Metalex Vietnam 2018 attracts 14 Japanese businesses

The Tokyo SME Support Center will join Vietnam Int'l Machine Tool & Metalworking Solutions Expo (Metalex Vietnam 2018) which will take place at Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC) on October 11-13.

The biggest company in Tokyo, Tokyo SME Support Center has supported small-and medium-sized enterprises for more than 50 years. It has organized various activities to connect Tokyo’s leading companies with those in ASEAN, particularly Vietnam. In June, the company established the “Support Desk Vietnam” to offer consultancy to Tokyo SMEs which plan to expand business in Vietnam.

The pavilion of Tokyo SME Support Center at Metalex Vietnam 2018 will gather 14 Tokyo businesses specializing in mechanical electronics, industrial machinery, and two-wheel and four-wheel drive industries.

Through the expo, Tokyo SME Support Center hopes to build up long-term partnership with Vietnamese businesses for mutual benefits.

Farming pressures must be tackled with innovation

As climate change continues to cause unusual and unpredictable weather around the world, it is creating new challenges for farmers. Drought, flooding, and temperature extremes will increase as the earth’s temperatures rise by 2-3°C (4-6°F) in the next 50 years, threatening farm productivity, decreasing harvests, and augmenting pest pressures.

As reported by the World Bank, Vietnam has been ranked among the five countries likely to be most affected by climate change. In the past 50 years, Vietnam’s mean temperature has increased by 0.5-0.7°C and the sea level has risen by 20 centimetres. Climate change has made natural disasters, especially storms, floods, and droughts, increasingly violent.

The Mekong Delta is one of the world’s three most vulnerable deltas, and is crucial for agricultural production in Vietnam. However, saltwater intrusions and drought in the Mekong Delta have made it clear that something needs to be done to reverse the impacts of climate change. It is not possible for Vietnam to stop climate change on its own. Adoption of plant science solutions plays a key role in helping farmers, especially small-holders, deal with these challenges. Scientists are developing crops tolerant to drought, salinity, and other environmental stresses to adapt to changing climates. Climate change is pushing pests and diseases into new geographical areas. Crop protection products are being created to protect staples like corn, soybeans, rice, wheat, and cotton against drought, high heat, and other conditions likely to emerge from climate change. Such products can help farmers increase their yields despite the evolving threat and unanticipated changes in pest populations. Vietnam’s small-holder farmers rely on crop protection products to prevent pests, disease, and weed pressures from damaging their crops and limiting their harvests. And as the impacts of climate change in Vietnam and across Asia grow, the various pressures will become more extreme, making effective use of crop protection more important than ever.

Existing genetically modified (GM) crops equipped with insect and disease resistance solutions as well as crop protection products indirectly reduce emissions by increasing crop yields, preventing expansion of farmland into rainforests and other wilderness areas that are critical carbon sinks.

A 2017 study conducted jointly by PG Economics and the Crop Production Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on “The potential impacts from GM corn adoption in Vietnam” showed that use of GM corn is likely to lead to both socio-economic and environmental benefits.

“The net environmental impact associated with herbicide use with biotech corn is likely to be a reduction in both the average amount of active ingredient used and the associated environmental impact. At 20 per cent adoption, a 1.5 per cent decrease in herbicide use and 9.1 per cent improvement in the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) rating. At 60 per cent adoption, a 4.6 per cent reduction in herbicide usage and a 27 per cent improvement in the EIQ rating,” the report said. “Biotech corn will allow farmers to stop using insecticides to control pests. At 20 per cent adoption, a saving of one third of total usage. At 60 per cent adoption almost all insecticide use on crop will be eliminated, meaning around 250,000-300,000 kilogrammes of insecticide active ingredient will be reduced per year.”

CropLife maintains a committed partnership with the Vietnamese government to find out what seeds, traits, good farming practices, and agrochemicals are suitable to deal with these changes. Several initiatives have already shown the positive effects of using technology in agriculture. More initiatives will be developed, such as precision or smart farming and advanced chemical analysis techniques. Crop protection products and biotech crops are critical to mitigating problems associated with climate change and global warming. These plant science tools are significantly reducing the impact of agriculture on the environment, and the impact of climate change on agriculture.

Vietnam's only international expo on hardware and hand tools

The Vietnam Hardware and Hand Tools Expo will be held from December 5 to 8, 2018 at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre, 799 Nguyen Van Linh Street, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.

As one of the leading countries in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction according to the World Bank, the Vietnamese economy has witnessed significant contribution by foreign firms in the past 30 years. The country is also an ideal destination where a variety of world-class brands like Samsung, Bridgestone, Nipro Pharma, Fuji Xerox, Posco, and LG chose to run their businesses, which have facilitated its economic growth, brought advanced skills to the labour force in manufacturing, and created more opportunities for foreign and domestic suppliers.

Big companies usually require a stringent supply chain of components because auxiliary components are an integral part of a production. If Vietnamese manufacturers can prove that their products are up to the standards used in the factories of big companies, it will definitely result to mutual benefits for both foreign and domestic companies.

The EICC standard with capacity and quality as its two key elements has become a means of assessment for major foreign electronics companies in Vietnam like Samsung, LG or Foxconn to choose their local partners. It is “an admission ticket” for domestic component manufacturers to become the vendors of these “giant” corporations. As a result, taxation and transportation costs for imported goods are cut down, helping local manufacturers reduce production cost and increase profit.

Take high-local-content Samsung products and Samsung’s weighty contribution to the Vietnamese economy as an example. According to statistics, after 10 years of investment in Vietnam, the export turnover of Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) and Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) accounted for $9.8 billion in 2014, $17.2 billion in 2015, and $21.1 billion in 2016. The localisation rate of SEV and SEVT has been 57 per cent so far, which is remarkable.

As can be seen, Samsung has not only made a change for the better to thousands of households in Thai Nguyen, but also brought in a large source of revenue to the province in particular and Vietnam in general. Samsung is both a successful example of FDI attraction and a spotlight of trade activity in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, a concept of “prestigious business destination” has been developed by organising many trade fairs and exhibitions, attracting international brands and promoting local labels from a variety of industries.

“We are proud that our Huu-Toan-branded generators have been exported to fastidious markets like South America and Japan. We are about to meet with other partners from Sri-Lanka and Malaysia at this exhibition,” shared Ta Nguyen Huynh Nhu, director of Huu Toan Co., Ltd. after two years of participation in Vietnam Hardware and Hand Tools Expo.

The Expo is the one and only exhibition dedicated to electric equipment and electrical accessories and spare parts; hand tools (used in electricity, repair, mechanical manufacturing, wood processing, construction, ship-building, and gardening); fasteners; hardware (pliers, tongs, drill bits, grinders, screws, valves, and taps, among others); and security devices (locks, hooks, palang, etc.), among others.

In 2017, the exhibition welcomed 218 exhibitors from 16 countries and territories like Japan, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan, along with 12,790 visitors.

“We received information about the show six months ago. We do hope that this will be our very first step to explore the Vietnamese market and look for further cooperation opportunities here in the future,” said Christian Follmann, who is in charge of Hand Tools Division at SUKI Corporation from Germany.

VINEXAD, the organiser, has 43 years of experience in organising a variety of specialised conferences to attract more local and foreign participants.

The four-day exhibition will be held from December 5 to 8, 2018 at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre, 799 Nguyen Van Linh Street, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.

Still no end to fire insurance dispute between Paldo Vina and Liberty

The fire insurance dispute between South Korean firm Paldo Vina Limited and US-owned insurer Liberty Limited remains unsettled after more than a year.

Since starting operations in Vietnam in 2013, Paldo Vina Limited, which makes instant noodles and is based in Dong Lang Industrial Cluster (IC) in the northern province of Phu Tho’s Phu Ninh district, has bought and repeatedly resigned contracts on compulsory fire insurance and asset insurance against all risks with Liberty Vietnam Limited.

The most recent insurance contract was effective from August 8, 2017 to August 7, 2018.

The fire which led to the dispute occurred on the evening of August 27, 2017 and destroyed all of the company’s factory workspace at Dong Lang IC.

According to a source from Paldo Vina, right after the incident, they were working with Liberty and the organisation tasked with assessing the damage to take the necessary steps.

According to the inspection conclusion of Phu Ninh district’s Investigation Police, the fire came from a sudden disruption in the electrical system. As there was no sign of crime, the case was not sent to the court.

After the fire, Liberty Vietnam showed no intention to refuse paying for the damages.

Ten months later, on June 7, 2018, however, they announced their refusal to issue payments to Paldo Vina, citing Article 17(2d) of the Law on Insurance Business.

On July 2, 2018, Liberty sent a document to Paldo Vina, stating that, “We (Liberty) have gathered evidence to legitimately prove the fact that your company (Paldo Vina)’s fire prevention system did not work at the time the fire occurred.”

The dispute has yet to be resolved. In fact, Liberty’s first refusal came late, about 10 months after the fire occurred.

Paldo Vina insisted that based on the latest contract signed with Liberty, the insurer has to compensate for the unexpected damage to insured assets caused by risks regulated in the signed insurance contract and related supplemental documents.

In addition, before the contract was signed, Liberty’s staff conducted risk assessments at the Paldo Vina factory where the fire occurred, finding the factory up to standards to be insured.

On August 15, Liberty sent a dispatch to Paldo Vina, affirming their continued refusal of paying the indemnity for the fire, but enclosed a note that, “In case we receive your company’s documents proving that at the time the fire occurred, the factory’s fire prevention system was still working normally, we will revisit the case and issue a suitable decision.”

The dispute has yet to be resolved. In fact, Liberty’s first refusal came late, about 10 months after the fire occurred.

Regarding Liberty’s main argument to refuse compensation, Paldo Vina explained that its fire prevention system was out of order at the time the fire took place because a wall collapsed during a storm and damaged part of the fire prevention system.

Taken separately, the collapsed wall and the partial technical breakdown of the fire prevention system are both covered by the insurance policy signed with Liberty.

In short, Paldo Vina’s argument is that the fire was a case of force majeure, and not the fault of any one party, which is within the scope of the insurance policy.

Each side has its own argument, but the case does not only the related firms. In a recent document sent to Paldo Vina, the Phu Tho Industrial Zones Management Authority—where the Paldo Vina factory is located—said that the damaged factory could collapse anytime, affecting the security of residential quarters in the surrounding areas as well as undermining the general landscape of Dong Lang IC.

Lalamove officially enters Hanoi

After more than one year of operations in Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong delivery firm Lalamove officially expanded its business to Hanoi, challenging Grab and Go-Viet.

October 3 officially saw the launch of Lalamove in Hanoi, after one year of operations in Ho Chi Minh City. Focusing on clients in urban areas and committing to deliver goods within 55 minutes, Lalamove is forecast to be a redoubtable opponent to Grab and Go-Viet, another newcomer.

Lalamove was established in late 2013 under the name EasyVan. The Hong Kong delivery service has been known for delivering goods within an hour, and was named as the “Asian Uber.”

Lalamove set the goal of reaching 10,000 drivers in Hanoi by the end of the first quarter of 2019. The firm stated that it takes 20 per cent commission from drivers, including tax and other fees. This rate is lower than other firms’ rates of 25-30 per cent.

As Go-Viet has been running for a month now, with the two services of Go-Bike (ride-hailing) and Go-Send (delivery). Grab is also boosting its GrabExpress and food delivery service Grab Food, preparing for Lalamove’s entry that promises heavier competition in the market.

One small click on computer is giant leap for banking sector

Banking services have been undergoing a rapid process of digital transformation and digitalization, which has fundamentally changed the business models used by banks.

Traditional bank models that depend on a network of branches have gradually converted to a more integrated model of e-banking services.

Technological developments have had a wide-ranging impact on all sectors of society and the banking sector is not an exception.

According to statistics from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), about 59% of credit institutions have deployed a digital transformation strategy in the initial stage, while 35% are in the process of working out  viable  strategies. Only 6% say they have not yet envisaged their own digital transformation strategy.

The statistics has showed Vietnamese banks’ great readiness for the widespread implementation of digital transformation and digitalization of banking services.

The expeditious development of technologies provides customers with the ability to search for and access information, while removing geographical barriers allowing them to select the most suitable services. They are considered the prime motivator behind the rollout of new products and services by banks.

To meet the increasing demands of customers, the banking sector has carried out  the digitalization process throughout its full range of products and services such as payment, money transfer, borrowings, savings and financial management.

The application of digital banking models such as TPBank with automatic bank services like LiveBank, VPBBank’s Timo, Vietcombank’s DigitalLab, Vietinbank’s Corebank, Military Bank’s ChatBot and VIB’s MyVIB are the most popular examples of this trend.

Apart from banks, the emergence of financial technology companies (Fintech), which offer financial solutions based on digital platform, has contributed to speeding up the finance and banking sector’s digitalization strategy.

Banks are stepping up the digital overhaul and the adoption of modern technological breakthroughs such as Cloud computing, Big Data, AI and blockchain in their services and products.

At a recent seminar on Industry 4.0, Nguyen Hung, general director of TPBank emphasized that the trend of digitalization in banking activities is inevitable. With predominant advantages, digital platform have helped banks to rapidly increase their shares. Especially, in the digital era, the banks that can flexibly adapt to customers’ demands and seize opportunities from new technologies will be at a distinct advantage.

 From the perspective of Mr Nghiem Thanh Son, Deputy Director of Payment Department and Deputy Head of the SBV’s Fintech Steering Committee, Vietnamese banks are cognizant of the strength of digital transformation, that is to create a digital core for the banking system.

Accordingly, the digital core is viewed as the basis for the development of digital banks, helping expand interaction with customers’ digital ecosystem, and and Fintech companies through Application Programming Interface (APIs).

Mr Son said SBV has worked toward development orientations and application of information technology in banks to promote the digital transformation of the banking sector.

SBV will continue to refine the legal framework for new products and services that apply new technologies and new business models (digital banking, e-wallets, eKYC or OpenPI) in order to meet the requirements of management in the face of Industry 4.0.

At the same time, anther target is also to build a legal environment to give a boost to the innovations of Fintech companies in order to encourage safer and more effective products and solutions of Fintech.

One of the most important problems faced by the digitalization of banking services is that of ensuring safety and security for banking operations and customers’ payment transactions.

The central bank will apply the most advanced security international standards in accordance with the latest development trends in the banking sector. SBV will also set forth the requirements for modernizing the IT system, roll out upgrades to the new-generation core banking system, invest in foundation technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, catch up with the trend of   digital banks’ development and step up cooperation between banks and Fintech.

In addition, priority will be given to the development of safe, effective and convenient payment solutions and the application of the latest technologies such as NFC, QR Code payment and Tokenization.

VNPAY partners up with Vietjet to deploy QR payment

The biggest QR code payment firm in Vietnam, VNPAY has entered into a co-operation with Vietjet to apply QR code technology for online ticket bookings.

Under the deal, Vietjet’s passengers could implement QR payments for ticket booking both online at http://www.vietjetair.com and at its official ticket office system nationwide.

After successfully booking their tickets, customers will be able to use the QR code to pay without entering bank account or card information. The payment takes only a few seconds.

Currently, QR payment is available on the mobile banking apps of 18 big banks in Vietnam, including BIDV, Vietcombank, VietinBank, SCB, SHB, Maritime Bank, VIB, VPBank, and TPBank.

QR payments have become a new trend, gaining wide popularity among banks and big companies to offer a quick, easy, and safe payment channel to customers.

The biggest advantage of QR Pay is that the payment would be implemented without cash or bank cards. Customers could buy Vietjet tickets anywhere and anytime with a few taps on their mobile phones. Customers could avoid the risks of leaking information as they do not need to provide their bank account information.

QR payment would help customers save time while ensuring safety.

Last year saw the strong development of the Vietnamese aviation sector with the total revenue reaching VND121 trillion (US$5.3 billion) and 46.39 million passengers.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Vietnam is among the five countries with the most rapid growth of passenger travel by airway in the world, together with China, the US, Indonesia, and India.

The IATA expects that the average growth rate of the Vietnamese aviation sector will be 14% in the next five years, reaching 150 million passengers by 2035.

Local airlines have been continuously improving their services to fully exploit the market’s potential. Applying technologies to improve services in the Fourth Industrial Revolution has been a vital development for all sectors, including aviation. VietJet has also caught up with the trend.

“With the development of new flights and our fleet, Vietjet has developed additional payment methods that are more technological and convenient to meet the rapidly-changing demands of modern customers,” said Nguyen Bac Toan, Vietjet’s deputy director of Commercial Department.

In Vietnam, VNPAY-QR developed by VNPAY Company is the first and only payment gate that integrates QR code payment to mobile banking apps in Vietnam.

Major airlines, such as Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet, recently entered into co-operation with VNPAY to deploy QR payment capabilities, showing the attraction and potential popularity of this payment solution in the near future.

Currently, QR payment has spread to all areas of life from food, shopping, and entertainment to travel. More than 20,000 shops accept VNPAY-QR payment nationwide. This number is expected to increase to 50,000 by the end of 2018.
Binh Duong creates breakthroughs in investment attraction

Binh Duong’s open investment environment and location in the southern economic hub make it an attractive destination for foreign investors.

To date, it has attracted 3,400 FDI projects with total registered capital of US$30 billion, making it Vietnam’s third biggest foreign investment attractor after Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Binh Duong is pursuing solutions to remove obstacles and help businesses lure more FDI.

In the first half of this year, foreign investment in Binh Duong totaled US$850 million, more than 60% of the target. Since 2016, the province has attracted US$5.7 billion worth of FDI. At the current growth rate, Binh Duong will exceed the target of US$7 billion set for its 5-year plan until 2020.

The achievements are attributed to Binh Duong’s development of concentrated industrial parks to meet investors’ needs.

Most of the projects are arranged in industrial parks and industrial clusters in line with Binh Duong's FDI strategy and environmental protection requirements.

High-priority fields are the electrical industry, electronics, mechanics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, trade, and services.

Yasuo Nishitohge, a Japanese investor at Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park 1 in Thuận An town, said, “We are trying our best to deploy the licensed project at the most effectiveness. We are completely confident that Binh Duong province will grow faster and we hope that the relations between Vietnam and Japan will be more and more developed.”

Binh Duong now has nearly 1.3 million domestic workers and more than 50,000 foreign workers. To create favorable conditions for FDI enterprises, Binh Duong is addressing issues related to social insurance, medical examinations and treatment for foreigners, and personal income tax deductions.

Binh Duong will invest more in building, expanding, or upgrading the main transportation routes within the province and linking it to key economic zones in the south.

Tran Thanh Liem, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said that to attract big foreign projects, Binh Duong will continue to improve its investment environment and competitiveness and accelerate administrative reform.

It will also concentrate resources on improving its socio-economic infrastructure, training human resources, building housing for workers, and supplying workers to enterprises.

Mr. Liem said, "The provincial authorities and leaders of departments and agencies at all levels will continue to help businesses solve their problems and provide a supportive environment for entrepreneurs who want to do business in Binh Duong."

Binh Duong has stepped up its investment promotion activities in the US, the EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan (China). It is calling on foreign enterprises to invest in concentrated industrial parks, support industries, and high-tech projects.

Each department and sector has been assigned specific tasks to improve mechanisms, policies, and essential technical infrastructure, and urged to listen to and respond to the problems of local FDI businesses.
HCM City seeks better connections between overseas Vietnamese community

A database should be created to provide legal advice and information for overseas Vietnamese enterprises that want to invest in the country and build a strong brand for Vietnamese exports, a speaker said at a meeting held on Saturday in HCM City.

More than 100 representatives from government agencies and members of the Business Association of Overseas Vietnamese (BAOOV), HCM City Union of Business Association (HUBA) and HCM City Association for Women Executives and Entrepreneurs (HAWEE) took part in the meeting. 

Peter Hồng, vice chairman of BAOOV, said one of the missions of the association is to create a network to connect overseas Vietnamese enterprises, providing them with information about the country’s potential for investment. 

Phùng Công Dũng, chairman of the HCM City Committee for Overseas Vietnamese under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the meeting was focused on discussing ways to improve the quality of human resources and the competitiveness of the city’s economy.

“This event creates an international network to share information and mobilise resources for the city’s 4.0 industrial revolution era,” he said.

Chu Tiến Dũng, chairman of HUBA, said: “Vietnamese businesspeople around the world should remain connected so they can make contributions to the development of HCM City and the country.”

Also speaking at the meeting, Cao Thị Ngọc Dung, chairwoman of HAWEE, said that the association through the event wanted to increase exports to international markets with the support of overseas enterprises.

During the event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation was signed between BAOOV, HABU and HAWEE with the slogan “Solidarity – Innovation – Cooperation – Development”.

Established in 2009, BAOOV has branches in more than 50 countries. 

BAOOV shares information about investment opportunities in Việt Nam and other countries among overseas Vietnamese business communities, and attracts resources on finance, governance, trade, investment and technology.

BAOOV has created a favourable environment for overseas Vietnamese businesses and given effective advice for members about Vietnamese laws, administrative procedures and State policies.

More than 4.5 million Vietnamese live in 100 countries and territories around the world. 

The overseas Vietnamese business community includes at least 6,000 members connected to Việt Nam via technology and business fields.

In the first half of the year, HCM City received overseas remittances of US$2.5 billion, a rise of roughly 20 per cent over the same period last year.

Last year, Việt Nam received remittances worth roughly $13.8 billion. 

Tay Ninh: Nearly 130 mln USD invested in organic fruit farming zone

The southern province of Tay Ninh and a company have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in developing a fruit farming zone and building a fruit processing factory complex serving export here.

The provincial People’s Committee and the Vietnamese Nafoods Group JSC signed the document on October 4.

Accordingly, the two sides will partner to develop an organic fruit farming zone covering some 10,000ha at total estimated cost of 3 trillion VND (128.6 million USD) between 2019 and 2023.

After the area is able to supply at least 150 tonnes of fruit per day, Nafoods will build a factory complex in Tay Ninh so as to manufacture products for export. It expects this complex will bring home at least 100 million USD in export turnover each year when operational.

Provincial authorities also pledged to allow the investor to rent at least 20ha of land for forming a seed germination garden to provide seedlings for the farming zone. They will also assist the development of infrastructure associated with the zone.

Aside from support policies regulated by the State, the provincial administration will also provide specific mechanisms to encourage other businesses, cooperatives and local residents to join the project.

Meanwhile, Nafoods will provide qualified seedlings, fertilizers and plant protection products, as well as training in cultivation techniques for local farmers. It also vowed to apply scientific-technological solutions to improve product quality and purchase all produce of the zone at reasonable prices.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nafoods Group, said his firm aims to have 60 percent of products meeting GlobalGAP standards and the other 40 percent meeting organic standards to serve export.

Viet Nam seeks agricultural support from New Zealand     

Viet Nam and New Zealand agreed to enhance trade and investment co-operation and provide broader market access for agricultural products from the two countries.

The agreement came at the 6th meeting of the Viet Nam – New Zealand Joint Trade and Economic Commission (JTEC) in Ha Noi on Thursday.

The two countries agreed to reinforce co-operation in high-tech agriculture, commercial farming, workforce training, tourism and e-government. They also pledged to promote tourism.

Viet Nam asked New Zealand to help its localities develop value chains for fruits, peppers, coffee, cashews and other agricultural products, and to help develop origin tracking systems for produce.

Viet Nam also sought assistance in food safety management, aviation, disaster and climate change preparedness and language training for government workers.

New Zealand asked for more co-operation in aviation services, tourism and education. The two sides discussed these issues and several other potential areas for collaboration.

The countries agreed to continue backing each other within the framework of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

The JTEC was set up in 2006 to help the two sides address key issues, promote trade and commercial links and facilitate investment opportunities. New Zealand has been one of Viet Nam’s key trading partners for years.

Viet Nam is New Zealand’s 16th largest trade partner. According to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the two countries exchanged US$1.2 billion in goods and services last year, up 37 per cent from 2016. In the first nine months of 2018, bilateral trade amounted to $779 million, up 10.8 per cent from the same period last year.

Viet Nam’s exports to New Zealand totalled $357.8 million while its imports from the country were $421 million.

New Zealand operates 32 projects in Viet Nam with a total investment of $102.8 million, mostly in manufacturing, education, agriculture, forestry, construction, telecommunications, hospitality, arts and entertainment.

Viet Nam has eight projects in New Zealand worth a total of more than $30 million, mainly in manufacturing, retail, automobile and motorcycle repair, catering and agriculture. 

Thang Long Logistics Centre opens in Hung Yen
     
 The Thang Long Logistics Centre opened on October 4 in My Hao District, Hung Yen Province. This is the first modern multi-functional logistics centre in the province.

The centre has a total investment capital of nearly VND280 billion from Transimex Corporation, Vinafreight Joint Stock Company, VNT LOGISTICS Joint Stock Company, Cho Lon Investment and Import Export Joint Stock Company (CHOLIMEX) and Tuan Manh Trading and Investment Co, Ltd.

The three-hectare project boasts a general storage system, freezer storage, an eight-storey racking system, humidity control, a camera system, a fire fighting system and modern management software.

Nguyen Bao Trung, who manages the centre, said that it will store many types of consumer goods, including food products that need to be kept cool. The centre will also control distribution to customers and shops.

The storage system meets ISO, HACCP and CT-PAT standards. It will store and distribute fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), fresh foods and raw materials to local people and producers in industrial zones in Hung Yen and neighbouring provinces.

The centre will develop logistics services based on modern, efficient supply chains to meet northern businesses’ domestic distribution requirements.

The centre is conveniently located to transport goods to Hung Yen and neighbouring provinces such as Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Ninh Binh. It is next to Thang Long 2 Industrial Park and National Highway 5A. It is 25 km from the centre of Ha Noi and connects the key economic triangle of Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Bac Ninh to Hai Phong Port.