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Vietjet to begin code sharing with Japan Airlines this month
Low-cost carrier Vietjet Air will begin code-sharing with Japan Airlines on some domestic and international flights from October 23.
The code-share service will be applied to domestic flights connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, and Hanoi and Da Nang, for travel from October 28. It will also be applied to the route between Hanoi and Japan’s Osaka for travel from November 8.
Last year, the two airlines entered an agreement on comprehensive partnership with the aim of improving customer convenience and the quality of operations and services, while enhancing the corporate value of both companies.
Under the deal, they will expand code-sharing cooperation on services between Vietnam and Japan, as well as the domestic flights of both carriers in the time to come.
Vietjet Air, the largest budget airline in Vietnam, started flight services in 2011 and now operates an expanding network all over Vietnam and Asia. It has already opened 63 routes in Vietnam and across the region to international destinations such as Thailand, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China), Malaysia, China, and Myanmar.
The airline currently boasts a fleet of 45 aircraft, including A320s and A321s, with 350 flights every day.
It not only offers services at reasonable fares, but also provides a high-class service called “SkyBoss”, which has been very well-received among passengers in this market.
Earlier this month, Vietjet Air announced it will launch three new routes linking Vietnam and Japan in the coming three months, including Osaka-Hanoi, Osaka-Ho Chi Minh City, and Tokyo-Hanoi.
Founded in 1951, Japan Airlines is the first national carrier of Japan. As a member of the airline alliance Oneworld, Japan Airlines operates flights to more than 349 airports across 54 countries and territories with its codeshare partners. It now owns a fleet of over 230 aircraft.
JAL is already operating daily non-stop services between Tokyo (Narita) to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi respectively, as well as between Tokyo (Haneda) and Ho Chi Minh City.
Festival to boost Buon Ma Thuot coffee brand
The 7th annual Buon Ma Thuot coffee festival will be held between March 9-16, 2019 in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak with a broad array of activities on offer such as an opening ceremony, a closing ceremony and the 2019 Dak Lak investment promotion conference.
The festival promises to be packed full of diverse activities including an exhibition on coffee, a seminar on the development of Vietnamese specialty coffee, an exhibition on the world’s coffee history, a street festival, a contest for farmers, a Vietnamese specialty coffee quality competition, free coffee tasting sessions, a Buon Don elephant festival and an international paragliding contest.
The annual event aims to promote Buon Ma Thuot coffee brand, develop Vietnam specialty coffee and gradually turn Buon Ma Thuot city into a destination for coffee aficionados worldwide.
The festival will help to raise Vietnamese coffee's standing on the global market, honor domestic coffee growers and traders, and encourage the community to join hands and work together to create and develop coffee culture within the city.
The BRG-Sumitomo joint venture and Hanoi intensify efforts to kick off the construction of Hanoi’s mega smart city project in this December.
The BRG-Sumitomo joint venture and Japanese consultancy unit Nikken Sekkei on October 12 held a working session with the Hanoi People’s Committee to report on the implementation of the Nhat Tan-Noi Bai smart city project and listen to instructive comments from the city’s administration to soon start work on the project.
The investors expect that the construction of the $4.2 billion project could be kicked off this December if they receive the project approval and the land on time.
Earlier, joining the entourage of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to visit Japan, chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung and BRG chairwoman Nguyen Thi Nga held a working session with Sumitomo Group’s chairman Kuniharu Nakamura and CEO Masayuki Hyodo at the Japanese industrial giant’s headquarters in Tokyo.
At the meeting, Chung lauded these groups’ investment plans in Hanoi and stressed that the smart city project has brought Japan into the pole position among foreign investors in Vietnam.
In the upcoming time, Hanoi will try its best to ensure the most favourable conditions in administrative procedures, land acquisition, as well as infrastructure development, paving the way for the joint venture to deploy the project without a hitch.
In May 2018, a Vietnamese-Japanese consortium consisting of four Vietnamese enterprises led by BRG and Sumitomo had submitted a proposal to building a smart city to the Hanoi People’s Committee.
The consortium proposed establishing five companies to execute five component projects, which are scheduled to be kicked off this year and be completed in 2030.
The smart city project is set to span 272 hectares in Hanoi’s outlying district of Dong Anh, connecting with Hanoi city centre via the Nhat Tan-Noi Bai axis and will cost around $4.2 billion in total investment value.
In the first phase, the Sumitomo-BRG joint venture will pour over $1 billion into facilities on an area of 73 hectares.
According to BRG’s chairwoman Tran Thi Nga, once completed, the smart city will become a landmark development in Hanoi’s gateway, driving urban growth in the northern Red River area, creating numerous jobs and propelling the city’s socioeconomic development.
Earlier, the co-operation agreement between the Hanoi’s People’s Committee, BRG Group, and Sumitomo Corporation to develop the smart city project was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his official visit to Japan in June 2017.
The nation’s first ride hailing app, FastGo, is set to hit the road in Indonesia and Myanmar later this year.
FastGo CEO Nguyen Huu Tuat told VnExpress International on October 11 that the app will have its own payment system and will “personalize” promotion deals that will match customers’ interests.
“Our goal is to reach 30% of the market share after six months in these two countries,” he said.
Explaining the choice of these two countries for the company’s first overseas expansion, Tuat said he wanted to start with the easiest neighboring countries to tap.
“After looking at their national policies as well as the market’s current competitiveness, we believe that Indonesia and Myanmar would be the perfect destinations,” he said.
“We also have strategic partners, networks and business strategies for us to be successful in these countries.”
The company is in the process of hiring staff and renting facilities.
After launching in Hanoi on June 12, the app is now available in Da Nang and Saigon.
FastGo last month said it has 15,000 taxi and motorbike partner drivers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but they are still not a common sight on the streets, unlike the ubiquitous red and green uniforms of Go-Viet and Grab drivers.
Tuat said he wants FastGo to become one of Southeast Asia’s top 3 ride-hailing apps in the future.
The Nikkei Asian Review reported a few days ago that the company hopes to make its service available in 20 cities in Vietnam and five other Southeast Asian markets, including the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand, by the end of next year.
Vietnam is making great inroads to reduce environmental pollution and pursue green growth, with the renewal of the growth model.
Le Thanh Thao, country representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Vietnam, writes about the circular economy – a new method of creating value and ultimately prosperity as well as protecting the environment.
Li Yong, director general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), recently said at the 2018 World Manufacturing Forum in Italy, “Industry has proven itself as an unrivalled eradicator of poverty throughout the ages, by raising incomes, creating added value, and enabling greater social mobility. No country has ever risen to developed country status without a strong industrial policy focus.”
However, too often in the past industrial development has also been accompanied by environmental degradation and increased social inequalities. By and large, today’s manufacturing takes raw materials from the environment and transforms them into new products, which are then disposed into the environment after use. Eventually, limited raw materials run out and waste accumulates, either incurring expenses related to disposal or else polluting.
For more than 50 years, UNIDO has worked towards a truly sustainable industry. In doing so, UNIDO has moved towards a circular economy, in which resources are used over and over thanks to innovative business practices. In a circular economy, products are designed for durability, reuse, and recyclability, and materials for new products derive from old products. As often as possible, everything is reused, remanufactured, recycled back into a raw material, used as a source of energy, or as a last resort, disposed of.
The circular economy is directly linked to inventions such as green chemistry, eco-industrial parks, industrial symbiosis, and resource efficiency, clean production, and sustainable cities.
A key part of the circular economy is improving resource efficiency during production. To achieve this goal, UNIDO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) support the establishment and efficient operation of a global network with regional chapters.
These chapters facilitate the effective transfer of Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production (RECP) knowledge and technology, and foster both South-South and North-South co-operation.
Alongside over 70 members of this network, Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre, established in 1998, has played a focal role in disseminating the “Cleaner Production” concept. It promotes adoption of the concept into various industries in Vietnam, ranging from chemicals, garments, and metallurgy to handicrafts, rice, and coffee. Services include applied preventive environmental strategies to processes and products to increase efficiency as well as reduce risks to both humans and the environment.
In other cases, UNIDO is extending resource efficiency beyond the borders of one company to groups of industries. A prime example of such approaches is the establishment of eco-industrial parks.
Companies wanting to go beyond compliance in their environmental performance find the means to do so, not only by sharing environmental services and receiving targeted RECP advice, but also by taking advantage of each other’s by-products, such as heat, water, and recycled materials. Eco-industrial parks could make important contributions in the move towards the circular economy, both in industrialised and developing countries.
In Vietnam, the project “Implementation of eco-industrial park initiative for sustainable industrial zones in Vietnam” aims to transform existing industrial zones in the country into eco-industrial parks (EIPs), in which companies co-operate with the local community and each other to reduce environmental impacts and production costs.
In addition, clean and low-carbon technologies and practices will be demonstrated within the industries to minimise greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the release of persistent organic pollutants, and land-based water pollution. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the project has been implemented by the Ministry of Planning and Investment in coordination with UNIDO in industrial zones in Ninh Binh, Danang, and Can Tho.
Under the support of EIPs project, Decree No.82/2018/ND-CP on the economic zones, industrial zones and processing zones with three specific chapters on EIPs was approved by the government this past May. The decree has for the first time ever conceptualised EIP and industrial symbiosis terms and defined contents related to the development of EIPs in Vietnam. The new decree will lay out strong legal foundations for up-scaling the EIP model to other industrial zones across the country.
Circular economy practices also result in significant energy savings by optimising energy systems, developing international energy management standards and bringing sustainable energy solutions to industries. Towards this approach, UNIDO co-ordinates with Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade to implement an industrial energy efficiency programme which aims to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions through the promotion of the widespread adoption of energy-efficient boilers and best operating practices in industry.
The project’s interventions facilitate the development of legal policy and legal frameworks to support the boiler standardisation system and raising awareness as well as training and capacity building for government agencies, boiler owners, operators, and manufacturers, and other stakeholders. The project also provides financial assistance for the implementation of energy efficient boiler adoption and manufacturing.
Moreover, UNIDO also promotes the use of renewable energy for productive use. The use of solar energy to run the cooling and lighting systems is an example.
For the first time in Vietnam, the Excellence Centre for Harvesting, Pre-processing, Packing, Preservation and Transport of Mango in the Mekong River Delta uses green solar energy to run the cold storage system, ensuring about 40 per cent of the total power consumption, and some other electric equipment.
This helps the company to reduce its operation costs. The centre was established under the project which aims to strengthen the supply capacity of the fruit and vegetable sector by applying proper technologies along the value chain. This is a UNIDO component in the joint UN programme to support the national target programme on new rural development in Vietnam.
The circular economy encourages inter-company exchanges and synergy-building, leading to better economic, social, and environmental performance. This in turn helps raise the overall performance of national economies and opens new markets and jobs.
On an international level, the circular economy facilitates the exchange of goods across borders by introducing standards to secondary raw materials that were previously considered waste. Improved product characteristics such as extended lifetime, recyclability, and serviceability further help to ensure that products can be used and sold on the global market. By helping overcome international trade barriers in this way, the circular economy offers new possibilities by which countries can prosper.
Countries, including Vietnam, today stand at a fork in the road. On the one hand, the pursuit of unsustainable, linear patterns of consumption and production threatens the well-being of future generations, while on the other hand, a restorative approach to increased prosperity is opening itself up to the world.
Together with our global partners, and in service to our member states, UNIDO will continue to advance economic competitiveness, create shared prosperity and safeguard the environment in the world’s developing and transitional countries.
2018 is a special year for UNIDO as it marks the 40th anniversary of UNIDO’s technical co-operation with Vietnam. The past years have witnessed UNIDO sharing its international expertise and best practices to help Vietnam achieve inclusive and sustainable industrialisation.
UNIDO has enjoyed very fruitful co-operation with national and provincial authorities; financing institutions; research institutions and academia; and business and professional associations, as well as the private sector.
With more than $100 million in grant expenditure, UNIDO’s technical co-operation activities have been carried out across a broad range of fields – from supporting government institutions to developing traditional industry, and from promoting investment to strengthening productivity.
In the coming years, UNIDO commits to working closely with relevant ministries and stakeholders in Vietnam to support the country in its important industrial sectors, in technology transfer, and in human resources development for Industry 4.0 as well as in formulating Vietnam’s new industrialisation strategy.
UNIDO is also committed to supporting Vietnam in implementing its socioeconomic development priorities, green growth strategy, and Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals.
The Vietnamese government has repeatedly underscored the role of businesses in national development as many of them have created credible Vietnamese trademarks and are able to compete with foreign businesses.
October 13 marks Vietnam Entrepreneurs’ Day. Since Vietnam was reunified more than 40 years ago, the Vietnamese business circle has grown significantly.
Vietnamese entrepreneurs have proved their resilience in a highly competitive environment thanks to their dynamism and desire to make a fortune. Their role has risen amid Vietnam’s greater integration into the global economy. To be a winner in global competition, domestic business people have focused on human resources, technology, and a management system for sustainable development.
Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has called for more efforts to be made.“The Vietnamese business community needs to show strong will and creativity to overcome challenges, constantly study, apply new technology and method of management, renew product designs, diversify products and services, and improve marketing.
All these things will increase Vietnamese product credibility, conquer the domestic market, and penetrate further into regional and global markets”, said Deputy PM Hue.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is determined to make Vietnamese businesses thrive. Over the past two years, he has attentively listened to them and addressed their problems by reducing business sublicenses. A mechanism for receiving businesses’ opinions and recommendations was established and headed by the Minister and Head of the Government Office.
The People’s Committees of provinces and cities, which are under the direct administration of the central government, are required to hold meetings with investors and business people at least twice a year. A series of draft laws have been submitted to the National Assembly to create momentum for business growth.
The government has issued numerous resolutions, decrees, and directives on improving the business environment and competitiveness.
“We will continue to coordinate with ministries and sectors, especially the Ministry of Science and Technology, to help businesses take full advantage of the 4th Industrial Revolution and keep up with advanced countries.
We will work with partners at home and abroad to provide useful solutions to the business community”, said Hoang Quang Phong, Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
2016 saw 100,000 new enterprises. The number has continued to rise, on track to achieve the goal of 1 million enterprises in Vietnam by 2020.
Drivers for economic growth promotedVietnam’s economy in the last nine months has continued to grow. The Government, ministries, sectors and localities have focused on improving competitiveness, reforming institutions, promoting the private sector, and developing science and technology.
Vietnam has focused on maintaining macro-economic stability, controlling inflation, boosting GDP, and ensuring social security.
Institutional reform is considered the key to economic growth. Vietnam has strengthened administrative reforms, improved the investment environment, increased national competitiveness, and developed a responsive government.
Minister and Head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung said "Vietnam has prioritized institution building. In its regular meetings, the government has discussed draft laws and decrees and worked closely with NA agencies to fine-tune legal documents. Laws concerning land, housing and the investment environment have been revised.”
Vietnam will continue to strengthen administrative reforms to be among the top ASEAN countries and meet criteria of OECD countries in term of the business environment.
The government considers the private sector a driver of the national economy. It has implemented policies to help private enterprises by reducing taxes for SMEs, revising laws, providing capital and expanding markets. As a result Vietnam’s market attraction index has ranked 68 out of 190 countries.
President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc said “Business barriers, ask-give mechanisms, and unfair competition are the major obstacles for the private sector. Removing these barriers and creating a transparent, fair environment will create the best ecology for private enterprises. The State’s incentives of reducing business fees and administrative procedures have helped the private sector.”
Fostering science and technology to take advantage of the 4th Industrial Revolution
In the last few years, Vietnam’s science and technology programs have focused on helping Vietnamese enterprises acquire new technology.
The State has provided enterprises with capital to modernize their technology, increase production, and prepare for international integration.
Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh said “With the government’s help, we will continue to improve the business environment and the capital market, apply technology more effectively, and promote innovation.”
Ba Ria-Vung Tau creates breakthroughs in investment attraction
Ba Ria-Vung Tau has painted the picture of an investment haven, an area full of promise and potential for domestic and foreign investors thanks to its strategy of selective investor attraction and offering specific support for investors, including issuance of a decree on setting a time to handle investment procedures.
Deciding not to trade off economic benefits for environmental pollution, Ba Ria-Vung Tau is developing a master-plan and attracting investment in the areas suitable to its potential and development advantages, ensuring the locality’s sustainable development.
Under the plan, it will continue to pursue the strategy of selective investor attraction focusing on high tech, environmentally friendly, and labor intensive projects.
By 2020, it aims to attract 80 new FDI projects with a total registered capital of about US$4 billion and 90 domestic investment projects worth US$4.3 billion in registered capital.
Le Hoang Hai, director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, said with the development of a set of investment attraction criteria, Ba Ria-Vung Tau is gradually gaining access prestigious investors and foregoing unsuitable investment areas.
Last year, FDI flow in Ba Ria-Vung Tau reached US$3.2 billion in about 70 new domestic and foreign projects, double the 2016 figure.
Hai said, “Domestic and foreign investment accounts for more than 80% of the total capital structure in the locality. The provincial authorities have identified this as the main source for the local socio-economic development and, over the past two years, have put forward various solutions to attract the continued flow of investment.”
Ba Ria-Vung Tau province has aggressively improved its policies to eliminate hurdles for investors relating to investment license granting, construction permits, customs to reduce clearance time, together with the development of an administration transparent and friendly to investors.
Nguyen Van Trinh, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said the province will consistently pursue the goal of developing the economy without leaving consequences for future generations, such as harming the environment, turning it into a dumping ground for technology waste, and increasing the population and urban area scale.
“In spite of its great potential, Ba Ria-Vung Tau has developed slowly , albeit steadily. In the future, investment projects will be approved by the management boards of industrial zones instead of by the provincial People’s Committee,” said Mr. Trinh.
According to Nguyen Hong Linh, the provincial Party Committee Secretary, domestic revenue and the revenue from imports and exports will make up a greater portion of the province’s overall economy, and the income from oil and gas will decrease.
“We will develop an economy independent of oil and gas. Instead, we’ll focus on developing auxiliary industries, exports, and petrochemical downstream industries and allow seaport and logistics to spearhead the development of the provincial economic sector. Tourism and high-tech agriculture will also be among the province’s economic pillars”, Mr. Linh noted.
In the near future, Ba Ria - Vung Tau will prioritize the maximization of social resources in order to call on people and businesses to invest in Ba Ria - Vung Tau. More measures will be implemented to develop the economy and provide the best support for enterprises in removing difficulties moving forward.
Japan seeks further cooperating in supporting industries with VietnamJapanese businesses have sought cooperation opportunities in Vietnam in recent times with the aim of using Vietnamese businesses to support them during the early part of the production supply chain.
Regular annual visits to Vietnam by Japanese businesses aim to strengthen trade ties and seek investment opportunities with local businesses.
However according to many experts, Vietnamese businesses should enhance their production capacity in order to do business with Japanese enterprises.
From between October 11 -13th, a total of 33 Japanese businesses held working sessions with 30 Vietnamese suppliers during the Supporting Industry Show co-organized by Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), the Investment & Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City (ITPC) and HCM City Centre of Supporting Industries Development (CSID).
CSID Deputy Director Le Nguyen Duy Oanh said Vietnamese companies see huge potential opportunities to provide Japanese businesses with products for supporting industries.
However, to take full advantage of these opportunities, local businesses have been advised to improve their production capacity in order to meet the basic requirements of their Japanese counterparts.
ITPC Director Pham Thiet Hoa highlighted the great significance of the 2018 Supporting Industry Show for the production sector, saying it will present plenty of new opportunities for supporting industry firms to access cutting-edge technologies and machinery, seek effective solutions as well as adding value to their products.
Japanese enterprises, through the event, were able to seek suppliers of industrial components and create a healthy platform for Vietnamese businesses to promote their component products to potential clients.
According to JETRO, the demand for supply sources in Vietnam from Japanese businesses’ is huge and about 60% of Japanese enterprises are seeking immediate supply sources.
Although the support industry has more coverage over recent years, the rate of supply sources from domestic firms stand at more than 13%, lower than other regional nations such as China (40%), Thailand (roughly 30%), Indonesia (over 20%), Malaysia (nearly 20%) and the Philippines (14.5%).
At present, JETRO has launched a wide range of activities to boost the development of supporting industry businesses.
Japanese enterprises have increased their investments in Vietnam during recent times. In the nine-month period, Japanese businesses top the list of foreign investors in Vietnam with a total investment capital of US$7 billion, accounting for nearly 28% of total investment capital.
Japan now ranks second among nations, currently investing in the Southeast Asian nation with a total registered capital of US$55.7 billion, making up 16.6% of total investment capital.
Consequently, domestic companies have been advised to improve their capability towards stronger partnerships with their Japanese partners.
Da Nang to call investors from Russia at St. Petersburg Economic ForumThe central city of Da Nang will participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2019 on June 6-8 as a chance to call for more investment from Russia as well as showing off potential of the coastal central local.
Chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Huynh Duc Tho said in a recent meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Viet Nam Konstantin V. Vnukov that the city would promote projects in the fields of hi-tech industries, sea port development, hi-tech farming, tourism property, information technology, healthcare service and supporting industries to Russian investors.
Thơ said it would be a chance for Da Nang to highlight its investment incentives and listen to the requirements of Russian enterprises looking to invest in Da Nang.
The Russian ambassador said he hoped the participation of Da Nang at the forum would help boost investment chances for businesses from Russia and the city.
He said investment and trade between Da Nang and locals from Russia has yet promoted.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum serves as a platform for the discussion of key issues in the world economy, regional integration, and the development of new industrial and technological sectors, as well as of the global challenges facing Russia and other nations.
As plan, Russia and Da Nang would eye priorities for promotion programmes with Russian automotive manufacturer Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ) for establishment a joint venture to distribute its products in the Vietnamese market, and Anex Tour company in boosting tourism service.
Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Da Nang, Andrey P Brovarets said lack of information about investment projects and few exchanges among businesses are seen as hurdles that limit investment and trading between Russia and the central region, and projects from Russia were rarely seen in the region.
Meanwhile, businesses from Viet Nam and the central region have very little information about the investment potential in Russia, especially the Far East region.
He said businesses from Viet Nam and the central region can invest in production and processing projects in the region for exporting goods to western Russia as Vladivostok port would be a free-tax zone.
In 2015, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry from Russia’s Union Primorye and Da Nang signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on trade, investment, export and tourism. However, cargo shipment between the city’s port and Vladivostok Port in Russia had remained poor for years
Budget airline Vietjet Air had been planning to open air routes between Vladivostok in Russia and a number of Vietnamese regions such as HCM City, Nha Trang, Hue, Phu Quoc and Da Nang.
HCM City to host nutrition festivalThe first Nutrition and Natural Health Festival to be held in HCM City from October 18 to 21 will seek to network local producers of food and agricultural products, customers and local and foreign distribution systems.
Organised by the High Quality Vietnamese Products Business Association, it has attracted 100 businesses who will display products such as fish sauce, spices, processed foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, rice, and other agricultural products.
Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the association, said all the exhibitors are producers of organic and safe products with certification from prestigious local and international organisations.
The event will feature a roundtable discussion on Complying with Standards and Product Commercialisation: Key for Integration, a programme to connect small traders with traditional markets in HCM City, business matching, cooking competition, and meetings with actor Thanh Loc, actress Le Phuong and blogger Nguyen Pham Khanh Van.
Exhibitors will have the chance to meet leading local and international distributors and retailers from the Global Retailer Alliance, the EU and the Middle East, buyers from Singapore, Thailand and Korea, large supermarket chains in Viet Nam such as Co.opmart, Big C, Vinamart, Aeon, GS 25, Lotte Mart, and Auchan, and e-commerce businesses such as A Day Roi, Tiki and Lazada.
Representatives of industrial parks and processing zones and five-star hotels and restaurants will come to the event to source food and farm produce, offering exhibitors a chance to sign deals with them.
Hanh said the association would invite the EU’s geographical indication organisation, traditional Vietnamese fish sauce producers who have received the EU Protected Designation of Origin Status and geographical identification from Vietnamese agencies and supermarkets distributing their products to talk about how to make the traditional fish sauce.
Producers would also instruct consumers on how to differentiate products with geographical identification from others available in the market, she said.
The festival will be held at the Nguyen Du Stadium in District 1.
Over 150 firms to join Ha Noi food expoMore than 150 businesses from 13 countries and territories are expected to participate in the Food & Hotel Hanoi 2018 expo from November 28-30 at the International Centre of Exhibition.
This is the first time Viet Nam’s leading food and hospitality trade event has been held in the capital city after 8 exhibitions in HCM City.
Speaking at the press conference held in Ha Noi on Friday, BT Tee, the organiser and general manager of UBM VES said the three-day event will have 15 international group pavilions from the US, Spain, Singapore, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, China and Thailand.
The event will showcase food, beverage and related products. In addition, the exhibition will also display a range of equipment for the food, beverage, restaurant and hotel industries.
There will also be specialised forums, as well as cooking contests.
Le Mai Khanh, permanent vice chairman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Hotel Association, said the event is expected to offer an opportunity for businesses in the food and hotel sector to find co-operation opportunities as well as sharing experience to improve their service quality and promoting the industry’s development in the northern market.
The Food & Hotel expo has been organised in many cities around the world and came to HCM City in 2005.
Ford posts sales growth of 76 per centUS automaker Ford Vietnam gained a month-on-month growth of 76 per cent in sales, reaching 2,327 units in September, mostly due to strong sales of the newly launched Ranger and Everest.
“A healthy supply of the new Ranger and Everest in Viet Nam, together with continued strength in demand across our entire Ford lineup, is giving us a lot of confidence heading into the fourth quarter,” said Pham Van Dung, managing director, Ford Vietnam.
The recently launched new Ranger led Ford’s September resurgence with sales of 624 vehicles. The Ranger is continuing its leading position in 2018 with year-to-date sales of 3,854 vehicles.
The mid-sized Everest delivered its all-time best monthly performance in Viet Nam with September sales of 541 vehicles.
Transit continued to lead Viet Nam’s commercial van segment in September with sales of 451 vehicles. Year-to-date sales of the Transit have risen 2 per cent to 4,676 vehicles.
The new EcoSport saw September sales increasing by 33 per cent from the prior month to 456 vehicles, helping push its year-to-date total sales up 15 per cent to 3,377 vehicles.
September sales of the sporty Focus rose 2 per cent from August to 184 vehicles, while year-to-date sales of the 1.5L EcoBoost-equipped Focus increased 60 per cent to 1,397 vehicles.
The US-imported Explorer SUV premium – equipped with a 2.3L EcoBoost engine – saw September sales rise 15 per cent to 47 vehicles, pushing its year-to-date sales to 466 vehicles.
BGRIM clinches VN solar power supply deal with EVNB Grimm Power (BGRIM) has clinched an agreement to supply electricity from its solar photovoltaic (PV) farm in Phu Yen Province, Viet Nam, to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the largest power company in the country.
The conclusion of the 20-year agreement on Thursday in Ha Noi, in the presence of BGRIM Chairman Harald Link, has solidified the viability of the 257 MW PV scheme in the Republic’s south central coast.
"The agreement has secured the future for the Phu Yen project which will help drive our income generation and capacity equity growth," said BGRIM President Preeyanart Soontornwata.
When it starts commercial operation in June next year, Phu Yen will enhance BGRIM’s 2019 revenue by 15-20 per cent and contribute to the company’s target to increase it installed capacity to 3,100 MW in 2022.
The sales of electricity to EVN is at 9.35 US cents per KWh for 20 years with the commercial operation date (COD) set on June 30, 2019.
The ground-mounted PV solar farm in Phu Yen is one of the larger systems of its kind in the Socialist Republic and its output will be fed to EVN’s national grid.
SET-listed BGRIM, through subsidiary B Grimm Renewable Power 2 Co, earlier this year acquired an 80 per cent stake in Phu Yen TTP Joint Stock Company.
BGRIM is actively pursuing power ventures in Viet Nam with current combined generation equity at 677 MW.
Phu Yen is one of the large scale projects approved by Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam in line with the republic’s policy to promote environmentally-friendly energy over the next two decades.
At present, BGRIM operates a total of 33 power plants, 15 of which are of co-generation, 15 solar, two hydro-power and a diesel-fuelled, with a combined generating capacity of 2,220 MW.
Natcom to pay dividend in Haiti for first timeNatcom - a joint venture of Viettel Group in Haiti - has paid a share dividend for 2017 of US$3 million. This is the first time Natcom has paid a dividend since the official launch of the company in September 2011.
The payment is expected to reaffirm the status of Natcom in the eyes of the Haitian Government and its people after seven years of joint venture co-operation.
According to figures released by Natcom, in the first six months of 2018, Natcom’s mobile services and fiber optic internet (FTTH) customer growth was 1.5 times and 2 times higher than in 2017.
In early August, Natcom was provided with a 1,700 Mhz frequency band used for rendering 4G services. This is considered both a "golden" frequency band as it is able to support Natcom’s terminals in Haiti at the highest rate, namely 86 per cent according to analysts’ calculations, and an important weapon for Natcom to compete with other 4G operators. At present, Natcom is in the process of importing equipment and expects to carry out nationwide infrastructure development.
Natcom has already won important contracts such as a national road network project for the Government of Haiti valued at $5.5 million; a contract with UNESCO valued at $425,000; a 4G order to serve the office of the President of Haiti, the second N-Office project for the General Department of Customs, and provision of 24 internet links to member schools of the Haiti Medical University bringing in nearly $400,000.
In addition, the Government of Haiti has agreed a tax exemption for Natcom until 2018 with respect to supplies and equipment imported in order to overcome the consequences of Super Typhoon Matthew in 2016, thereby helping the company save up to $2 million.
Ha The Duong, general director of Natcom, said: "After going through difficult times in Haiti, Viettel is on the way to achieving good business results. By making the best of the 1,700 Mhz "golden frequency band" licence, Natcom has a good chance of competing with other 4G service providers."
Natcom is known as the leading infrastructure company in Haiti with 1,800 2G/3G/4G stations, 6,000 km of fiber optic cables and the second largest market share with nearly 3.4 million customers, accounting for 35 per cent of market share.
According to the plan, Natcom is expected to achieve revenue and profit growth of 17.5 per cent and 47 per cent in 2018.
Vietnamese men more into beauty products online than women
In Vietnam, more men buy beauty products, clothes, footwear and phones online than women, a new survey has found.
The survey, conducted by Ho Chi Minh City-based market research firm DecisionLab, found that in the preceding three months, 58% of the male respondents said they had purchased beauty products online, compared to 49% of women.
The survey polled more than 1,900 people.
More men also bought clothing, footwear, cooking ingredients, mobile phones, home appliances and long distance travel packages online last year.
The research also found variation across categories depending on where the pre-shopping research was conducted.
Online research was mostly done for big ticket items like mobile phones, home appliances, hotel stays, cinema tickets, travel, insurance and beauty products.
For non-durables like food and beverages, people chose to shop offline.
In the use of mobile devices to shop online, Facebook was the most popular gateway in Vietnam, especially for clothes and beauty products, the survey found.
The World Bank has forecast that Vietnam’s US$200-billion economy is likely to grow to a trillion dollars by 2035.
More than half of its population, compared to only 11% today, is expected to join the ranks of the global middle class with consumption of US$15 a day or more.
Across the country, the ratio of people using smartphones among mobile phone subscribers reached 84% in 2017, up from 78% the previous year, according to the 2017 Nielsen Vietnam Smartphone Insights Report.
Online sales in Vietnam have expanded rapidly in recent years, currently accounting for 3.39% of the country’s retail market. The total retail market grew 10.9% last year to US$173.27 billion, local media reports said.
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