Vietnam attends largest food, beverage fair in North America

Vietnamese food and beverages are attracting huge attention from visitors to the largest specialty food industry event in North America held in New York from June 30 to July 2.

Nine prestigious exporters bring to the Summer Fancy Food Show their outstanding products such as frozen and canned fruits and vegetables, coconut and coconut products, processed cashew nuts, pepper, instant noodle and vermicelli, and canned fruit juices.

Hoang Van Du, deputy director of the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the samples are still traditional exports but now they are organic, with quality improved and food safety ensured.

Vietnam’s attendance at the event aims to help the country’s businesses maintain partnership with US importers, develop new products for export, sign more export contracts and promote Vietnam’s cuisine, food and agricultural products, he said.

According to Du, in 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration started modernising food safety regulations and the new mechanism requires strict control over products, from cultivation and husbandry to processing and export.

Therefore, he advised Vietnamese enterprises to tighten control over product quality and invite US experts to Vietnam for assessment at least once a year.

In addition, US customs offices have also tightened the accreditation of imports. In the past, only 2 percent of products were accredited but the rate has now exceeded 50 percent, even 100 percent for certain products such as catfish.

This year’s Summer Fancy Food Show attracts the participation of 2,650 businesses from 83 nations and territories showcasing their products in over 3,600 booths. The event draws the participation of over 50,000 visitors.

This is the third time Vietnam has attended the event, following its presence in 2006 and 2016.

Kien Giang cracks down on violators of land-use regulations      

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang’s People’s Committee has instructed inspection teams to impose severe fines on violators of laws on construction, land subdivision, and illegal deforestation.

Kien Giang Province is cracking down on violators of land use regulations.

Phu Quoc District in particular has faced rampant construction violations, including building without permits and illegal residential construction on farmland.

From August 2017 to April, the province checked 646 construction works in the island district, and of these, 358 were violating laws. Most of the offenders were in the communes of Cua Can, Cua Duong, Ganh Dau and Duong To.

The inspection team fined investors of 54 out of the checked 646 construction projects, while 196 others had to be demolished.

Of the total number, investors of 108 projects were required to ask for a permission licence from authorised agencies.

Le Quoc Anh, director of the Kien Giang Province’s Department of Construction and head of the inspection team, said the number of violations on construction and subdivision of farmland were rampant in the district.

However, local authorised agencies’ management of construction and land has been ineffective, he said, adding that they had not checked projects’land use regularly and had not imposed severe fines on violators.

PC Chairman Pham Vu Hong told the Phu Quoc people’s committee and relevant authorities to strengthen management of land use more closely and draw up a detailed land plan and publish it.

In addition to construction violations, inspection teams also fined 14 out of 29 illegal deforestation and forest encroachment cases.

The area of damaged protective forest and special-use forest was discovered to total more than 53,500 square metres. In addition, the inspectors also found 43 hectares of forested land destroyed in a buffer zone.

Phu Quoc District also has many delayed projects. Of the total 420, many have been delayed for at least 10 years, according to the Phu Quoc Economic Zone Management Board.

Among the delayed projects,178 have received investment licences. Sixty have completed procedures for investment, land use, and construction.

The lack of roads that connect to the projects has also caused delays, as well as the slow compensation payments to affected local residents.

Hong told the management board to create favorable conditions for investors and speed up land clearance.

The board recommended withdrawing licences of 10 delayed projects on Phu Quoc Island.

It said that it would review projects that have been delayed since they were approved in 2007.

As of mid-June, the island had attracted 279 projects with a total area of 10,754 hectares.

Of these, 36 projects have been put into operation. Thirty-five are under construction. The rest are completing investment procedures. 

Digitalisation could be boon for region     

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Asia Pacific will gain an extra US$387 billion by 2021 and grow by another 1 per cent annually if the region’s manufacturing sector embraces digital transformation, according to the study “Unlocking the Economic Impact of Digital Transformation in Asia Pacific”.

The report, released on Friday, was jointly conducted by Microsoft and IDC Asia/Pacific based on a survey of 615 business leaders from the manufacturing sector across 15 markets in the region, including Viet Nam.

“Embracing digital transformation is a critical imperative for manufacturers,” said Lucky Gani, marketing and operation lead for Microsoft Vietnam.

“Those organisations which had already embarked on their digital transformation journeys gained improvements in the range of 13 per cent to 17 per cent last year. They will see at least 40 per cent improvement in three years, with customer advocacy registering the highest improvement rate.”

The study finds that manufacturing organisations realise the importance of data today.

In fact, 44 per cent of respondents pointed out that tracking how data is being used as a capital asset is a key performance indicator (KPIs) in measuring digital transformation.

Manufacturing organisations are planning to invest in cloud and big data analytics, followed by artificial intelligence, cognition and robotics, and Internet of Things solutions this year.

“Digital transformation should be viewed as a team sport, not an independent business operation. Manufacturing organizations need to address culture and skills challenges through developing a digital culture and addressing organisational shifts required for a change to happen,” added Lucky Gani.

“First and foremost, organisations need to address the skills gap within the industry. In fact, respondents highlighted that they expect 85 per cent of jobs within the sector to be transformed in the next three years.”

The study recommends organisations to adopt a three-step data strategy to become a digital transformation leader: collection of data, optimisation of existing products and services through data, and creating new business model with data. 

3,000 cases of smuggling, fake goods in HCM City in 2018     

The HCM City Market Management Department carried out 10,560 raids in the first half of the year and uncovered 3,037 cases of smuggling, trade fraud and fake goods.

Nguyen Van Bach, deputy head of the department, said fines of over VND63.5 billion (US$2.8 million) were collected from 2,211 offenders, a year-on-year fall of 20.5 per cent in the number of cases.

But the department is hamstrung by contradictory regulations, according to Bach.

For instance, the Government’s Decree 124 states penalties are based on the value of the goods found flouting laws, but Decree 176/2013 limits fines at VND20 million in the healthcare sector.

The Government should issue appropriate decrees to amend or replace existing ones, he said.

At a meeting held in HCM City on June 26 to review market management efforts in the first half of the year and set tasks for the second, the department asked the city government for a 5,000sq.m warehouse to store seized goods.

It said 1,000-1,500sq.m would be required for fertilisers and chemicals.

Pham Thanh Kien, director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, said in the second half of the year the market management task force would have to step up the fight against smuggling and trade fraud as well as the production and distribution of fakes and low-quality goods, especially drugs, cosmetics and health supplements.

He also called on the department to collaborate with district authorities to disseminate information to dissuade people from distributing or consuming fake and low-quality goods.

Bach said in the second half market management teams in localities bordering other provinces needed to collaborate with their counterparts there to combat smuggling and fake goods, especially tobacco and sugar.

His department would intensify checks of shopping centres, trade fairs, traditional markets, and shops and crack down on fake and pirated goods, he promised. 

Korean firms flock to job fair as need for workers soars     

Korean companies operating in Viet Nam are seeking more and more workers as their investment continues to rise sharply, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra).

At a Korea-Viet Nam job fair that opened on Friday in HCM City, 47 Korean firms in sectors like retail, manufacturing, construction, logistics, IT, and banking took part and hired Vietnamese and Koreans for positions such as production manager, HR administrator, interpreter, import and export and site manager, accountant, engineer, sales and marketing executives and others, with the largest demand being for sales and marketing personnel.

The companies include Lotte Mart, Lock & Lock, Lotte PK Duty Free, Kumho Tire, Industrial Bank of Korea, Wooribank Vietnam, INZI Vina, Sung Hyun Vina Daekwang International, who are mainly based in HCM City, Binh Duong, Long An, Dong Nai, and Tay Ninh.

Nearly 1,800 Vietnamese job hopefuls took part in the fair.

Talking about Vietnamese workers, Yoon Joo Young, Kotra’s director general in HCM City, said: “They are very diligent. They co-operate very well with Koreans. I think this is a very good point for Vietnamese employees to be employed by Korean investors /companies here.”

"But they need to improve their technical skills," he said.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, South Korea is the biggest foreign investor in Viet Nam with a cumulative US$61.7 billion in 6,957 projects, accounting for nearly 19 per cent of FDI.

An increasing number of Korean firms are investing in Viet Nam, and they require a large number of workers in many sectors, according to Yoon.

More than 700,000 Vietnamese work for Korean companies now.

Organised by Kotra and the South Korean consulate general in HCM City, the fair has been held every year since 2013. 

Hai Phong customs proposes to ease specialised inspection     

Hai Phong Customs Department has proposed measures to ministries and departments to solve difficulties in the management and inspection of import and export goods.

The measures include the rule of applying risk management in specialised inspections, issuing the list of specialised management under the HS codes for harmonised implementation, expanding the designated specialised inspection and eliminating overlap in management and checking of the same item.

The department has also requested ministries and agencies to apply the reduction of the inspection rate based on the conformity assessment of enterprises as well as inform about the inspection results to enterprises and customs offices to actively look up and help reduce the clearance time.

The Hai Phong port area has many specialised inspection goods, but the detection of violations, mainlyadministrative violations, is poor. This is creating a barrier for the business community to reduce the time for customs clearance of import and export goods.

On the other hand, a commodity subject to the management of many agencies, ministries and department need a certificate of conformity together with the certification of import conditions.

In addition to this, the results of specialised inspection of ministries and agencies on the National Portal of Viet Nam is limited due to the lack of monitoring, subtracting the licence with the lot of imported goods many times and lack of the function to automatically inform about the inspection results of specialised agencies to customs offices.

Remarkably, the number of declarations subject to specialised inspection at Hai Phong Customs Department is high but the detection rate of violations is quite small and mainly related to administrative violations.

In the first quarter of 2018, the General Department of Viet Nam Customs reported that it had 32,896 declarations subject to specialised inspections (mostly imported goods); however, the specialised management agency found only 36 violations, equivalent to 0.1 per cent of the total declarations, with the main violation being delaying the submission of inspection results. 

VAT plan would hit household welfare: VEPR     

The Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) two proposals to increase value-added tax (VAT) would have various impacts on the overall economy and household welfare, said Nguyen Duc Thanh, Director of the Viet Nam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR).

Thanh made the statement during a seminar held by VEPR on Thursday in Ha Noi, themed ‘Assessing the impacts of value-added tax increases on the overall economy and household welfare’.

Since 2017, the MoF had repeatedly proposed amendments to current tax laws towards increasing the number of tax rates, including raising the VAT under two separate scenarios.

Under the first scenario, VAT will be raised by 20 per cent, meaning that the commodities currently subject to 5 per cent and 10 per cent VAT, will be levied at 6 per cent and 12 per cent VAT, respectively.

The second scenario proposed is that commodities currently liable for a rate of 5 per cent VAT will be subject to a new VAT rate of 10 per cent. Meanwhile, commodities subjected to 0 per cent and 10 per cent VAT will experience no adjustment.

“VERP organised the seminar to announce a study which assessed the impacts of the MoF’s VAT increase proposal on household welfare, measured by the changes in the average expenditure of households and the rate of poor households after VAT is increased in each scenario,” Thanh said.

Nguyen Viet Cuong, a lecturer from the National Economics University and member of VEPR’s research team, said that with a fixed supply, raising VAT would increase the prices of the commodities.

With household budgets remaining unchanged, rising commodity prices would affect household consumption and welfare, Cuong said.

According to the Viet Nam Household Living Standard Survey (VHLSS) by the General Statistics Office in 2016, Viet Nam’s average annual expenditure per capita is over VND34.5 million, or an average monthly expenditure per capita of VND2.9 million.

VEPR’s research team said that the first scenario would have a stronger impact on households compared to the second.

Specifically, the first scenario would reduce household expenditure by 0.89 per cent, while the second scenario would reduce expenditure by 0.32 per cent.

The rate of poor households would increase by 0.26 percentage points if VAT is adjusted under the first option, and increase by 0.22 percentage points under the second option. The corresponding increase in the number of poor people in the two scenarios would be 240 people and 202 people, respectively.

However, according to the research team, the second option will also have negative effects on low-income households. Therefore, the government should carefully consider adjustments to VAT, as this is a trade-off between increasing the State budget and boosting economic growth as well as reducing poverty.

From a macro perspective, the study also showed that with the first scenario, state budget revenue will increase by 4.9 per cent. If the government spends the additional taxes on investment, total social investment will be by 1.7 per cent. However, total household income and expenditure will decrease by more than 0.9 per cent. Therefore, the real output of the economy would not increase.

Meanwhile, with the second plan, State budget revenue will increase by 2 per cent, lower than that in the first scenario. If the government uses this money on development investment, total social investment will rise by nearly 1.8 per cent.

“However, total household income and expenditures will reduce by 1 per cent. As a result, the output of the economy would not increase, too, similar to the first scenario,” Cuong said.

With these analyses, VEPR’s research team concluded that raising VAT does not increase the real output of the economy but leads to a reduction in household welfare.

“Therefore, this study does not agree with the proposed VAT increase,” Cuong said.

Make the most of digital economy     

The digital economy which is being seen worldwide has been a challenge but also good opportunity for Viet Nam to resolve big issues in its economic development in general and restructuring the industry and trade in particular, said Cao Quoc Hung, deputy minister of Industry and Trade.

Hung told the workshop on orientation for development of Viet Nam’s digital economy held in Ha Noi on Thursday that the digital economy could help the sector catch up with development trends in trade and commerce. This could also help improve production and business models toward maximise input resource, accelerating industrialisation and modernisation process for sustainable development.

He said digital economy had been defined as one of vital pillars and playing an important role for economic growth, creating breakthroughs for each country as the world is entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Many technology solutions in all sectors were built, bringing huge benefits which were not achieved in previous periods.

“In Viet Nam, the digitalisation trend or digital transformation has been seen in all sectors from trade, payment to healthcare, education, tourism and transport. The digital economy based on digital technology foundation and integrating smart technologies to maximise process and production models, especially internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain have basically changed the world’s production,” he added.

The deputy minister said the digital economy was forecast to bring big affects and changes in the global supply chain as well as supply and demand operation in the world. It can be said that together with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital economy had created new trends and demands.

“It was the reason that Viet Nam should take advantages and maximise benefits while well preparing for necessary changes to build the digital economy in the upcoming time,” he said.

Sharing experiences in building digital economy which the World Economic Forum (WEF) learned from Demark, Kelly Ommundsen, WEF’s Community Lead, Digital Economy and Society System Initiative suggested that the investment into digital transformation in Viet Nam should not only come from businesses but the entire society.

The development of digital economy should not be implemented in each country but the region. For example, Viet Nam should be put into the digital economy development trend of the ASEAN region to build their effective strategies.

However, she said, the most important thing to build a successful digital economy in Viet Nam was to connect ministries and sectors in the overall system. 

New enterprises up 5.3% in H1     

More than 64,350 new enterprises were formed in the first half of this year with a total registered capital of VND648.9 trillion (US$22.95 billion).

These figures, marked year-on-year increases of 5.3 per cent in the number of businesses and 9 per cent at the level of capital, the Business Registration Management Agency, operating under the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported.

Experts at the agency attributed the period’s positive performance to the improving business conditions and registration procedure.

According to experts, the newly-established firms have a tendency to rise since the beginning of this year. Notably, the second quarter of this year saw the highest number of new firms and level of registered capital over the past five years with 37,750 units, registering $11.8 billion in capital, up 41 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively.

In the first six months, the average capital for an enterprise reached VND10.1 billion, surging 3.4 per cent over the same period last year.

New enterprises have mainly focused on sectors such as wholesale and retail, repair of cars and motorcycles, accounting for one third of the total capital.

The firms also concentrated on processing and manufacturing, making up 13.5 per cent, and the construction sector, equivalent to 13 per cent.

Meanwhile, the real estate trading sector saw the highest level of registered capital in the six-month period, accounting for 30 per cent of the total capital, the agency noted.

Opposite to the 5 per cent rise of new enterprises, nearly 18,000 firms stopped operations from January to June, up 25 per cent year-on-year, while 6,630 completed dissolution procedures, up 22 per cent. Most of these businesses were small-scale and located in the Red River and south-eastern regions.

Earlier this year, the Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed to issue a decree on cutting 675 of the 1,216 business conditions (or 55.5 per cent), managed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

In September, 2017, MoIT Minister Tran Tuan Anh approved a plan to abolish 675 business conditions under the management of the ministry, showing the ministry’s pioneering role in reforming business conditions.

According to Tuan Anh, besides the reduction of 675 business conditions, the MoIT also decided to eradicate 420 of the 720 goods codes, subject to pre-clearance inspection, which made up 58.3 per cent of the total number of tariff codes. 

Banks optimistic about growth rate this year     

The banking sector is optimistic about its growth prospect in 2018 as all of surveyed banks expects the growth rate to be more than 10 per cent.

This was revealed by Viet Nam Report on Wednesday in its announcement of the top 10 prestigious commercial banks in Viet Nam in 2018. Many banks in its survey last month planned positive profits in their shareholders’ meeting. Some even expected a growth rate of 40-65 per cent.

In 2017 and the first half of 2018, the banking sector witnessed strong and stable progress, focusing on restructuring.

The management policies of State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) achieved some success. The central bank absorbed quite a lot of foreign currency, thus increasing foreign reserves, controlling inflation, stabilising foreign exchange rate and ensuring payment balance surplus.

In 2017-18 period, banks made headlines for their internal restructuring as well as for their market image, human resources, business strategy and merger and acquisition.

The rate of bad debts reduced sharply in 2017. According to SBV, credit organisations resolved VND753.5 trillion worth of bad debts from 2012 to March 2018. Banks have been active in resolving bad debts, especially those sold to the Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC). The top 10 banks, such as Vietcombank, ACB, Techcombank and MB Bank, completed resolving bad debts sold to VAMC in 2017, while Vietinbank completed the process in the first quarter of this year.

During this period, many banks achieved a high and stable growth rate. Experts attributed this to the net interest margin maintained at an ideal level by the banks.

However, banks are expected to face some challenges in the time ahead. According to specialists of Viet Nam Report, risks of credit, liquidity and interest rate will still be key issues.

Currently, the high credit growth has been transferred from real estate to individuals, which is considered less risky. High consumption credit means the increase of fake and fraudulent information to apply for consumption loans. In the context of a surge in trust loans, the competition will become fiercer, making banks vulnerable to risks.

The list of top 10 commercial banks has been announced annually since 2012 based on an evaluation of reputation, financial capacity and growth potential. 

Top 10 prestigious commercial banks by Viet Nam Report:

1. Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam.

2. Viet Nam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade.

3. Joint Stock Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam.

4. Viet Nam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

5. Asia Commercial Bank.

6. Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

7. Viet Nam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank.

8. Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

9. Sai Gon-Ha Noi Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

10. Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

Da River Fish Week 2018 kicks off at Big C     

“Da River Fish Week 2018” kicked off for the first time on Saturday at Big C Thang Long in Ha Noi.

The programme was organised by the Central Group Vietnam and Big C Vietnam in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), with the aim of introducing and supporting the consumption of Da River fish products, a specialty of Hoa Binh and Son La provinces.

The fish are raised in fresh water in the Da River reservoir under VietGAP standards. The fish are harvested at the right age, without toxic chemicals and preservatives, certified by the National Institute for Food Control.

Around 12 types of Da River fish will be sold at 15 Big C supermarkets in the North. With a reasonable price of VND88,000 per kilogramme and discounts of up to 10 per cent, Big C estimates to sell one tonne of Da River fish this week.

Nguyen Van Hoi, deputy head of MoIT’s Domestic Market Department, said the week aimed to encourage safe food production and trading activities in localities in general, and to support the expansion and consumption of Da River fish products with clear origin and safe quality to consumers in particular.

Le Thi Mai Linh, executive vice president of Public Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility Department at Central Group Vietnam, said Central Group Vietnam and Big C Vietnam are ready to support suppliers and producers, local small and medium enterprises to expand their distribution network into modern retail channels, creating added value for agricultural products, thereby developing their brand.

Central Group Vietnam and Big C Vietnam have organised special programmes to promote other agricultural products such as Ham Yen (Tuyen Quang) oranges, Hung Yen longan and Luc Ngan (Bac Giang) litchi 

Vientiane conference links VN, Lao firms     

Nearly 100 businesses from Viet Nam and Laos gathered at a conference in Vientiane on Friday to seek partnership opportunities, an activity within the framework of the Laos-Viet Nam Trade Fair 2018.

The business-to-business conference was held by the Viet Nam Association for Women Entrepreneurs (VAWE) and the Vientiane Businesswomen’s Association.

Chairwoman of the Ha Noi Small and Medium Enterprises Association, Mai Thi Thuy, who is also a member of the VAWE Executive Board, said this is the fifth time the VAWE has taken part in Laos-Viet Nam trade fairs and organised meetings between the two countries’ businesses.

About 40 per cent of Vietnamese companies participating in the four previous trade fairs successfully sought partners or received orders from the Lao side, which has growing demand for high-quality goods of Viet Nam.

The VAWE’s participation in this year’s trade fair aims to learn more about the local market and look for cooperation with Lao enterprises to open distribution agents for Vietnamese goods in Laos, Thuy said.

She asked participating businesses to share information about their firms and demand and suggest suitable cooperation methods to form as many business partnerships as possible, thereby helping to enhance the countries’ economic links as well as special friendship and solidarity.

At the conference, Vietnamese and Lao companies introduced products and goods they have demand to sell or buy. They also demonstrated their need for partnerships in goods distribution and production.

Six co-operation agreements were signed at the event, focusing on goods distribution, tourism, hospitality and services. 

Hai Phong customs proposes to ease specialised inspection     

Hai Phong Customs Department has proposed measures to ministries and departments to solve difficulties in the management and inspection of import and export goods.

The measures include the rule of applying risk management in specialised inspections, issuing the list of specialised management under the HS codes for harmonised implementation, expanding the designated specialised inspection and eliminating overlap in management and checking of the same item.

The department has also requested ministries and agencies to apply the reduction of the inspection rate based on the conformity assessment of enterprises as well as inform about the inspection results to enterprises and customs offices to actively look up and help reduce the clearance time.

The Hai Phong port area has many specialised inspection goods, but the detection of violations, mainlyadministrative violations, is poor. This is creating a barrier for the business community to reduce the time for customs clearance of import and export goods.

On the other hand, a commodity subject to the management of many agencies, ministries and department need a certificate of conformity together with the certification of import conditions.

In addition to this, the results of specialised inspection of ministries and agencies on the National Portal of Viet Nam is limited due to the lack of monitoring, subtracting the licence with the lot of imported goods many times and lack of the function to automatically inform about the inspection results of specialised agencies to customs offices.

Remarkably, the number of declarations subject to specialised inspection at Hai Phong Customs Department is high but the detection rate of violations is quite small and mainly related to administrative violations.

In the first quarter of 2018, the General Department of Viet Nam Customs reported that it had 32,896 declarations subject to specialised inspections (mostly imported goods); however, the specialised management agency found only 36 violations, equivalent to 0.1 per cent of the total declarations, with the main violation being delaying the submission of inspection results.

Ceramics firm Viglacera sees profits up 4 per cent     

State-owned glass and construction ceramic producer Viglacera plans to earn VND950 billion (US$41.65 million) in pre-tax profit in 2018, up 4 per cent year-on-year, the company announced in its annual shareholders’ meeting on Friday in Ha Noi.

The company, whose stocks are traded on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange under the code VGC, aims to attain VND9.1 trillion in revenue, down slightly from the previous year’s figure of nearly VND9.2 trillion, it revealed.

As for the parent company, VGC set a pre-tax profit growth target of over 11 per cent in 2018. It plans to keep the dividend payment ratio the same as in 2017, at 9.5 per cent.

In 2017, VGC’s consolidated pre-tax profit was VND913.8 billion, equivalent to 108 per cent of the annual plan approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders, up 19 per cent compared to 2016. Of this, pre-tax profit earned by the parent company reached VND566.5 billion in 2017, fulfilling 115 per cent of the annual plan, up 28 per cent compared to 2016.

VGC’s development investment plan in 2018 will focus on high-tech building materials, green projects and urban housing projects.

The company plans to set up Yen Phong Super White Float Glass Co Ltd in Yen Phong Industrial Park in the northern province of Bac Ninh. It plans to hold a 51 per cent stake in the company and invest in plant processing super white float glass, which is used for making solar panels, with a capacity of 650 tonnes per day.

The company is also preparing to invest in the expansion of Dong Van IV Industrial Zone in the northern province of Ha Nam.

Regarding the real estate segment, VGC will focus on workers’ housing and social housing in industrial parks as well as resorts.

It is expected to invest in worker housing in the northern province of Bac Ninh, the southern provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau and develop Van Hai Ecological Tourist Zone in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

In the field of overseas investment, Viglacera will continue to promote trade cooperation in joint venture investment projects to produce sanitary ware ceramic tiles.

It will boost the investment and development of Viglacera Industrial Park in Mariel Special Zone in Cuba. The company will also invest in hotels, resort villas and golf courses in Cuba, which, according to VGC, will open up many opportunities for Viglacera in Cuba.

In 2018, the government’s plan to divest capital from Viglacera will create a fundamental change in State ownership— down to 36 per cent, and involvement of investors in corporate governance, contributing to the development of VGC.

VGC shares ended trading on Sunday down 4.2 per cent, settling at VND20,600 per share.

Viglacera was established in 1974 under the decision of the Ministry of Construction. In 2014, the company became equitised and changed its mode of operation with a charter capital of VND2.64 trillion.

The company specialises in construction and construction material and real estate trading. Viglacera aims to become a multinational company, operating mainly in standardised construction material manufacturing and real estate investment, with priorities given to industrial zones and residential areas.

Viettel launched ViettelPay app     

Military-run telecom provider Viettel on Friday officially introduced its ViettelPay app – a digital banking service.

ViettelPay allows customers to transfer money, make payments, deposit money, and even offers loans. It also assists mobile phone users in performing financial transactions without being physically present at their banks.

Viettel said its customers can access banking services anytime, anywhere, and on any model of phone.

ViettelPay is expected to make digital payments and e-commerce services increasingly popular. It is targeted to help people in remote and mountainous, island and border areas access financial services quickly and conveniently.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Pham Trung Kien, deputy general director of Viettel Telecom, said the launch of ViettelPay was part of the group’s plan to develop the digital payment and e-commerce ecosystem and smart logistics via cell phones.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has gradually changed economies around the world including Viet Nam. It is time for Vietnamese products to enhance the country’s competitiveness in the wave of integration, he said.

Kien added that ViettelPay is a simple financial service which contributes to the country’s orientation of developing a digital economy.

Between June 29 and late July, ViettelPay is offering its infinity package free of charge, which allows users to transfer money by bank account, bank card and phone number. The offer only applies to the first 10,000 subscribers.

ViettelPay also provides a cash transfer service, in which customers can receive money at home within two hours of it being sent, or at Viettel’s service offices across the country.

Customers can access the ViettelPay app by visiting the link https://viettelpay.vn/app or calling *998# for those who are not using smartphones.

Customers also have opportunity to experience the infinity room – the first of its kind. 

Insurance firms plan to go digital     

Most insurance businesses planned to apply new technologies in management systems and improving customer services, and many also plan to study new products to meet the market’s demand and diversify insurance sale channels, according to a Viet Nam Report survey conducted in May and released last week.

Just over 82 per cent of firms said they aimed to use digital technologies as momentum for growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, while 64.7 per cent planned to build on two key factors of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data.

The survey showed that the total insurance premium in the first quarter of the year of all surveyed companies was higher than the same period last year. Life insurance businesses said their premium in the January-March period rose on average of 159 per cent from last year and that of non-life insurance rose 24 per cent.

The positive factors in the economy, favourable conditions of the population and insurance firms’ efforts to expand operation scale and improve financial ability contributed to the high growth, Viet Nam Report said.

In addition, the foreign ownership at insurance companies which has been rapidly increasing also brought favourable conditions to the market.

The insurance sector is highly concentrated, as the top five leading life insurance businesses accounted for 80 per cent of the total market share and top five non-life insurance firms made up 60 per cent of the total.

For this reason, insurance enterprises have been facing increasing competitive pressure to occupy market shares, Viet Nam Report said.

Many non-life insurance companies such as Bao Viet, PTI, MIC and BIC have applied digital technologies to their insurance payment management. Non-life insurance firms such as Prudential and Aviva, with support from their parent groups, have invested in artificial intelligence with chatbots to support their businesses.

Developing new products has also been a priority as people have paid much attention to their health.

The survey also revealed that 64 per cent of surveyed companies would continue to research new products for different customers.

In addition, insurance businesses have been promoting their coverage in the market and expanding their networks by establishing branches and offices, online sales and cooperation with banks through arrangements known as bancassurance.

They have also co-operated with fintech and healthcare service companies to sell their products.

The growing cooperation between banks and insurance through bancassurance has been a major story in the 2017-18 period, with big deals such as Manulife and Techcombank, Aviva Viet Nam and Vietinbank and AIA and VPBank.

Bancassurance has seen strong growth in the past two years, becoming an important distribution channel in the insurance market.

In addition, co-operation between insurance companies and fintech has been a new factor in the market. Around 79 per cent of insurance companies said they planned to expand co-operation with fintech to develop distribution channels and insurance services on the internet and payment sector.

In the 2011-17 period, the total investment of insurance firms into the economy rose 17.7 per cent a year on average. This showed that Viet Nam’s insurance market not only is a useful tool to protect investors in most economic sectors such as assets, aviation, credit and healthcare but also a mid-and-long-term capital channel for the economy.

Experts and insurance companies said the Government should continue to enhance support policies to gradually improve transparency in the market. The solutions to improve the business environment and competitiveness of the Finance Ministry have brought positive results in the market.

Insurance firms said they would continue promoting growth, expanding scale while improving product and service quality.

Most negative information about insurance companies in media came from complaints relating to insurance contracts and payment.

Insurance businesses should enhance training on human resources and build dispute-resolving processes to ensure the customers’ rights.