The Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) on April 20 announced that the Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has abolished a circular featuring the procurement of medical equipment, applying different bidding groups for imported equipment.

In Vietnam, medical equipment bidding packages are divided into groups based on criteria including manufacturing country and national reference for medical devices to be tendered.

MFDS has assessed that the abolishment is expected to create a more favorable condition for RoK firms to export medical equipment into Vietnam.

An official from the ministry said that the ministry will do its upmost to support the export of medical devices by strengthening cooperation with Vietnam's Ministry of Health, an important trading partner in Southeast Asia.

Export turnover of the RoK’s medical equipment to Vietnam reached 499 million USD in 2021, ranking fourth after Germany (1.498 billion USD), the US (810 million USD) and China (710 million USD).

According to the Korean Investment and Trade Promotion Agency (KOTRA), in the period 2020-2025, the Vietnamese medical equipment market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 10.5% to reach 2.575  billion USD by 2025.

Vietjet signs cooperation agreement with Czech F Air

Vietnam's budget carrier Vietjet and F Air of the Czech Republic signed a cooperation agreement within the framework of the Czech-Vietnam Business Forum held in Hanoi on April 21.

Accordingly, Vietjet Aviation Academy (VJAA) – the airline’s leading international standard training institution -  will cooperate with F Air to develop basic pilot training programmes, and train pilots for Vietjet and the regional aviation industry.

Vietjet Deputy CEO Luong The Phuc said the agreement is part of the carrier’s plans to expand and train high-quality aviation human resources, especially pilots, to meet the demands of Vietjet and the aviation sector. Currently, VJAA owns modern European standard facilities with three flight simulators, cabin training mockups and wave pools, providing training programmes for pilots, cabin crews, engineers, mechanics and aviation staff.

With more than 70 years of cooperation between Vietnam and the Czech Republic, including in aviation training, the agreement between Vietjet and F Air will help the Vietnamese carrier prepare high quality human resources to meet the development demands of itself and the industry as well as expand cooperation with European partners.

Vietnam, China’s Chongqing enjoy stronger trade ties

More than 30 enterprises from southwest China's Chongqing city invested in 21 manufacturing projects worth over 569 million USD in Vietnam by the end of 2022, Trieu Thuy Nga, head of the Vietnam trade promotion office in the Chinese city reported.

According to Nga, the office has supported many Chinese businesses that had plans to invest in Vietnam, providing them with information on the country's investment environment and policies; and consultations on procedures related to investment, building factories and establishing companies in the Southeast Asian nation.

Since early this year, many agencies and businesses in Chongqing and Sichuan have contacted the office, asking for support in organising working delegations to Vietnam to explore investment and business opportunities, Nga said.

As scheduled, the Trade Promotion Agency (TPA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will attend the Western China International Fair 2023 in Chongqing, while a delegation of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce (CMCC) will make a field trip to Vietnam, in May or June this year.

Nga said her office will continue to well perform the 2023 Action Plan on implementing the MoU on strengthening economic, trade and investment cooperation signed between the TPA and the CMCC in September 2022, focusing on organising the 32nd Vietnam International Trade Fair, the Vietnam Foodexpo 2023, the Western China International Fair 2023 in Chongqing, conferences to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two sides, field trips and meetings for representatives of the MoIT and the Chongqing authority.

The Vietnam trade promotion office, which was set up in Chongqing in 2015, has contributed to strongly promoting economic and trade ties between Vietnamese localities and Chinese city in particular, and between Vietnam and China in general.

Statistics of China Customs show that in 2018, the import-export turnover between Vietnam and Chongqing reached only 2 billion USD, which doubled to 4.5 billion USD one year later.  The figure reached 7.3 billion USD in 2022.

Vietnam remained Chongqing's largest trading partner in ASEAN for three consecutive years, accounting for 40% of the Chongqing-ASEAN trade turnover.

VinFast hands over first VF 5 Plus cars to customers

VinFast, an electric vehicle maker of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup on April 21 handed over the first VF 5 Plus cars to customers.

As the most economical model in VinFast's lineup, VinFast VF 5 Plus aims to rapidly increase the popularity of smart electric vehicles (EVs) nationwide by targeting the broadest range of consumers.

The VF 5 Plus is a strategic model and the fourth one in VinFast's EV lineup. It was open for reservations from December 2022. Within 9 hours since the opening, the VF 5 Plus received over 3,000 reservations, with 80% converting to preorders. This impressive response can be attributed to its affordable price of only 458 million VND (19,500 USD) and numerous outstanding smart features.

Public investment disbursement acceleration helps promote economic growth

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has requested ministries and sectors speed up administrative reform and disbursement of public investment, towards promoting economic activities to create jobs and livelihoods for people.

Addressing a recent conference to discuss measures to remove difficulties in implementing projects, he underlined the need to approve projects early, accelerate land clearance and construction, and provide enough construction materials for contractors.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), in the first quarter of 2023, over 73.19 trillion VND (3.1 billion USD) was pumped into the economy, equivalent to 10.35% of the plan assigned by the Prime Minister, lower than the 11,88% in the same period last year.

Up to 30 ministries and centrally-run agencies have yet to disburse public investment while the remainder’s disbursement was below the national average, said MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung.

The slow disbursement was attributed to the incomplete investment procedures of some projects.

Experts said it is necessary to speed up public investment - the motivator for economic growth. They stressed that amidst the global decline in demand affecting Vietnam's exports, accelerating the disbursement of public investment is an important and effective solution to improve the competitiveness of the Vietnamese economy and boost growth.

Minister Dung requested ministries, sectors, and localities accelerate the detailed allocation of capital plans, and take measures to separate compensation and site clearance tasks from investment projects, thus speeding up the implementation of projects.

Consumption habits contribute to expanding food industry's export markets

Vietnam’s food industry has seen signs of strong growth in the region thanks to the increasing income and consumption tendencies. The market has gradually provided more competitive products, dominating the domestic market and contributing to increasing exports.

People who are under 35 years old in Vietnam now account for about half of its 10-million population. Key products that play a significant role in the structure and value of industrial products in the country include wine, beer, milk and dairy products, vegetable oil, flour, and tobacco.

The number of Vietnamese enterprises operating in the food industry is about 5,083, an increase of 83.8% compared to 2019. This is a positive figure given the country was seriously affected by COVID-19 pandemic.

The food industry also has significant potential to increase international cooperation. The cooperation with big companies like Lotte Mart, E-Mart, Home Plus and CJ creates an opportunity for Vietnamese firms to bring products to shelves of supermarkets and shopping centres in the Republic of Korea, including Coupang and Gmarket, and gradually make inroads into the country's e-commerce market.

Over the past five years, food and beverage consumption in Vietnam increased by 9.68% and 6.66%, respectively. Of which, the fruit and vegetable processing sector accounted for 24.7% of the industry's revenue growth. It is expected to have the fastest growth potential thanks to export activity and domestic consumption. The sector experienced a rocket growth of 205%.

Notably, the food industry is also one of the key industries prioritised for development by the Vietnamese Government to 2025 with a vision to 2035, playing an important role in socioeconomic development.

In the past year, collaboration in the food industry between Vietnam and the RoK has been strengthened through several successful product promotion campaigns in both countries.

Octopus is Vietnam's main export to the East Asian market, with fresh and frozen octopus shipments accounting for 80% of total export value. 

Currently, Vietnam and the RoK have signed four trade agreements, including the ASEAN-the RoK Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA), the Vietnam- RoK Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).   These trade accords significantly contribute to promoting Vietnamese goods to the RoK market and vice versa.

Measures sought to promote northern key economic growth

Measures to promote renovation and make breakthrough development for the northern key economic region were discussed at the recent economic-financial forum 2023 held recently in Hai Phong city.Addressing the event, Dr. Pham Thu Phong, Editor-in-Chief of the Vietnam Financial Times said that the northern key economic region, with three core localities of Hanoi, Hai Phong city and Quang Ninh province, is a strategic region with extremely important role in the country’s politics, socio-economy, defence and security.

In recent years, its Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) growth hit 9.08% each year, the highest level among key economic regions of the country, while its State budget collection has met and exceeded the estimates. Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh have been among top five localities nationwide in terms of State budget revenue, noted Phong.

Vice Chairman of the Hai Phong People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Tho said that the city has worked closely with Hanoi, Quang Ninh and other regional localities in promoting the growth of the region and fostering their connections, especially in transport infrastructure. The Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh and Lao Cai-Hanoi expressways have formed the longest highway network in Vietnam, he said.

However, participants pointed out that along with achievements, the region has faced many challenges, including an unequal competitiveness and innovation among regional localities.

Last year, the Politburo for the first time issued six resolutions on the socio-economic development and defence and security of six key economic regions until 2030 with a vision to 2045, defining the northern key economic region as one of the four national motivation region, paving the way for the region to optimise its advantages.

Dr. Nguyen Duc Kien from the National Financial-Monetary Policy Advisory Council said that regional development goals stated at the resolutions reflect the vision not only until 2030 but further to 2050, contributing to making Vietnam a developed country with high income.
Kien gave a number of recommendations to boost the region’s growth, underlining the need to pay greater attention to infrastructure, industrial development, employment, science and technology and innovation, human resources development, climate change response, and green growth.

Vietnam, Cuba beef up trade, investment partnership

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz attended a Vietnam-Cuba business forum in Havana on April 21 (local time), as part of the former's ongoing official visit to the Latin American country.

The forum drew a large number of businesses in various fields, including agriculture, food, fisheries, energy, industry, construction, real estate, tourism, trade, aviation and areas that Cuba is calling for foreign investment in.

Addressing the event, Cuban Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas highlighted the great cooperation potential between the two countries in many fields, and called for all businesses of both sides to continue to seek new partnership opportunities and measures to realise their targets.

He held that amid the complicated world economic situation, the two sides should find out new methods and solutions to create firm connections in production and cooperation in key areas, thus making the bilateral economic and trade relations match the traditional historical relationship, solidarity and friendship between the two countries. He said he believes that Cuba can grow stronger with Vietnam's engagement.

Vietnamese Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi said that over the years, the Vietnam-Cuba special solidarity and cooperation have been continuously developing and expanding in all fields from politics, diplomacy to economy, trade, investment, culture, and science-technology with fruitful results. Cooperation in trade and investment has played an important role in promoting the comprehensive partnership between the two countries, he stated.

Nghi noted that Vietnam is currently the second biggest Asian trade partner of Cuba, with two-way trade reaching about 250-350 million USD each year in the 2015-2020 period.

Vietnam's major exports to Cuba include rice, electric appliances, electronics, garments, footwear, cosmetics, construction materials, industrial materials, household appliances, and stationery.

Vietnam mainly imports medicines, vaccines and medical bio-products from Cuba, he said. He emphasised that the Vietnam-Cuba Trade Agreement, which took effect in April 2020, has created an important legal foundation for businesses of both sides to make full use of preferential tariffs to raise two-way trade to 500 million USD per annum in the next five years.

In terms of investment, Vietnam is currently the biggest Asian investor in Cuba with five projects which partly meet the commodity demands of the Cuban market, create jobs for local labourers, and contribute to promoting the local production industry's sustainable growth and become self-reliant in all circumstances.

Vietnam-China trade exchange opens in Can Tho

The Vietnam-China trade exchange programme opened in Can Tho city on April 21, with 150 Mekong Delta and 13 Chinese firms taking part.

The event enables agro-forestry-fisheries suppliers to boost exports and meet with export-import and logistics companies of China’s Yunnan province. It is also meant to realise a memorandum of understanding on trade cooperation between the Lao Cai provincial Department of Industry and Trade and the trade bureau of Yunnan province signed in China’s Hekou district in January 2023.

Director of the Lao Cai department Hoang Chi Hien said despite COVID-19 last year, the total export-import value at Vietnam's border gates still surpassed 2.2 billion USD, with nearly 800,000 tonnes of farm produce passing through Lao Cai border gate.

Export-import goods through Lao Cai-Hekou international border gate are complementary to each other, with Vietnam exporting farm produce, fruits, and seafood while importing fertilizers, chemicals, and coking coal from China to serve domestic production.

Hien said the event also affords Yunnan firms a chance to evaluate the potential of farm produce production in Can Tho and adjacent localities via fact-finding trips and working sessions with local businesses and production facilities.

Vietnam creates favourable conditions for businesses: PM

Vietnam's Government always creates favourable conditions for Vietnam and Czech businesses to strengthen cooperation in trade and investment.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the statement at the Vietnam - Czech Business Forum organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Vietnam and the Czech Chamber of Commerce (CCC) held in Hanoi on April 21.

Vietnam is committed to creating the best business environment in accordance with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards which include maintaining socio-political and macroeconomic stability; removing bottlenecks in the economy in terms of legal institutions, infrastructure and human resources; developing supply chains and reducing transaction costs, especially logistics and administrative costs.

In his remarks, the PM highlighted the friendship and traditional cooperation between Vietnam and the Czech Republic over the past 70 years. Despite being heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries is still vigorously developing with impressive results, he noted.

Last year, the bilateral trade turnover increased by 15% year on year to 848 million USD. The Czech Republic is now one of the most important trading partners of Vietnam in Central and Eastern Europe. In the term of investment, the Czech Republic has 41 projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment capital of about 92 million USD, ranking 49 out of 141 countries and territories that have direct investment in the Indochinese state, Chinh said.

The Vietnamese leader attributed these achievements to the good friendship between the two countries and the two peoples; the support and attention of the two governments; and the consensus of the business communities of the two parties.

He noted that in the process of construction, national development and international integration, Vietnam welcomes the active participation of foreign investors, including companies from the Czech Republic.

Recognised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as one of the 20 most attractive investment destinations in the world, Vietnam believes that Czech companies will achieve more success in the Southeast Asian country.

The Vietnamese Government is committed to continuing to work closely with the Czech Government, increasing the exchange of experiences in areas of potential and mutual interest, such as energy, environment, science and technology, education and travel, Chinh reaffirmed.

For his part, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated that Vietnam is an important partner of the Czech Republic in Southeast Asia.

Currently, many Czech companies are investing very efficiently in Vietnam, he said, adding that his country has a number of advantages in areas such as the energy transition, healthcare, research and innovation.

By joining the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the two sides will make good use of the advantages provided by that agreement to promote stronger economic and trade cooperation, he added.

At the forum, the two PM witnessed the signing cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding of their businesses.

They included the Memorandum of Understanding between Armex Group and Petrovietnam Power Corporation on the promotion of cooperation, and the collaboration agreement between Czech F AIR and Vietjet Air on training commercial pilots.

Petrol prices down more than 600 VND per litre

Petrol prices were reduced in the latest adjustment made at 5pm on April 21 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Finance.

The retail prices of RON 95-III and E5 RON 92 were cut by 610 VND and 490 VND to 23,630 VND (1.01 USD) and 22,680 VND per litre, respectively.

The price of diesel now stands at 19,390 VND per litre, down 750 VND and that of kerosene was 19,480 VND per litre, a decrease of 250 VND.

Meanwhile, the price of mazut increased by 650 VND to 15,840 VND per litre.

The two ministries determined to extract 300 VND per litre from petrol, diesel and kerosene prices for the petrol price stabilisation fund.

Export of pepper, spices forecast to earn 2 billion USD in 2025

Export of pepper beans and spices would earn Vietnam 2 billion USD in 2025, according to President of the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) Hoang Thi Lien.

At a conference on pepper and spice export on April 21, Lien said the forecast is based on expectations that pepper prices will rise as demand recovers after COVID-19 while supply remains scarce.

Export prices are also expected to increase when processing improves and organic cultivation is expanded, she said.

Pepper beans and spices brought home more than 1.4 billion USD last year, with pepper accounting for 69.4%, cinnamon 20.6%, star anise 5.1%, cardamon and nutmeg 2.3%, ginger and turmeric 1.6% and chilli 0.8%.

Chief of the VPA Office Le Viet Anh estimated that pepper bean harvest in 2023 would be around 200,000 tonnes, up 9.3% year on year. Meanwhile, the International Pepper Community (IPC) has reported that output from other pepper producers like Brazil, Indonesia and India is forecast to drop.

As a result, total pepper output in the world is projected at 526,000 tonnes this year, compared to 537,600 tonnes in 2022.

Vietnam also expects a higher cinnamon output this year, at around 45,000 tonnes.

The country shipped abroad 76,727 tonnes of pepper beans for 235.9 million USD in the first quarter of 2023, up 40.5% in volume but down 7.3% in value year-on-year.

Export of cinnamon rose 45.8% in volume to 18,685 tonnes and 13.8% in value to 54.8 million USD.

Vietnam is one of the biggest exporters of pepper and spices, accounting for 11% of the global market in 2022./. 

Central bank works on debt repayment term restructuring circular

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has worked with credit institutions to get their opinions on the draft circular on restructuring the debt repayment term and keeping the debt groups unchanged to support borrowers who have difficulties in production and business activities.

The business community is awaiting the circular as they are facing many difficulties in production and business.

Under the draft circular, to be qualified for restructuring, enterprises must prove they can’t repay their principal and interest on time not because of their weak production and business, but because of objective reasons of the economy and the market; and they are able to repay the debts in full according to the new restructured term.

Earlier, the HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA) sent a letter to the SBV, saying both credit institutions and all their customers including firms, investors and homebuyers, are very interested and are waiting for the circular to come into force.

Le Hoang Chau, HoREA’s chairman, said HoREA highly appreciated the content of the draft circular on restructuring the repayment term and keeping the debt group unchanged.

However, he said, due to the urgent need to remove difficulties in the economy, including the real estate and corporate bond markets, the association proposed the SBV submit to the Government for permission to build and promulgate the circular according to the simplified order and procedures.

On April 16 this year, the Government Office issued an announcement on the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at a meeting with the Prime Minister's Working Group on solving difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of real estate projects.

In the announcement, the Deputy Prime Minister directed the SBV to issue a circular on restructuring debt repayment terms and criteria for assessing customer capacity before April 25, 2023. The circular is aimed to assist the customers in solving difficulties, and contributing to the development of investment, production and business activities.

According to experts, if the circular is issued, credit institutions will have more policies to support firms, including real estate ones, as the firms’ existing debts will not be transferred to the bad debt group. Therefore, they will have more time to improve their cash flow to repay bonds.

However, experts said credit institutions will carefully select firms to be qualified for debt restructuring to avoid having to spend on risk provisions that can affect their profits.

Thai Binh province wide open to Japanese investors: official

The People’s Committee of Thai Binh province and the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan held a conference in Tokyo on April 21 to invite Japanese investment to the northern locality of Vietnam.

Addressing over 100 representatives of Japanese organisations and enterprises, Vice Chairman of the Thai Binh People’s Committee Lai Van Hoan introduced the strengths of his province, such as its favourable geographical location, an abundant workforce, a large land reserve for industrial development, and one of the highest growth rates in Vietnam.

He noted Japanese enterprises are strong in the fields which Thai Binh prioritises such as support industries, electronics, manufacturing, tourism, hi-tech agriculture, and pharmaceutical production.

Given this, it has and will always keep its door wide open to Japanese investors as it has confidence in and highly values their investment, scientific, and technological capabilities, as well as their production and business effectiveness, the official went on.

 Vice Chairman of the Thai Binh People’s Committee Lai Van Hoan speaks at the conference. (Photo: VNA)
Nguyen Duc Minh, Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, affirmed that the Japanese investment flow into Vietnam has substantially contributed to local sustainability-oriented socioeconomic development. Many businesses from the Northeast Asian country have applied high technology to make prestigious products, helping replace imported items, increased exports, promoted growth, and raised Vietnam’s stature in the world.

In his remarks, Tanabe Michihiro, an expert from the ASEAN - Japan Centre, held that Thai Binh boasts much potential for developing agriculture, farm produce processing, and supporting industries.

He said he hopes the conference would be a catalyst for bilateral investment activities.

At the event, Thai Binh officials presented the province’s potential, policies on foreign investment attraction, and some outstanding industrial parks. They also fielded Japanese firms’ questions about investment policies and licensing procedures.

The two sides also witnessed the exchange of memoranda of understanding between the Viglacera Corporation and its Japanese consulting partner, and between the ThaiBinh Seed Group and the Satake Group of Japan.

Bac Ninh rolls out red carpet to welcome US investors

A working delegation of the northern province of Bac Ninh led by Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Ngo Tan Phuong attended a workshop in Washington DC on April 20 to promote the locality’s investment opportunities to local businesses.

Speaking at the event, Phuong introduced participants to the province’s potential and strengths in attracting investment in general and foreign investment in particular.

Bac Ninh has a very convenient geographical position, as it is adjacent to Hanoi capital, and only more than 30 km from the city’s Noi Bai international Airport. It also has 12 modern concentrated industrial parks and is focusing on administrative reform, Phuong said.

According to him, despite having the smallest area in Vietnam, Bac Ninh ranked third in the country in terms of foreign investment attraction in the first quarter of this year, with over 565 million USD.

As of March 20, the northern province had licensed 1,867 FDI projects totaling more than 23.9 billion USD of businesses from 39 countries and territories. Of the total, US firms had 19 projects with a combined capital of 216.6 million USD.

In the coming time, Bac Ninh will pioneer investment promotion activities in the semiconductor field and inaugurate the largest semiconductor factory in Southeast Asia. It prioritises attracting investment in green and hi-tech projects such as batteries for electric vehicles, semiconductors, computer chips, and supporting industries, he added.

At the event, representatives of the delegation and the Vietnamese Embassy answered US businesses’ queries on the legal corridor, investment procedures, and the province’s incentives.

Many enterprises showed their interest and hope that the embassy and Bac Ninh authorities will help them connect with Vietnamese firms for business and investment cooperation.

Vietnamese, RoK business associations cooperate in electronics, photonics

The Hanoi Supporting Industries Business Association (HANSIBA), the Buk District Office of the Republic of Korea (RoK)'s Gwangju city, and the Korea Association for Photonics Industry Development (KAPID) signed an MoU for cooperation in electronics and photonics industries.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Nguyen Hoang, Chairman of HANSIBA, said that businesses from Vietnam and the RoK have boasted strong economic cooperation in recent years. Large Korean corporations are actively expanding in Vietnam.

For cooperation to reach new heights, the business communities of the two countries need to make new steps and new ways in economic fields, particularly electronics and photonics industries.

Hoang said that HANSIBA now has more than 200 member enterprises operating in supporting industries and high technology including electronics and photonics, two areas of the RoK's interest.

HANSIBA and Korean partners are focusing on developing support industries, high technology, microchips, as well as photonics and electronics at the Hanship industrial park south of Hanoi.

They are developing a plan asking for support from the two countries' Governments. The MoU signing is a concrete, positive and new step in the implementation of the economic cooperation strategy between Vietnam and RoK, he said, adding businesses will be supported from recruitment and labour training to technology transfer, factory construction, tax, land, and other preferential policies.

A representative of the Buk District Office of Gwangju city said that the district is a production "base" of the RoK, with many businesses operating in the photonics, electronics, and semiconductors industries.

He hopes after the visit by the district delegation to Vietnam, the cooperation between the two sides will reach new heights with more concrete results.

Overseas remittances to HCM City rise sharply

Vietnamese overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City reached more than US$2.1 billion in the first quarter this year, up 19.41% year on year, amid economic difficulty, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

The remittances from Asia accounted for 43% of the total thanks to the continent’s steady economic growth, said Nguyen Duc Lenh, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City branch.

Meanwhile, the remittances from other regions such as the Americas, Africa, and Oceania, decreased due to economic difficulty and rising inflation.

According to the World Bank, remittances to Vietnam last year amounted to nearly US$19 billion, a year-on-year rise of 5%, making Vietnam among the top 10 remittance recipients in the world.

Of last year’s figure, US$6.6 billion was channeled into Ho Chi Minh City.

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