling economic growth. AmCham has strongly advocated for US vaccines and welcomes the five million doses of Moderna that the US government has donated to Vietnam. She added that AmCham has not sought priority access, but urges Vietnam to carry out a transparent, equitable, and efficient distribution process, according to stated priority risk groups.

“We welcome workers in industrial zones being identified as a priority group, and more vaccines being sent to Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and other hard-hit areas. We hope that these can qualify for early vaccines access,” Tarnowka said.

AmCham members have also expressed willingness to pay for vaccines. A survey carried out by AmCham a few months ago found that over 90 per cent of the companies were willing to pay for vaccines for their employees and, in some cases, for family members as well.

“That said, the companies wanted to ensure they would not be jumping the queue for current vaccine stocks over other higher pri- ority risk groups,” Tarnowka said. “I am not aware whether any of our member companies are participating in this scheme with the UAE company. But I know many would be willing to pay for approved vaccines to ensure the health and safety of their workers, as well as enable resumption and continuity of operations.”

Vietnam poised to become world’s leading seafood processing centre

The growth of processed seafood output in Vietnam will reach over 6 percent a year by 2030 under a national seafood processing development strategy for 2021-2030 which has been approved by the Prime Minister.

The strategy aims at turning Vietnam into a seafood processing centre and join the top five seafood processing countries in the world by 2030. It also strives to develop a modern, efficient and sustainable seafood processing industry, meeting the demands of consumption markets, improving its competitiveness and integrating deeply into the global value chain.

Under the strategy, value-added processed  products will account for over 40 percent of total export value of seafood.

At least 70 percent of seafood processing establishments will have production technology from medium to advanced levels.

The strategy also sets a goal that by 2030, the value of seafood processing for domestic consumption reach 40 - 45 trillion VND (1.7-1.9 billion USD), besides an export value of seafood of 14-16 billion USD.

A number of modern seafood processing corporations with economic potential and management on par with the world level will be established at the same time.

To realise these goals, the strategy has set forth some tasks including the development and management of the production of raw materials for seafood processing to meet the demand of enterprises and in line with the requirements of domestic consumption and export.

Compliance with both domestic regulations and international practices and requirements including traceability and origin is also a must.

It is necessary to attract investment to form big seafood processing corporations which have economic potential and business administration on par with the world level and upgrade technology and capacity of seafood processing facilities for export.

The production chain should be restructured to improve the economic efficiency and competitiveness of processed seafood products.

Enterprises diversify plans to adapt to COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese enterprises have proven their dynamism and high adaptability to the situation as the fourth outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to successive social distancing measures over the past month.

To Hoai Nam, vice president and general secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (VINASME), said that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnamese businesses had really made many changes to adapt to difficulties and challenges.

Many businesses have organised rotational work for employees to minimise absence and leave no one behind; applied cost-saving measures by adjusting personnel towards concentration and giving priority to positions generating direct revenue; at the same time, created conditions for some positions to work from home.

Along with that, businesses reviewed spending plans in the direction of minimalism and adjusted investment programmes which are not urgent or are no longer suitable for pandemic conditions and after it is over to adapt to changes in consumer behaviour.

Enterprises also actively negotiated to reduce office rent and production and business rates; adjusted internal regulations to ensure the safety of labour positions, while also ensuring the maintenance of operations.

In addition, enterprises also have implemented internal policies to strongly encourage initiatives and creativity in production and business, meeting the requirements of pandemic prevention and control while maintaining revenue growth.

Nam also said that many businesses had actively changed and sought credit sources with lower interest rates from the Government's supportive policies, commercial banks' support packages as well as finding new sources of supply of raw materials, sources of new goods or services, or implemented the "sharing economy" with customers, business partners or investors and consumers.

There are also businesses converting to online sales, attaching importance to e-commerce platforms.

Tran Thoa, Deputy Director of Thien Tam Thao Company Limited, said that the outbreak of COVID-19 had seriously affected the business activities of all enterprises.

Facing that influence, the company has changed business and sales strategies to promote online business based on e-commerce platforms and online services. This has helped the business maintain revenue and profit.

In order to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pham Thi Bich Hue, vice president of the Viet Nam Young Entrepreneurs' Association, also noted three issues to focus on at this time, which are the reasonable adjustment of personnel; distinctive development strategies and specific management solutions to respond to the current crisis of the risk of pandemic outbreaks. 

Livestock groups satisfied despite drop in recent profits

While supply chain disruptions exacerbated by rising input material prices have brought down revenue and profit from standout heights in 2020, many of the biggest livestock companies in Vietnam are looking at first-half year results with a sense of satisfaction.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), in the first half of this year, the agricultural sector and particularly animal feed production has witnessed strong growth in production volume, at 3.82 per cent on-year.

Estimates published by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam showed that in H1/2021, a total of 3.2 million tonnes of meat was provided to the market, including approximately two million tonnes of pork (up 8.1 per cent on-year) and over 932,000 tonnes of poultry (up 6.1 per cent on-year). Meanwhile, 8.4 billion eggs went into consumption (up 5 per cent on-year) as well as over 561,000 tonnes of milk (up 11.2 per cent on-year).

Nguyen Van Trong, deputy director of the MARD’s Department of Livestock Production, said that the growth in production volume in H1 is a particular triumph in the context of the pandemic which disrupted the operations and distribution chains of numerous livestock companies while also racking up considerable added expenses for pandemic control.

“Besides that, businesses have also been impacted by the drastic increase in material prices for animal feed production. This is important because Vietnam imports 90 per cent of animal feed materials which make up 60-70 per cent of production costs,” Trong said.

He added that the situation will likely grow worse as 19 provinces of the southern region – the main production hub for the livestock industry – have been adopting social distancing measures.

“In order to ensure the thorough distribution for enterprises, the MARD is proposing the government to recognise breeding animals and equipment for the livestock industry as essential goods to make transportation smoother,” Trong said.

While the output has been growing steadily, these difficulties have been eating into the revenue and profit of livestock companies, resulting in lower figures than last year, when the price of pigs experienced runaway growth, bolstering profits for all.

Do Hoang Long, development and sales manager of Japfa Comfeed, told VIR that while the revenue and profit in H1 were indeed lower than the year prior, the company maintained stability in almost all segments.

In 2020, the majority of Japfa Comfeed’s revenue and profit came from the pork segment while the chicken segment had been reporting consecutive losses. However, since the beginning of 2021, the price of chicken has been increasing while the price of pigs declined by approximately VND20,000 (87 US cents) per kg compared to last year’s peak, but remained at a profit-making level.

“The rapidly increasing cost of global agri-commodities and freight rates have impacted the cost prices of feed and food globally, including in Vietnam. However, we continued to see growth in this segment thanks to long-term contracts with international partners,” Long said.

The company has strictly observed pandemic prevention and control measures at its factories, farms, and offices to protect the health of labourers while keeping production and business on track. Thus, the operations of six animal feed production factories, over 300 livestock breeding farms, and 40 shops selling meat and processed foods managed to avoid serious impact.

Meanwhile, Johan Van Den Ban, general director of De Heus Vietnam and Cambodia, told VIR that the group is satisfied with its first-half results. “We have grown our business together with independent farmers in Vietnam, expanded poultry breeding capacity, and opened a new hatchery in partnership with Bel Ga. At the same time, we are also proceeding with multiple swine genetics projects so that we can elevate professional standards in this important sector.”

In its financial statement for H1/2021, leading domestic livestock company Dabaco Group JSC reported a 30 per cent plunge in after-tax profit on-year, with VND579 billion ($25.17 million), mainly caused by after-tax profit dropping 47 per cent on-year in the second quarter. For the full year, Dabaco targets to acquire VND15.4 trillion ($669.57 million) in revenue, with VND827 billion ($35.96 million) in after-tax profit.

According to company leaders, this year expenses for livestock companies have drastically escalated. Distribution and production activities were impacted at numerous facilities, with Dabaco hit especially hard in the second quarter when Bac Giang and Bac Ninh provinces became epicentres, forcing many of its farms to suspend operations. Its labour force dropped by 50-75 per cent as many of its employees were stuck in lockdown areas, unable to return to work.

Meanwhile, Mitraco Livestock JSC in the central province of Ha Tinh, which produces 60,000 pigs a year, also set lower targets. This year the company plans to earn VND350 billion ($15.22 million) in revenue, and VND45 billion ($1.96 million) in after-tax profit, 12 and 52.7 per cent lower than last year.

Vietnamese agricultural exports shine despite pandemic

The agricultural industry has promoted trade successfully despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to expanding export markets and helping the country gain an impressive trade surplus of US$3.9 billion in the first seven months.

Among trade deals made by the agriculture industry in the period, the most notable was Viet Nam’s lychee exports to Japan. With efforts in negotiation and commitments to comply with Japan’s regulations, Japan authorised Viet Nam to supervise and approve Vietnamese quarantine treatment establishments.

According to Hoang Trung, director of the ministry’s Plant Protection Department, the department had to continuously work online with Japanese authorities, even implementing online inspection, which created favourable conditions for enterprises to successfully export lychees in 2021.

Ngo Thi Thu Hong, director of Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said when Viet Nam was allowed to monitor quarantine treatment establishments, the department’s quarantine staff came to work with the establishments, which helped the lychee exports to be much more favourable than last year.

The department also negotiated with Malaysia on pesticide residues to restore chili exports. The department also broadly solved problems related to the export of fresh fruits and promoted the opening of Viet Nam's agricultural products market to China, especially for lychees and sweet potatoes.

The ministry’s Department of Animal Health (DAH) also supported more factories to export milk and dairy products, feathers, fishmeal and fish oil to China. It has also completed procedures on exporting processed chicken products to Russia and has so far gained approval from the country.

In addition, the DAH has also exchanged and negotiated with countries such as the United States, China and Russia to open the market for animal products.

According to Nguyen Quoc Toan, director of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development, relevant agencies have negotiated to open more export markets and remove technical barriers to promote the export of agricultural, forestry and seafood produce.

The agencies have also coordinated and exchanged with Vietnamese embassies and trade offices in other countries to have timely analysts and forecasts on agricultural product consumption in key export markets such as Japan, South Korea, the US, the EU and China during and after the pandemic.

Agencies have focused on solving problems on food safety barriers to ease agricultural exports. In the first half, they successfully organised online inspections, which helped 13 enterprises export catfish to the US besides adding 18 and 13 seafood processing establishments for export to Russia and South Korea respectively.

According to Toan, the industry will continue to negotiate to remove importing countries’ trade and technical barriers imposed on Vietnamese agricultural produce.

It will also expand the agricultural product market to economies with complementary product structures with Viet Nam, such as Japan, South Korea, India, the European Union or the Middle East, as well as introducing suitable products in potential markets such as Russia, the Middle East, Africa and ASEAN. 

Vietnam, Egypt seek to beef up trade ties

The second meeting of the Vietnam – Egypt Sub-Committee on Trade and Industry Cooperation was held virtually on August 18 under the co-chair of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung and his Egyptian counterpart Ibrahim El-Seginy.

Both sides reviewed trade and industry cooperation since the first meeting in April 2018, discussed regional and global situation affecting bilateral economic ties, and reached consensus on several specific measures tackling difficulties in export-import.

They debated cooperation opportunities in industry, orientations and measures to further improve bilateral economic connectivity, and remedy the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two sides agreed to build a mechanism to share information regarding market demand, export-import management regulations, quarantine, and goods quality management.

They expressed wish for further collaboration among relevant agencies to offer market navigation opportunities to each other, especially for agro-fishery products, in line with bilateral and multilateral international commitments.

Online trade and investment promotion activities will be held to link the two countries’ investors and businesses together amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, logistics cooperation opportunities will be enhanced, including building logistics projects, holding seminars and training human resources in the field.

They also shared each country’s industrial development policies and priorities to seek cooperation opportunities in trade and investment, as well as explored the possibility of joint work in electricity, apparel, chemicals, automobiles, construction materials and telecommunications.

On this occasion, Vietnam suggested that Egypt open the market for a number of Vietnam’s agricultural products, including dragon fruit, lychee, ginger and turmeric; as well as support and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises exporting to Egypt to meet requirements set by the country.

The successful session once again affirms the importance of the mechanism of Vietnam – Egypt Sub-Committee on Trade and Industry Cooperation to strengthening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, especially in the context that world and regional trade activities are facing many difficulties, with the increasing protectionism and trade tensions between major powers.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Egypt is currently one of the most important trade partners and a potential market of Vietnam in North Africa.

Data from Vietnam Customs shows that the two-way trade between Vietnam and Egypt in 2020 reached 515 million USD, up 4.8 percent against 2019. In the first six months of 2021, Vietnam’s export turnover to Egypt was 238.7 million USD, a year-on-year rise of 11.4 percent.

Vietnam’s main exports to Egypt include computers, electronic products and components; metals; fiber; machinery and equipment; seafood; cashew; phones and accessories; pepper; coffee; vegetables; and garment.

Meanwhile, the country imports vegetables and fruits, plastic materials, DAP fertilizer, and raw materials for textile and footwear production./.

Realty bond market prospers amid potential risks

The realty sector recorded a strong rise in the value of corporate bonds issued in the first six months of 2021, but risks still abound amid the impact of COVID-19 on production and businesses.

In the second quarter of 2021, the total value of corporate bonds issued reached VND164 trillion (US$7.15 billion), 3.7 times higher than the previous quarter and up 29 per cent over the same period in 2020, according to the corporate bond market report published recently by the Center for Analysis and Investment Advisory of SSI Securities Joint Stock Company (SSI Research).

Of the estimate, the value of bonds issued by real estate enterprises was VND64.4 trillion, accounting for 44.4 per cent of the total issued value, an increase of 131 per cent compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 285 per cent over the same period in 2020.

The issuers with the largest amounts of bonds were Golden Hill, BIM Group, Hung Thinh Quy Nhon and Wonderland. Besides domestic issuance, a number of businesses also issued international bonds, such as BIM Group issuing $200 million with an interest rate of 7.4 per cent per year.

In the first two quarters of 2021, real estate businesses issued the largest amount of bonds with the issuance value of up to VND92.3 trillion, with an average interest rate of 10.36 per cent per year, 23 percentage points lower than the 2020 average.

“The main fuel of the bond market in the real estate sector is that bond interest rates are much higher than deposit rates at banks, as well as current restrictions on access to bank capital," said the report by SSI Research.

A reporter from tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn, posing as an individual investor, tried to buy bonds in a group on Facebook, with an expected investment of several hundred million Vietnamese dong, he received dozens of messages thereafter.

Decree No 153/2020/ND-CP on private bond offering and trading, effective from January 1, 2021, stipulates that buyers of privately issued bonds must be professional investors. But in fact, brokerages can still commit a breach of this regulation if customers insist.

Huong Nguyen, a financial consultant working at a securities company, told tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn her company was ready to support customers in the procedures and conditions to possess a certificate as a professional investor if that buyer wishes to directly sign the bond purchase contract.

Huong said that the bonds provided by the company have many terms for customers to choose from, particularly 3-6-9-12-15 months, with interest rates amounting to 10 per cent per year, significantly higher than the interest rates offered by banks for deposits.

“Lower bank interest rates and current volatile stock market are attributed to investors more frequently shifting to other investment channels such as corporate bonds,” said Nguyen Anh Trung, Deputy General Director of Hai Phong Securities Company.

“The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, is damaging the production and business activities of enterprises, affecting their ability to pay interest for bonds.

“Recently there are businesses in the field of beauty, car repair and maintenance, karaoke and restaurants, which are non-essential services and businesses easily affected by the disease, regularly inviting individual investors to buy corporate bonds with unbelievably high interest rates of 18 per cent per year for an investment of only VND1 billion,” he said.

In the latest warning, the Ministry of Finance said that investors buying bonds need to clearly distinguish between the two methods of issuing corporate bonds to the public, and issuing corporate bonds privately.

Increased risk

SSI Research forecast in its report that risks with corporate bonds are increasing, especially in the real estate and energy sectors.

According to SSI Research, of the bonds issued in the first half of 2021, 18.6 per cent are secured by real estate, 11 per cent are secured by assets, 33 per cent are partially secured by assets, real estate and shares, 9.3 per cent fully secured by shares and 28 per cent unsecured.

More specifically, the report stated that there is VND29 trillion of real estate bonds fully secured by stocks or without collateral. If including real estate bonds partially secured by shares, this figure reaches nearly VND60 trillion, accounting for 64 per cent of the total amount of real estate bonds issued in the first six months of 2021.

The obligation to pay the bond interests by shares is meaningless because when a crisis occurs, the enterprise becomes insolvent, the value of shares used as collateral also drops dramatically, SSI said.

Vietnam’s CBU car imports in seven months surge despite COVID-19

Vietnam’s imports of completely built-up (CBU) vehicles in the first seven months of 2021 posted a year-on-year surge of 111.2 percent in volume despite the complexities of COVID-19.

Statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that in the period, Vietnam purchased 95,525 CBU vehicles worth 2.1 billion USD, surging 107.1 percent in value against the same period last year.

Thailand and Indonesia were the main providers of Vietnam, holding a lion’s share of 80 percent.

In July alone, 14,407 cars worth 290.8 million USD were imported, down 5.9 percent in volume and 13.3 percent in value compared to the previous month.

Meanwhile, members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) sold 166,516 vehicles in January-July, up 27 percent compared to the same period last year. Of the figure, domestically assembled cars made up 15 percent, or 94,109.

In seven months, TC Motor of Hyundai Thanh Cong sold 38,066 vehicles, while VinFast of conglomerate Vingroup 19,720 units./.

Agritourism expected to bring double benefits to Hanoi

Hanoi boasts good potential in agricultural tourism, or agritourism, with its 18 suburban districts and townships, which is expected to help the capital city diversify its tourism products and promote growth of the suburban localities.

Experts held that agritourism has high opportunities to grow when traditional tourism products have been exploited for a long time and tourists’ demand for new tourism experience is rising.

Agritourism is expected to bring entirely new inspiration for travellers who will have chances to experience the daily life of farmers in natural environment. Moreover, agritourism is hoped to create a new livelihood for rural people by creating new jobs, while restoring and promoting traditional values and improving the living conditions for local community.

Currently, agritourism products in Hanoi mostly focus on exploiting the wet rice cultivation and culture of the northern delta region, along with the combination of agritourism and cultural heritage and craft village. Rural farms have been developed serving school tourism activities and weekend vacations in outskirt areas and vincinity.

Hanoi has seen the formation of agricultural eco-farms combining with tourism and education, with typical examples like the Ban Rom ecotourism area in Quang Tien commune, Soc Son district, Dong Que Farm in Ba Vi district, Van An education farm in Thanh Tri district. The sites provide visitors with experience in farming, harvesting and enjoying agricultural products themselves right at the sites.
In Thanh Tri, Hoai Duc, Dong Anh, Gia Lam, Soc Son and Thach That districts, the number of agricultural farms combining with tourism is rising, attracting a large number of visitors.

The development of agricultural farms in combination with school tourism has opened up a new growth prospect for many outskirt areas of Hanoi.

At the same time, traditional craft villages of Hanoi have become increasing popular among tourists thanks to their time-honoured cultural values and creativity of artisans. Ancient trade villages in suburban localities have been attractive to travelers who wish to experience local life.

Despite its great potential and advantages, Hanoi’s agritourism growth has still remained modest with small-scaled and similar models. Agritourism products have yet to create their unique attractiveness and own trademarks.

Insiders held that in order to promote agritourism development, it is necessary to design a master plan for its growth with specific standards. The city should support the building of promotion programmes for agritourism, ensuring that it operates around the year in all seasons, while giving trainings for labourers involving in the sector.

Aware of the high potential of agritourism and its role in the diversification of rural livelihoods and the improvement of living conditions in rural areas, many suburban localities of Hanoi have paid great attention to this kind of tourism.

Dan Phuong district, the first district of Hanoi that has been recognised as a new-style rural area, is trying to tap its advantages in a convenient travel system and a thick network of cultural relic and heritage sites as well as a large number of traditional craft villages, to develop tourism.

Tran Duc Hai, Secretary of the Party Committee of Dan Phuong said that tourism is a new development orientation of the district basing on the local resources, including those in cultural, historical and architecture values. With a large farming area and flower fields, Dan Phuong is confident that its agritourism can prosper.

Over the years, Hanoi's tourism sector has built and implemented various plans to expand tourism products and encourage tourism development, along with efforts in developing human resources for the sector and integrating tourism models in the building of new-style rural areas in districts.

Meanwhile, the capital city has worked hard to build agritourism products and improve other tourism products in rural areas, which has become an important way to promote agritourism growth of the city.

Dang Huong Giang, Director of the municipal Tourism Department said that in the 2016-2020 period, the department coordinated with relevant agencies to organise 44 training courses for 8,900 rural residents in providing tourism services, while implementing a pilot programme to build logos for Hanoi's tourism products, for example Bat Trang ceramic trade village and Van Phuc silk village.

Currently, the department is drafting a plan for agritourism development in combination with new-style rural area building in the 2021-2025 period, aiming to boost the growth of the sector and change the face of its outskirt areas, said Giang./.

Businesses seek new trends to boost exports to Spain

Vietnamese enterprises must learn to cater to the tastes and new consumption trends in order to boost their exports to Spain, according to Vietnam’s Trade Office in Spain.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic having a negative impact on economic and trade ties between both sides, two-way trade turnover has yielded positive results thanks to the enforcement of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Statistics released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs indicate that Vietnamese exports to Spain during the opening seven months of the year reached US$1.374 billion, an annual increase of 14.78%.

With approximately 70% of the Spanish population fully vaccinated, their economic recovery will serve to boost Vietnamese import and export turnover to the market ahead in the remaining months of the year.

The enforcement of EVFTA is therefore expected to create a wealth of opportunities in which Vietnamese goods can penetrate the Spanish market.

Currently, key Vietnamese export items to the European country include phones and components, garments and textiles, footwear; machinery, tools and spare parts, coffee, toys, game equipment and sports equipment, and furniture, leather travel accessories, rubber, edible fruit and almonds, seafood, plastic products, metal tools and kitchenware, and carpets.

Experts have advised domestic seafood enterprises to meet stringent technical standards relation to safety and hygiene so as to make inroads into the EU and Spanish markets, especially with regard to regulations of residue levels of banned substances in export seafood products.

Moreover, the Spanish market, along with the EU market in general, continues to pay special attention to corporate social responsibility, with employers required to ensure standard working conditions for employees along with environmental protection.

Amid the complicated nature of COVID-19 developments, the Trade Office said it will help local businesses enhance online trade linkages and participate in online trade promotion activities at both local and international fairs and exhibitions.

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

VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS AUGUST 18

Foreign investment poured in Vietnam despite COVID-19