Fishery exports reeled in 10.14 billion USD as of November this year, up 27% annually, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Of the sum, Tra fish and shrimps contributed 2.2 billion USD and 4.1 USD, up nearly 62% and 14.6% year-on-year, respectively.

Tra fish’s sharp increase was thanks to the strongest annual surge in the product’s average price, at 50%. Exporters have also seized an opportunity to increase their market share created by the Russia-Ukraine conflict which limits the supply of white fish.

Overall, shrimp export turnover has retained good growth so far thanks to strong rises recorded in the first half of the year. In the last half, the value declined due to a decrease in market demand and a short supply of raw materials. The product’s average export price did not increase as strongly as Tra fish, as it faced significant competitive pressure from those of Ecuador and India.
Tuna exports, notably, were said to certainly rake in 1 billion USD this year, marking a new record.

U.S. remains Viet Nam's largest export market

The U.S. remains the largest importer of Viet Nam’s goods over the last 11 months with US$101.5 billion, reported the General Statistics Office.

Meanwhile, during the January-November period, China is the biggest import market of Viet Nam, with an estimated turnover of US$109.9 billion. 

In November alone, Viet Nam earned US$29.18 billion from exporting, raising the total export value over 11 months to US$342.21 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.4 percent. 

The Southeast Asian nation spent US$331.61 billion on imports in the January-November period, up 10.1 percent. 

During the reviewed period, Viet Nam recorded a trade deficit of US$10.6 billion. 

THACO to invest $1 billion in an industrial park in Binh Duong

The automaker Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO) is mulling plans to invest in a mechanical supporting industrial park with the total investment capital of $1 billion in the southern province of Binh Duong.

According to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Binh Duong People’s Committee and THACO on November 27, the investor will proceed from early next year with the research and building of the project.

The province will support the investor in surveying some potential locations before the investor has an official decision on the construction site. The province will provide the group with all necessary support in terms of investment procedures.

In the first nine months of this year, THACO Industries acquired VND8.2 trillion in revenue. The company targets to earn VND13 trillion for the whole year.

Norwegian companies bring green tech solutions to Vietnam

Nearly a dozen Norwegian companies are presenting their expertise and tech solutions to help promote a sustainable green economy in Vietnam.

The showcase is part of the Green Economy Forum & Exhibition (GEFE) 2022, hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), which is taking place over November 28-30.

Norwegian deputy head of Mission Mette Møglestue said, “We commend the creative initiative of EuroCham to organise GEFE. Green growth has become dispensable in today’s world. To reach the targets, it is impossible not to involve businesses, industries, and social partners, for they play a crucial role in the just transition towards a renewable, circular, and sustainable future.

As many as 11 Norwegian companies took part: Equinor, Norsk Solar, Scatec, Empower, TerraMarine, Tomra, Jotun, Vard, Yara, Emarasia, and Visco.

In the Norwegian pavilion, the companies on the first day of the event introduced technologies and solutions across a spectrum of areas from renewable energy to the circular economy, including effective plastic waste management, green manufacturing and shipping, smart aquaculture, and consultancy and supporting services.

Real estate companies and banks take international loans

Many real estate companies and banks are mobilising capital from foreign funds in the context of the ongoing credit crunch in Vietnam.

The Board of Directors of An Gia Real Estate Investment and Development Corporation has approved mobilising a short-term loan worth $10 million from The Shanghai Commercial & Saving Bank, Ltd. – Offshore Banking Branch.

Lending from banks is limited due to the State Bank of Vietnam's cap on credit expansion to control inflation and the fact that bond issuance is becoming a tough proposition.

Another real estate company namely Novaland has plans to borrow $40 million from VietinBank Filiale Deutschland and Maybank Labuan (Maybank’s branch in Malaysia).

Along with the real estate sector, many banks including VPBank, SeABank, and VIB are taking out international loans.

Notably, on November 11, VPBank inked a syndicated loan arrangement worth $500 million with five prominent financial institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, ANZ Bank, and Maybank Securities Pte. Ltd. – a member of Maybank Investment Banking Group.

VPBank plans to use this loan to finance small- and medium-sized enterprises and businesses led by women in the country.

In the same month, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) approved issuing a loan worth $200 million to SeABank, making it the only financial institution in Vietnam to receive funding from DFC.

This loan will help SeABank improve its financial capacity to implement its proposed projects and reduce the gap between the financial needs of the market and the existing source of money in the economy.

Realty firms struggle to stay afloat amid uncertainties

Many realty enterprises have ceased operations in recent times, while the active ones have laid off staff or cut salaries amid market uncertainties.

Layoffs have recently become more widespread among not only medium and small-sized realty businesses but also large corporations. Subject to the business sizes, some have cut 20% of their employees and others have laid off 50% or even 70% of the total.

Meanwhile, personnel, still employed by the realty companies, have to accept lower pay.

According to the chairman of a real estate company, the restructuring of the workforce is the most painful decision as this will affect employees’ families.

Besides reducing the number of employees, many businesses have opted for a delay in property sale, product portfolio restructuring, financial balancing to ease the pressure from the market.

Many real estate brokering companies – whose operations rely completely on property sales – have to shut down their business.

The pressure on the real estate companies is building up in the run-up to the year-end when premise costs, salaries and allowances for employees, debts payable to suppliers, and commissions become due at the same time.

Failure to sell properties and mobilize capital from banks and clients have forced many companies to suspend real estate business to minimize their losses, said a company representative.

According to the latest report of the Finance – Economics – Real Estate Institute of Dat Xanh Services, 2,300 real estate enterprises had suspended their operations in the first 10 months of this year, an increase of 52.8% over the same period of last year. Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 enterprises had shut down their business operations, up 42% compared to the year-ago period.

First component of Danang’s port to begin work in mid-Dec

Danang plans to start work on the first infrastructure component of the Lien Chieu Port project on December 14 this year.

On November 27, the Management Board of Priority Infrastructure Investment Projects in Danang announced the plan to start developing infrastructure for the Lien Chieu Port on December 14.

This is one of the two components of the Lien Chieu Port Project, with a total investment of over VND3,400 billion contributed by Danang and the central budget.

The project will build embankments, wharves, navigational channel, ship turning basin, signaling systems for vessels of up to 6,000-8,000 TEUs, traffic roads to the port, water and power supply infrastructure, synchronous auxiliary works to the port gates.

The road to the port will have six lanes. According to the zone planning, the road will become a one-way route to ensure an unhindered circulation of goods.

China tends to buy Thai agricultural product as cheaper than Vietnam

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that China has not completely abandoned the 'Zero Covid' policy, China's yuan as well as Thailand's baht depreciate more than the Vietnamese dong and the US dollar, so China will import more agricultural goods from Thailand.

According to the Ministry, in the past 11 months, the total import-export value of the agricultural industry reached US$90.26 billion with a trade surplus of nearly $8 billion, an increase of nearly 48 percent but the import-export of the agriculture sector was forecasted to face many difficulties in the upcoming time.

Specifically, the 11-month export turnover was about $49.04 billion, up 11.8 percent and the import was about $41.22 billion, up 6.9 percent. Thus, in the past 11 months, the Southeast Asian country's agricultural sector had a trade surplus of $7.82 billion, up 47.8 percent over the same period last year.

Up to now, fresh pomelo is the seventh fruit of the country allowed to be imported into the US market resulting from long-term efforts at negotiation of specialized agencies between the two countries and the persistent companionship of Vietnamese pomelo producers and exporters during negotiation.

In addition to potential export products, some products are at high risk for export. Although forest product exports have generated a very high turnover and trade surplus with a total turnover of $15.59 billion, the EU has very strict traceability of wood materials, so the export of Vietnam’s wood pellets - commonly made of raw materials such as wood chips, sawdust, shavings, bark, crop straw, and other biomass materials - to the EU is still modest.

Vietnam to hold a 60-hour livestream shopping with numerous promotions
 
Online Friday will be the biggest online shopping day of the year, with the participation of numerous companies offering exclusive discounts of up to 100%.

A 60-hour livestream, offering thousands of discounts to consumers, will take place from 0:00 to 12:00 between December 2 and 4 on the onlineFriday.vn website and the e-commerce section of social media giant TikTok Shop.

The program is part of the Vietnam Online Shopping Week, held by the Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), from November 28 to December 4.

The Online Friday event [on December 2] will be the largest online shopping day of the year, with the participation of numerous enterprises, who will offer exclusive discounts of up to 100%.

According to  Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen, Deputy Director of the iDEA,  the program is expected to help consumers recognize and use genuine products, especially those originating in Vietnam.

This is the largest national e-commerce event of the year, held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with government agencies, People’s Committees of provinces, cities, associations, and businesses.

The Vietnam Online Shopping Day program has been implemented since 2014, and total sales of participating retailers at its peak have reached more than VND160 billion ($7 million) in 2021, according to MoIT.

Hanoi wants to make Red River Delta a Southeast Asia modern services hub

Hanoi will create a favorable legal environment for the operation of new business models under a green-, circular- and digital economy as part of its effort to build the Red River Delta to be a modern services center in Southeast Asia.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Tran Sy Thanh gave the remarks at the conference discussing the implementation of resolution No.30 of the Politburo issued on November 23 on socio-economic development and ensuring national security at the Red river delta until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

Thanh expected Hanoi to become a financial, trade, services, and tourism center of the region and the world, Haiphong as a global logistics hub, and Bac Ninh with a smart industrial base.

The capital city with a population of nearly 10 million is home to the nation’s largest research institutes, universities, hospitals, and cultural centers, and a growth engine for the entire region.”

Under resolution No.30, Hanoi is envisioned to have a development level similar to the capitals of the region’s developed countries by 2030, a global city by 2045 with high living standards and a GRDP per capita of over $36,000.

To ensure the successful implementation of resolution No.30, Thanh called for the Party, Government, and National Assembly to soon issue a working mechanism on inter-provincial linkage, including the pilot of extraordinary policies with high international competitiveness to fully tap into the potential of the Red River Delta.

Especially it highlights the connection among regions, namely the economic triangles of Hanoi – Haiphong - Quang Ninh, the economic corridor of Kun Ming (China) – Lao Cai – Hanoi – Haiphong – Quang Ninh, or the corridor of Nanning (China) – Lang Son – Hanoi – Haiphong – Quang Ninh.

In the immediate future, the city’s major stressed the necessity for the Government to soon complete the review process of the Capital Law and the overall construction planning for Hanoi.

As part of the ongoing economic restructuring, Hanoi proposed the Government continue supporting cities/provinces in the Red River Delta in promoting economic sectors associated with the use of a high-quality workforce and forming a value chain in the region.

Thanh also mentioned the significance of cultural development to reflect the historical values of a 1,000-year-old city.

In the past months, the Hanoi Party Committee has issued a resolution on the development of the cultural industry in the city in the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, aimed at creating comprehensive breakthroughs in Hanoi’s cultural industry.

From their practical experience, Thanh suggested an overall solution from the national level to ensure a balance between historical and cultural value preservation and socio-economic development. “This is key for culture to become a new driving force for growth,” Thanh said.

Thanh also noted the importance of soon approving the Red River Delta planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, considering this an essential step for localities in the region to map out their respective development visions.

Regarding science-technology and environmental protection, Thanh called for Government agencies to carry out startup and innovation center projects in Hanoi, Haiphong, and Quang Ninh, along with the completion of the Hoa Lach Hi-tech park and the national innovation center in the capital.

The Red River delta consists of 11 provinces/cities under central administration and is divided into the Northern Red River delta sub-region of Hanoi, Haiphong, Quang Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Hung Yen; and the Southern Red River delta sub-region of Thai Binh, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, and Ninh Binh.

OCOP fair to open in Hanoi next month

A fair promoting Hanoi's agricultural and One Commune, One Product (OCOP) products will take place from December 9 to 12 in Hanoi's outlying district of Me Linh.

The event is co-hosted by the Hanoi Centre for Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion (HPA) and the Me Linh District’s People’s Committee, aiming to strengthen the brand value of handicrafts and OCOP products while promoting rural tourism.

The fair will draw up to 80 booths displaying farm produce and OCOP products, traditional villages from Me Linh District, and other provinces and cities.

Visitors to the fair can experience traditional art performances and folk games, cultural exchange among ethnic groups, and make OCOP products themselves on-site.

Hanoi plans to build five creative design centers by the end of 2023 to sell unique local products and promote handicraft villages associated with tourism in some key areas.

According to the action plan to develop the city’s OCOP program in the 2021-2025 period, the centers will be located in Bat Trang (Gia Lam District), Duyen Thai (Thuong Tin District), Chuyen My (Phu Xuyen District), Phu Vinh (Chuong My District), and Duong Lam (Son Tay Town).

Digital transformation may contribute US$1 trillion to ASEAN's GDP in 10 years

The Viet Nam Digital Transformation Conference 2022, with the theme "Enhancing digital human resources", took place in Ha Noi on November 29.

According to a report from global management consulting firm Kearney, ASEAN member states have actively taken concrete steps in the digital transformation journey.

If successfully applied, the digital transformation program can contribute US$1 trillion to the total GDP of ASEAN in the next ten years, helping ASEAN rise as one of the world's leading digital innovation hubs.

In Viet Nam, human resource development is an essential factor in ensuring the success of the national digital transformation program. The Vietnamese Government has issued many documents, policies, and strategies on human resource development for digital transformation.

Public investment disbursement reaches 52.43% in January-November

About 52.43 percent of public investment capital was disbursed in the first 11 months this year, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry said that 16 ministries and 29 localities reported disbursement rate of over 60 percent, including the Government Inspectorate (100 percent), the Viet Nam Cooperative Alliance (100 percent), the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labor (99.47 percent) the State Bank of Viet Nam (84.42 percent), Quang Ngai (83.1 percent), Tien Giang (82 percent) and Binh Dinh (81.5 percent).

However, there remains 27 ministries and 18 localities with disbursement rate of less than 50 percent and 12 other ministries and one locality with disbursed volume rate of under 30 percent including HCMC (over 25 percent), Ha Giang (31.4 percent), Cao Bang (32.6 percent), Quang Tri (over 40 percent) and Hoa Binh (44.8 percent).

Last month, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered faster disbursement of public investment capital in the remaining months in a bid to promote economic recovery and development.

In Directive No. 19/CT-TTg dated October 17, the Government chief emphasized that accelerating disbursement of public investment capital must guaranteeing the quality and efficiency of public investment projects.

Development orientations for Red River Delta through 2030

The Red River Delta region’s GRPD per capita is expected to reach VND274 million (more than US$11,000) by 2030.

The Political Bureau has issued Resolution 30-NQ/TW on the directions for economic-social development and ensuring security and national defense in the Red River Delta region until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

From now to 2030, the region should promote fast and sustainable development, focusing on developing modern industry and service sectors and high-tech, organic, green and circular agriculture. 

The Red River Delta region strives to become the nation's high-quality human training and education hub, taking the lead in science-technology development, innovation, digital economy and digital society with synchronous and smart socio-economic infrastructure. 

Besides, the region must handle issues relevant to environmental pollution, traffic jams and flooding. 

The Resolution sets the target that the region will achieve an average GRDP growth of 9 percent per year from now to 2030. 

The agro-forestry-fishery sector will account for 3.5 percent of the region's GRDP. The industry-construction sector will make up 47 percent while the service sector will account for 41 percent. 

In the 2021-2030 period, labor productivity will increase to 7 percent while the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) will contribute about 55 percent of  the region's GRDP.

The digital economy will make up 35 percent of the GRDP, according to the Resolution. 

The urbanization rate will increase to at least 35 percent. All of the communes will meet new rural standards, half of which will be recognized as advanced new-style rural areas. 

More than 90% of consumers prioritise locally-made products
     
More than 90 per cent of consumers said that they prioritise made-in-Vietnam commodities when making a decision on the purchase of anything, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Steering Committee for the "Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnamese goods" campaign.

According to the committee, Vietnamese commodities have made up 90 per cent of the goods sold in retail outlets owned by domestic enterprises and 60-96 per cent of the foreign supermarkets in Viet Nam.

In traditional retail channels, the rate of Vietnamese goods in markets and grocery stores is at least 60 per cent. Particularly, since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, 76 per cent of the Vietnamese consumers have preferred domestic products, especially those with guaranteed quality and health benefits.

Up to 75 per cent of the consumers have recommended family members and friends buy locally-made products.

Le Viet Nga, Vice Director of the MoIT’s Department of Domestic Market, said the campaign to encourage Vietnamese to prioritise the use of Vietnamese commodities has helped changed domestic consumers' and businesses’ awareness of made-in-Vietnam products.

Nga underlined that with clear origin, trademark and quality that is comparable to foreign-made products, Vietnamese commodities are winning stronger confidence from domestic consumers.

In order to further spread the campaign, the MoIT has organised a wide range of trade promotion activities and encouraged the application of e-commerce in shopping activities.

Debt market still in infancy, must develop faster
     
Viet Nam's debt market was still in its infancy and sound policies were required to bolster growth, said policymakers and financial experts during a conference in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

Deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Kim Anh said while there have been some debt-trading activities in recent years, the market largely remained primitive with a number of shortcomings and limitations.

Anh said a strong market is crucial in reducing risk and boosting liquidity for businesses and financial institutes. In addition, it can play a key part in the development of Viet Nam's financial market, credit systems and institutions.

She said in the last two decades the SBV has been focusing on the construction of numerous legal frameworks for debt-exchange activities with a clear goal to building a model for future development. The introduction of a debt-exchange platform, under the management of the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), last year has provided businesses and financial institutes with an official method to handle bad debts.

As the market was still taking its first steps, however, there was still much work to do. Major issues included inconsistency in current financial regulations, sub-par auditing quality, inadequate IT infrastructure and a lack of participation by stakeholders in debt-exchange activities.

The deputy governor said the SBV's objective to bring down the bad-debt ratio across the financial system to under 3 per cent in 2025 depends heavily on active participation from businesses and financial institutes, domestic and international alike, and the maturity of the market in the remaining years.

She urged the Government to make it a top priority to support the development of the market.

Economist Can Van Luc said a major issue remained as there were still no methods to handle debts not under the management of VAMC and Debt and Asset Trading Corporation (DATC), both being State-managed.

In addition, currently, there were only two available protocols for debt-exchange: direct negotiation and licensed bidding. Meanwhile, there were only a handful number of companies specialised in debt management and inadequate capital investment.

He urged the government to consider the implementation of proven international debt-exchange protocols, support the development of the secondary market, strengthen the financial infrastructure and encourage the private sector to participate in the market. 

VN’s bond market contracts, regional bond yields rise amid aggressive monetary tightening
     
After strong growth in the previous quarter, Viet Nam's currency bond market contracted 0.2 per cent due to a decline in the Government bond market and slower growth in corporate bonds.

On an annual basis, the market increased 21.1 per cent to US$97.4 billion.

The information was released in a recent report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The country's Government bonds contracted 2 per cent as the outstanding stock of central bank bills fell 70.3 per cent from the previous quarter. Outstanding government bonds reached $67.3 billion. Expansion of corporate bonds moderated to 4.1 per cent from the previous quarter, putting the segment at $30.1 billion.

The report said that aggressive monetary tightening in advanced economies has pushed up bond yields and worsened the downturn of financial conditions in emerging East Asia.

Regional currencies fell against the US dollar, equities dropped, and risk premiums widened between August 31 and November 4, according to the latest update of Asia Bond Monitor, released on Sunday today. Portfolio outflows were also seen in most regional bond markets. Global inflation, slower growth in the People's Republic of China (PRC), and economic fallout from the Russian 'military operation' in Ukraine continued to threaten the region's short-term prospects.

Shrimp exports to Chinese market increased by 50% in October

Vietnamese shrimp exports to China soared by 50% to US$65 million in October, with the northern neighbour surpassing the United States to become the largest importer of local shrimp, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

During the past 10 months of the year, the shrimp industry raked in US$547 million from exports to the Chinese market, representing a rise of 60% against the same period from last year.

October witnessed Vietnamese shrimp exports to China recorded the highest growth rate among the top five major Vietnamese shrimp import markets.

China’s rising demand for shrimp imports can largely be attributed to the mid-autumn festival, National Day, and the upcoming Lunar New Year festival.

The reviewed period witnessed China import 691,000 tonnes of frozen warmwater shrimp, up 49% on-year, with the import value expanding by 65% ​​to reach US$4.52 billion.

According to details given by the experts, China's shrimp imports in November and December are anticipated to decline, but they will rebound strongly after the Lunar New Year.

Furthermore, China’s recent policy of removing the suspension of the import of frozen food contaminated with the SAR-COV-2 virus is expected to be a positive signal for shrimp suppliers, including Vietnam moving forward.

Vietnamese exports set to record spectacular achievements this year

With just one month to go until the end of the year, relevant ministries, localities, and enterprises have exerted great efforts in order to fulfill the export target of US$368 billion set by the Government, according to industry insiders.

Statistics compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Trade reveal that the total import and export turnover of goods during the initial 11 months of the year is estimated to be at US$673.8 billion, with the country enjoying a trade surplus of US$10.6 billion.

The nation has seen 35 products record an export turnover of over US$1 billion, of which eight export items grossed over US$10 billion.

Most notably, Vietnamese seafood exports fetched a turnover of US$10 billion during the reviewed period for the first time ever.

Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), pointed out that the seafood industry has fulfilled its export target ahead of schedule, adding that this can be considered as an important historical milestone for the sector.

Do Xuan Lap, chairman of the Vietnam Timber & Forest Products Association (VIFORES), emphasised that with timber and wood exports reaching US$14.6 billion during the 11-month period, meeting the wood industry’s export target this year is completely feasible.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, analysed that the positive export results indicate that local enterprises have taken full advantage of free trade agreements (FTAs), such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), as a means of accelerating exports.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes