The first flight on Vietravel Airlines’ new route linking Ho Chi Minh City to the south central province of Binh Dinh’s Quy Nhon city took off on January 21.

In the new normal condition, the carrier plans to operate one flight a day on the route in line with the pandemic prevention measures, aiming to ensure an on-time performance rate of more than 98 percent. Basing on actual demand, it will consider raising the number to two flights per day.

The same day, the airline also resumed services on the Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang route.

In addition to opening more domestic routes, Vietravel Airlines is also working with international aviation authorities to expand its flight network to Northeast and Southeast Asian markets from the second quarter of 2022.

The airline has completed negotiations to increase its fleet to six this year in accordance with its approved roadmap 

Dien Bien airport expansion project underway

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh on January 22 pressed a button kick-starting a project on Dien Bien airport expansion in north-western region of Vietnam to receive larger aircraft in future.

The project has a total investment capital of VND1.467 trillion sourced from the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV). Land acquisition is projected to cost VND1.555 trillion from Dien Bien province’s budget.

The project aims to upgrade the airport’s infrastructure to accommodate Airbus A320s, A321s and other similar aircraft, instead of only small aircraft at present. At the same time, the existing passenger terminal will be upgraded to serve 500,000 passengers per year as opposed to 300,000 passengers/at present.

Samsung Vietnam’s 2021 revenue tops 74 billion USD

Despite difficulties due to COVID-19, Samsung Vietnam earned 74.2 billion USD in revenue last year, up 14 percent annually.

The company’s export value, meanwhile, hit 65.5 billion USD, up 16 percent on year, according to its 2021 business report released on January 19.

Samsung Vietnam said it received comprehensive support from the Government and the authorities in localities where its factories are located, thus avoiding interruption to their operation.

Also in 2021, over 4 million Samsung foldable phones were sold worldwide, 4 times that the volume recorded in 2020. Currently, more than 50 percent of Samsung phone products are produced in Vietnam. Smart mobile phones manufactured at Samsung factories in the nation are being exported to 128 countries and territories around the world.

By the end of 2021, Samsung Vietnam's total accumulated investment capital hit 18 billion USD, 102 percent higher than the approved investment capital in 2020./.

Da Nang shakes hands with Klook in tourism promotion

The Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre on January 21 signed a cooperation agreement with travel firm Klook Vietnam on strengthening communications and tourism promotion to attract more tourists to the central city.

Under the deal, the two sides will work together to conduct joint campaigns to lure domestic and foreign tourists to Da Nang, including digital communications through Facebook, Instagram as well as Klook's website and app, and support local travel firms in digital transformation using Klook platform.

To mark the partnership with Da Nang, Klook has offered a discount code DANANG2022 worth 150,000 VND to customers who book its services in Da Nang via its app and website at https://www.klook.com/vi/deals from January 21 to February 15, which can be used until December 31.

Equitisation and divestment move slowly

Although relevant policies have been put in place, the process of equitisation and divestment of State capital is still moving at a very slow pace, according to Dang Quyet Tien, director of the Corporate Finance Department under the Ministry of Finance.

Tien said just three enterprises, under Vietnam Northern Food Corp. and Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group, were successfully equitised in 2021. Notably, these three were not on the list of enterprises under equitisation approved by the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, 89 enterprises have not yet finished equitising as planned, of which 13 are large-scale enterprises located in Hanoi and 38 in HCM City.

Regarding divestment, the director revealed that State capital withdrawal took place in 18 enterprises last year at a total book value of 1,665 billion VND (73 million USD), raking in 4,402 billion VND (193.1 million USD).

Such an amount pales in comparison with the amount of divested capital during 2016-2020, which stood at 27.3 trillion VND (1.2 billion USD) in book value, fetching up to 177.4 trillion VND (7.8 billion USD).

Kien Giang’s industrial production value rises over 9.48 pct in January

The industrial production value of the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang is estimated to hit more than 4.33 trillion VND (191.42 million USD) in January, posting a month-on-month rise of 6.89 percent and up 9.48 percent from the same period last year.

According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, of the amount, mining raked in 31 billion VND, rising 21.1 percent; and manufacturing and processing, over 4.1 trillion VND, up 9.44 percent.

Department Director Nguyen Van Hoang said that sectors seeing growing output compared to the same period last year include leather and footwear, frozen shrimp, unburnt brick and frozen fish.

Export revenues may reach 71 million USD in the month, representing a year-on-year surge of 37.4 percent and meeting 9.1 percent of the year’s plan.

Vietnamese female entrepreneurs supported in cross-border e-commerce

A seminar on technical assistance for Vietnamese female entrepreneurs engaging in cross-border e-commerce was held on January 21 within the framework of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

In October 2020, the APEC forum approved the initiative “Women-Owned Business in Cross-Border E-Commerce Diagnostic Toolkit”, which aimed to provide methods to support APEC economies in building a more favourable environment for women in accessing international markets via using e-commerce platforms.

Participants focused their discussions on opportunities and challenges for women-owned enterprises engaging in cross-border e-commerce, gaps in policy and actual data; and shared public-private partnership efforts to promote female entrepreneurs' participation in cross-border e-commerce.

Petrol prices rise by over 400 VND per litre

Retail petrol prices rose by more than 400 VND per litre from 3pm on January 21 following the latest adjustment by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance.

The retail price of E5RON92 bio-fuel increased 436 VND to a maximum of 23,595 VND (1.04 USD) per litre, while that of RON95 rose 484 VND to no more than 24,360 VND per litre.

The prices of diesel 0.05S and kerosene, meanwhile, went up 664 VND and 655 VND per litre, respectively.

This is the second consecutive hike of petrol prices in 2022 and the third in a row.

Important step forward for Vietnamese, EU firms in socio-economic recovery

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on December 30, 2021 issued a resolution allowing the implementation of a number of mechanisms and policies in the healthcare sector serving COVID-19 prevention and control activities, including the management of drug and drug ingredients.

After the document was promulgated, Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) Alain Cany, on behalf of European businesses in the country, sent a letter to NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, expressing his appreciation for the promulgation of this Resolution, describing it an important step forward for both Vietnamese and European enterprises in socio-economic recovery and public health protection.

In particular, the EuroCham Chairman emphasised that the extension of the use of the circulation registration license until December 31, 2022 together with other regulations on drugs and ingredients will help ease difficulties and burdens caused by the lingering and complicated pandemic.

Vietnam-US trade hits record high in 2021

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the US set a new milestone, hitting 111.56 billion USD in 2021, up nearly 21 billion USD over the previous year, according to the General Department of Customs.

The impressive figure made the US the second trade partner having import-export turnover with Vietnam reaching the 100 billion USD mark after China.

Last year Vietnam's exports to the US rose 25 percent to nearly 96.3 billion USD, accounting for 28.6 percent of the country's total exports.

Among Vietnam's major export items to the US were machinery, equipment and parts with 17.82 billion USD, up 46 percent; textiles and garments (16.1 billion USD, up 15 percent); computers, electronics and components (12.76 billion USD; up 23 percent); handsets and parts (9.69 billion USD, up 10.3 percent); footwear (7.42 billion USD, up 18 percent); and wood and wooden products (8.8 billion USD, up 23 percent).

Last year, the country imported nearly 15.27 billion USD worth of goods from the US, mainly computers, electronics and components as well as machinery, equipment and parts.

Fiber export turnover reaches record $5.6 billion in 2021

Viet Nam’s export turnover of fiber of all types reached a record high of US$5.6 billion in 2021, despite the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, data of the General Department of Viet Nam Customs showed.

It was up nearly 9 per cent in volume and over 50 per cent in value against last year’s figures.

Last year, the price of fiber rose by 25 per cent compared to 2020. Of these, cotton experienced the highest growth, followed by polyviscose and polycotton. Many enterprises including the Ha Noi Textile and Garment Joint Stock Corporation (Hanosimex) have benefited from the fiber price hike.

Despite the outbreak of the pandemic last year, Hanosimex’s subsidiaries still operated at full capacity. The corporation attributed it to the fact that they had received orders early and had been proactive in securing materials for their production.

New law on bond issuance may impede businesses

Regulations introduced in the draft Decree 153 on bond issuance may impede the growth of businesses, reducing their competitiveness compared to foreign rivals.

This issue was discussed by experts at a meeting named: "Corporate bond market under the impact of draft amendments to Decree 153/2020/ND-CP".

The draft stipulates that enterprises are not allowed to issue bonds to raise capital which will be used in buying shares, buying bonds of other enterprises or lending other enterprises.

Fertiliser producers toast to 2021's buoyant business

A string of listed fertiliser producers posted a rosy profit picture in 2021 despite a less favourable business climate in the previous quarter.

Lam Thao Fertilisers and Chemicals JSC (LAS) just announced its fourth-quarter financial statement which saw its Q4/2021 accrued profits from sales and services provision shedding 34 per cent on-year to just more than $3.73 million as the growth of capital expenditure outpaced that of net income.

Similarly, DAP-Vinachem JSC (DDV) caught $31.3 million in net revenues in Q4, equal compared to one year ago due to a sharp rise in capital expenditure. The soaring material cost had overshadowed the company’s Q4 profit. Accordingly, DDV just counted nearly $1.43 million in post-tax profit in the fourth quarter last year, down 42 per cent on-year.

Meanwhile, DDV raked in $125 million in net revenue in 2021, soaring 52 per cent on-year and nearly $8.34 million in post-tax profit, a six-fold increase on-year.

Several other fertiliser firms have announced healthy business results in 2021 albeit without making their financial statements public.

Along with this, Phu My Fertiliser JSC reaped $557.6 million in total revenues and $156.5 million in pretax profits, up 63 per cent in revenues and 324 per cent in pre-tax profit compared to 2020.

Similarly, Ca Mau Petroleum Fertiliser JSC (DCM) just recorded a record profit in its history reaching $79.13 million in 2021, triple the 2020 level.

 Source: VNA/VIR/VOV/VNS/SGT/

VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JANUARY 21

Vietnam-US trade hits record high in 2021