Da Nang achieves good growth in year’s first-half

The central city of Da Nang posted a 7.54 percent increase year on year in its Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) during the period from January to June. 

The growth was reported at a conference on July 4 of the municipal Party Committee to review the city’s performance in the first half of 2018 and set out tasks for the last six month. 

As also heard at the function, total retail sales and service revenues hit 48.68 trillion VND (2.14 billion USD), an annual increase of 14.5 percent.

The city has intensified activities to promote trade and consumption, assist exports and prevent trade fraud during the period.

Truong Quang Nghia, Secretary of the municipal Party, said concerted efforts of local authorities have produced good outcomes in the first six months.

Based on such outcome, the city would strengthen public management in the sectors of construction, urban development, and environment, he said, urging party members, public servants, workers to give feedback to help the city administration handle key issues and attract investments to fulfill its social-economic goals. 

Participants agreed that in the remaining months of the year, Da Nang should review and adjust its master planning of socio-economic development and continue implementing its investment attraction programmes.

Measures to improve budget collection and a project to prevent tax evasion in high-risk sectors would be carried out. 

The city should also intensify State management in the arenas of politics, security, social orders, and push forward with streamlining the apparatus and operation of non-production public agencies.

Dong Nai records impressive growth in economic figures

The southern province of Dong Nai posted a year-on-year growth rate of 7.5 percent in gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in the first half of 2018, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Van Vinh said.

At the sixth session of the ninth provincial People’s Council that opened on July 4, Vinh noted the expansion of 8.2 percent in industry and construction, 7.5 percent in the services sector, and 3.1 percent in the agro-forestry-fishery sector.

Many other key economic figures in Dong Nai also enjoyed impressive growths in the reviewed period, he said, elaborating that exports increased 12.6 percent year-on-year to 9 billion USD, resulting in over 1 billion USD in trade surplus.

The province attracted 950 million USD in foreign direct investment, equivalent to 95 percent of this year’s target. Meanwhile, investment from Vietnamese businesses approximated 6.9 trillion VND (299.8 million USD), or 76.6 percent of the target for 2018.

Around 23.5 trillion VND (1 billion USD) was collected for the State budget, up 12 percent. Agricultural production value also rose 3.1 percent from the same period last year to over 17.9 trillion VND (777.7 million USD).

Vinh said despite the progress in the local socio-economic situation, there remain many difficulties and challenges. He pointed out the lax management of construction activities in some localities, slow disbursement of capital from the budget, and obstacles to the implementation of investment procedures for projects.

To maintain high and stable growth towards the year’s end, Dong Nai must work harder to improve the local business climate, effectively enforce the Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises, support investments in agriculture and rural areas, and step up trade promotion activities, he added.

Dong Nai is part of Vietnam’s southern key economic region, which also includes Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Long An, and Tien Giang.

Da Nang works to lure more RoK investors, tourists

Da Nang is prepared to create favourable conditions for the Republic of Korea (RoK) to build a consulate office in the city while attracting Korean investors and tourists.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Huynh Duc Tho made the statement during a meeting with RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Do-hyon last week, stating that the city wants to attract more investors such as Samsung and Hyundai in the coming years.

Tho said the launch of the consulate office would help promote tourism and investment, while building connections between heritage sites in central Vietnam including Phong Nha-Ke Bang, Hue, Hoi An and My Son Sanctuary with popular destinations in the RoK such as Jeju Island, Incheon and Seoul.

RoK tourists are the second largest group of visitors to Da Nang, with 1 million arrivals accounting for 43 percent of all foreign travellers last year.

Investors from the RoK have also poured 604 million USD into 144 projects, the second biggest foreign investment in the city.

Both Vietnamese and RoK budget airlines are operating 12 weekly flights between Da Nang and Korean cities such as Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Pusan and Musan, carrying an average of 1,500 passengers a week to the city.

The RoK has also helped Da Nang to build the Vietnam-Korea Friendship Information Technology College with official development assistance funding of 10 million USD.

Russia, Laos, Spain and China have already opened consulate offices in the city, while Japan also plans to open one soon.

Hanoi boosts administrative reforms to support businesses

Administrative procedures will continue to be reformed while more convenient services for enterprises will be developed in Hanoi to help improve the business climate and competitiveness of the capital city, said the municipal Department of Planning and Investment (DPI).

The city held a meeting on July 4 to look into convenient services that can assist companies with business registration.

Pham Thi Kim Tuyen, head of the DPI’s business registration division, said in the first six months of 2018, Hanoi granted business registration certificates to nearly 12,500 new firms with a total capital of more than 140 trillion VND (over 6 billion USD), down 0.2 percent in volume but up 50 percent in capital.

Nearly 84,000 administrative dossiers were handled, up 10.6 percent from the same period last year. Notably, 100 percent of business registration dossiers were submitted online.

She added that previously, it took businesses nine days to complete administrative procedures before starting operations. Since the beginning of this year, the DPI has been providing convenient services to support business registration on its portal, thus cutting down the time needed to complete those procedures to six days.

It has helped save time and money for businesses and reduce the workload for the DPI’s staff, Tuyen said.

Those services are provided in coordination with the Hanoi Post and nine domestic commercial banks.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Bizconsult law firm, believes that building convenient services to help with business registration is an achievement, as well as an inevitable move in the digital era. They create a business climate where service providers, consultancies, and enterprises assist one another, thereby helping to reduce personnel, time, and costs for businesses.

He asked the DPI to increase introducing services of foreign banks to companies so as to diversify services and ensure equality between businesses and banks.

At the meeting, the DPI said it is going to push forward with administrative reforms, especially business registration procedures. It will put into use the service of making appointments via telephone, as well as the SMS-sending service to update firms about the settlement status of their dossiers. It will also manage business registration dossiers via barcodes to keep a close watch on its employees’ work and the status of dossiers.

Meanwhile, organisations and citizens can give feedback on the working quality and attitude of the DPI’s staff through either its portal or feedback notes at its single-window section. The department also promised to regularly monitor and assess employees’ sense of responsibility, discipline, and activeness in their work, it added. 

Airlines see potential as New Zealand-Vietnam partnership grows

As New Zealand strengthens its bonds with Vietnam, airlines are seeing tremendous opportunities for growth.

New Zealand and Vietnam are on now their way to become close partners in tourism, education, and business, which is believed to boost the growth of air travel. Latest statistics from Vietnam National Association of Tourism show that more Vietnamese are travelling to New Zealand and vice versa.

Specifically, in the first five months of 2018, the number of Kiwi visitors to Vietnam was 18,181, growing by 105.4 per cent against the same period last year. On the other hand, about 29,340 Vietnamese nationals have travelled to New Zealand in 2018 so far.

The Oceanic country currently hosts 2,200 Vietnamese students of tertiary education, from short-term diplomas to PhD courses.

On the economic front, New Zealand is boosting its partnership with Vietnam, aiming to reach $1.7 billion in bilateral trade turnover by 2020. Both countries are members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which covers 13.5 per cent of the global GDP.

The airline industry is betting hard on these developments, as more Kiwis and Vietnamese will fly between the two countries for leisure, studying, and trade. For example, Air New Zealand has just announced its third season of non-stop flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Auckland.

In particular, from June 23 to October 23, 2018, Air New Zealand will operate two services a week from Auckland to Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesdays and Saturdays, using its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Besides, Air New Zealand also partnered up with Singapore Airlines to offer passengers alternative travel options, transiting at Singapore to New Zealand.

“Vietnam is an emerging market with significant growth predicted in the near future, and this direct link has been proven to boost tourism, education, and business links between the countries over past two years,” noted Jenni Martin, head of South and Southeast Asia at Air New Zealand.

The representative said the airline would focus on leveraging the region’s potential to encourage year-round trips through both direct and indirect flights. To promote its third season, Air New Zealand also partnered with H’Hen Nie, the winner of Miss Universe Vietnam 2017.

Direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Auckland take eleven hours, with economy seats going from VND15.538 ($675).

Agricultural produce and cement see upbeat export in first half

Besides agricultural produce, the cement sector posted phenomenal export growth in the first half of the year.

Buoyant cement and clinker exports in the first half of this year reached 15.4 million tonnes, helping the sector achieve 85 per cent of its full-year export target right in the first half of this year. This volume surpassed the figure of last year's corresponding period by 50 per cent.

This first half’s export volume equalled 2016’s export figure, and was only 6.5 million tonnes less than 2017’s full-year export level.

Market analysts have attributed higher cement exports to the fact that from late last year China reduced its cement production on account of environmental pollution concerns, leading to the rising demand for imports from other countries, including Vietnam.

The cement export volume of major state-owned conglomerate Vicem surpassed 228 per cent the figure from the same period in 2017.

The agricultural sector contributed $19.4 billion to Vietnam’s total export value in the first half of this year.

The best export items during the period were rice with about 3.57 tonnes in export volume, generating $1.81 billion in export value, up 12.5 and 42 per cent, respectively; fruits and vegetables generating $2.1 billion in export value, up 20 per cent on-year; cashews $1.71 billion, up 16.4 per cent on-year; and seafood $3.94 billion, up 10.5 per cent on-year.

Vietnamese exporters have proven proactive in promotion activities to boost the presence of Vietnamese agricultural produce in foreign markets.

With respect to fruit and vegetable exports, exports to Vietnam’s major export markets have posted fair growth. For instance, exports to China reached $1.5 billon (up 18 per cent), to the US $63 million (up 14.6 per cent), to Japan $56.7 million, up 8 per cent, $56.5 million to South Korea (up 15.4 per cent), and $30 million to Thailand (up 26.3 per cent).

Vietnam exporters have proven proactive in promotion activities to boost the presence of Vietnamese agricultural produce in foreign markets.

32 local businesses are attending the Vietnamese Agricultural Produce Week in France hosted by the Hanoi People’s Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Vietnamese Trade Office in France, with a view to boosting high-quality agricultural exports to France and the EU.

700 local retailers to receive support worth VND21 billion

The developer of the IFind promotion program collection app and a dozen providers of retail support services have announced a package worth VND21 billion (US$908,700) to support 700 domestic retailers in marketing and online sales.

According to Truong To Linh, CEO of IFind Joint Stock Company, each retailer will be offered VND30 million to develop their technology and brand.

Retailers can register for the program at http://ifind.vn/21ty until August 3. The funds can be used for advertising on digital channels and in publications, marketing solutions, sales management, WiFi marketing, email marketing, customer care services and delivery.

IFind will set aside half of the package funds to help retail firms that have been established this year.

Linh said the package would help small and medium enterprises make use of the online to offline (O2O) channel, enhance their competitiveness and proactively employ new sales and marketing models in the era of mobile commerce.

The effective application of mobile apps will bring consumers a better experience and help them find outlets with low-priced goods.

This is the first time so many O2O service providers, including Haravan, S-wifi, KiotViet, iPOS.vn, Chili.vn, Nextify, CloudFone and ODS, have come forward to assist the retail sector.

Linh noted that the IFind app has helped Vietnamese retailers enhance their competitiveness and catch up with the Omni Channel retail trend. With the IFind app, customers can use gift codes and e-vouchers to directly conduct transactions with retailers without making advance payments.

The Vietnamese retail market is considered one of the most attractive in the world, with a high global retail development index. According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, total retail sales of goods and services in the first half of the year grew by 10.7% year-on-year.

However, foreign retailers are looking to expand their presence in the local market, making business more challenging for their local peers, especially small and medium ones. Besides the difficulties with locations, finance and operations, domestic retailers are inexperienced in sales and marketing in the era of digital technology and mobile devices.

HCM City economy reaches better performance than last year

In the first half of the year HCM City’s economy performed well, achieving growth of 7.86 per cent, up from 7.76 per cent a year earlier.

“The city has continued to speed up administrative reform, resolve difficulties faced by the business community, and encourage start-up companies,” Võ Văn Hoan, head of the People’s Committee Office, told a meeting held yesterday to review the socio-economic development in the first six months of this year.

The city’s revenues in the first six months increased by 8 per cent to VNĐ183.465 trillion (US$8 billion) and reached 48.7 per cent of the yearly plan.

Exports were worth around $18.12 billion, an increase of 7.6 per cent. Imports cost $23.7 billion, an increase of 15 per cent.

FDI got to nearly $4.18 billion, an increase of 144 per cent.

Services and retail sales grew by 12.5 per cent and industrial output by 7.11 per cent.

The city’s four key industries -- engineering and automation; electronics; chemicals, rubber, plastics; and food processing -- continued to perform strongly and grew at nearly 10 per cent.

This year some 21,500 new companies with a combined registered capital of VNĐ249 trillion ($10.9 billion) have been licensed, an increase of 107 per cent in the same period last year.

Job creation, vocational training and support for poor people have been carried out efficiently to ensure social welfare.

The number of jobs created rose marginally to 160,355 or nearly 54 per cent of yearly plan.

“This year, central government asked HCM City to collect VNĐ376.8 trillion ($16.5 billion), an increase of 8.31 per cent,” Hoan said.

“This is also the first year HCM City will carry out the special mechanism, which has been approved recently by the National Assembly, to develop,” he added. 

Lâm Đồng to pilot project to promote Đà Lạt potato brand

Lâm Đồng People’s Committee has approved a pilot project to promote the Đà Lạt potato brand in an effort to combat Chinese potato, which claimed to be of Đà Lạt brand.

The pilot project, managed by Lâm Đồng’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, includes surveying the potato market and production activities and educating consumers on the difference between the two types of potatoes via flyers, government websites and mass media.

Businesses and individuals will be supplied with packages and carton boxes with the Đà Lạt potato brand logo and anti-counterfeiting stamps, which can be used to package their potatoes.

Lâm Đồng Province aims to produce 65,000 10-kilo carton boxes, 900,000 labels, 65,000 stamps for carton boxes, and 900,000 anti-counterfeit stamps.

The project cost is VNĐ1.06 billion (US$45,800), VNĐ776 million of which are funds from the government budget.

Lâm Đồng’s Plant Protection Department is choosing contractors for the project.

If the pilot project for potatoes is successful, other Đà Lạt vegetables will receive the same treatment.

Đà Lạt City is one of Việt Nam’s largest vegetable producers, with output up to millions of tonnes.

The high quality of these vegetables is due to the favourable weather and use of advanced farming technology and techniques.

However, several businesses are buying Chinese vegetables at lower prices and quality, disguising them as Đà Lạt vegetables and selling them at higher prices.

For instance, Chinese potatoes are bought cheaply, then covered with a layer of red dust to disguise them as Đà Lạt potatoes, which are three to five times higher in value compared to Chinese ones.

During transportation, inspection and other procedures, the fake Đà Lạt potatoes are registered and referred to as Chinese potatoes.

Many customers in other provinces and even some people in Đà Lạt have fallen for this trick since it is hard to point out fake Đà Lạt potatoes without careful examination.

In terms of consumer trust and market prices, Đà Lạt potatoes have suffered greatly from the fraud. Many farmers have had to sell their potatoes at half of their original price, incurring losses. 

VN exports to Germany up 8.6 per cent in five months     

Viet Nam’s exports to Germany hit US$2.85 billion in the first five months of this year, up 8.6 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Mobile phones and computer components, apparel, footwear, coffee, farm produce and aquatic products made up the majority of the country’s exports.

Of the items, six earned more than $100 million, including mobile phones and components ($851.44 million), accounting for 29.8 per cent of the total, a 16.2 per cent increase year on year.

Tea posted the highest growth of 132.3 per cent to $970,000 while confectioneries and cereals soared 122.6 per cent to $10.99 million.

Others include chemicals with 72.5 per cent growth ($4.15 million), iron and steel up 52.4 per cent ($2.74 million), cashew nuts up 49.2 per cent ($42.06 million) and fruits and vegetables rising 31 percent ($6.17 million).

Human resource training key to agriculture 4.0     

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, stressed the significance of improving human resource training to meet the requirements of agriculture 4.0, which refers to farming practices that use technological advances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to increase productivity and sustainability.

At a workshop in Ha Noi on Wednesday, the minister said reforms should be made in vocational training and it is crucial to shift the focus onto practice capacity and core techniques, as well as soft skill training in light of technological advancements.

New technologies essential for smart agriculture, such as bio-technology, digital technology, automation, exact mechanics and new materials must be included in long-term curricula, he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Education and Training, Phung Xuan Nha, underlined that curricula must be designed based on market demands. At the same time, foreign languages and information technology (IT) play an important role in technology transfer and connections with corporations.

Currently, high-tech agricultural models have been applied in localities nationwide, particularly after Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc directed all ministries and branches to support smart and clean agriculture. Bac Ninh, Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc to Lam Dong and Kien Giang are leading the way in this field.

Vegetable, flower, shrimp and poultry farming models in those provinces have proven to have high-economic efficiency.

Pham S, Deputy Chairman of Lam Dong Province People’s Committee, said that the deployment of state-of-the-art technologies has created a breakthrough in improving quality of farm produce, giving local staples their own brands.

Developing smart agriculture, including both production capacity and production management, is key to ensuring economic efficiency and sustainable development in the context of global economic integration and response to climate change. Attention should be paid to measures to enhance production value chains and the value of agricultural products, according to Minister Cuong.