Several key construction materials have seen a sharp price hike during the first three months of 2022, putting significant pressure on property prices, according to the Vietnam Association of Construction Contractors (VACC).

VACC said prices for concrete and sand have increased by 100,000 VND (4.4 USD) per tonne or per cubic metre, bricks by up to 10 percent and decorative tiles by 10-15 percent.

Notably, since the beginning of the year, steel prices have increased to over 19 million VND per tonne after seven price hikes. 

VACC President Nguyen Quoc Hiep said rampant price hikes had hit contractors the hardest as they could no longer maintain a profit margin as input prices increased. 

In a recent report, the Ministry of Construction said construction material prices are likely to keep going up in line with the global trend in the near future. The ministry said while supply remained ample for current demand, the rising cost has forced suppliers to increase their prices. The report said Vietnam's total concrete output stayed at over 106 million tonnes per year and could hit over 122 million tonnes if needed.

Work starts on Vietnam's first five-star resort hospital in Hung Yen

A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Vinmec Vinhomes Ocean Park 2 – The Empire has been held in the northern province of Hung Yen’s Van Giang district.

With 18 luxurious presidential suites built in the model of a villa, it is expected to become the first five-star resort hospital in Vietnam.

Each villa has two floors, including a patient room, a dining room, a living room, and a room for medical staff. 

The 36,000 sq.m hospital offers 130 beds and is able to provide outpatient checkup and treatment services for dozen of thousands of patients each year.

It has 13 departments including emergency, obstetrics, pediatric and general medical departments.

It is expected to be operational in 2024.

Over 1,000 spice products on display in Ho Chi Minh City

More than 1,000 kinds of Vietnamese spices have been put on show at a four-day festival that kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on April 28.

With more than 50 booths, nearly 100 businesses are showcasing special spices that have won the favour of both domestic and foreign customers.

The festival is intended to raise contributions of spices to Vietnam’s agriculture-based economy and the national economy in general, and promote trade for local spices, said Ly Kim Chi, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Food and Foodstuff Association.   

Within the framework of the festival, a Vietnamese spice map made debut, popularising spice products granted with the geographical indication and those that satisfy the One Commune One Product (OCOP) standards.

More than 1,000 kinds of Vietnamese spices have been put on show at a four-day festival that kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on April 28.

Thai Vietjet launches Bangkok - Singapore route

Thai Vietjet, an affiliate of Vietnamese new-age carrier Vietjet Air, has successfully commenced the maiden flight from Bangkok to Singapore, with a welcome ceremony at Singapore Changi International Airport.

The maiden flight VZ620 from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport safely landed at Changi International Airport with the warm welcome from Thai Ambassador to Singapore Chutintorn Gongsakdi; representative leaders of the Tourism Authority of Thailand for Singapore and the Philippines, Changi Airport Group; and Executive Vice President of Thai Vietjet Luong Truong An.
 
In the early stage, the international service between Bangkok and Singapore will operate 3 flights per week, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, with a flight duration of 2 hours and 25 minutes. Further frequency of up to 5 flights/week and daily service will be added in June.

Americans view Vietnam as safer now than before pandemic

A new study highlights the views of tourists from the United States who view many Asian nations as safer travel destinations now than they did four years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the US newswire CNBC.

The Republic of Korea (RoK), Singapore, Thailand, Japan, China, and Vietnam all rose in the annual safety rankings published by travel insurance provider Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection.

The survey was done as part of the 2022 “State of Travel Insurance Report” and showed that some of America’s favourite travel destinations in Europe and the Caribbean , such as Italy, the Bahamas, Spain, Jamaica, and the UK, all lost ground in terms of perceived travel safety.

Most notably, omen and millennials were more likely to view Asian destinations as safer, according to the survey.

Vietnam, RoK aim for bilateral trade turnover of US$100 billion in 2023

Vietnam and the Republic of Korea must work to support both nations' businesses by utilizing incentives from free trade agreements (FTAs) toward the bilateral trade target of US$100 billion by 2023, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai.

Deputy Minister Hai made the statement during a meeting held on April 28 with Yu Jeong–Yeol, president of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) .

At the function, Deputy Minister Hai emphasised that the enforcement of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on January 1 is anticipated to play a crucial role in Vietnamese economic development with its member partners, including the RoK.

He underlined the necessity of maximizing benefits from the RCEP and the Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) as a means of achieving the goal of US$100 billion in trade turnover by 2023.

Hai also put forth a number of proposals aimed at fulfilling the target by attracting RoK enterprises to invest in the Vietnamese market, supporting RoK firms in maintaining production activities amid COVID-19 challenges, and improving the export value to the demanding market.

In response, Yu Jeong-Yeol, president of KOTRA, stressed that Vietnam-RoK relations have grown stronger in terms of economics and trade over recent times.

The KOTRA leader expressed his desire to receive further co-operation from the Ministry of Industry and Trade in taking the full advantage of FTAs ​​to quickly fulfill the bilateral trade target of US$100 billion.

Co-operation and support for the Korea Desk Center at the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency in organising diverse events to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam-RoK diplomatic relations and the Hallyu Expo, slated for October were also discussed at the meeting.

Bamboo Airways operates Melbourne-Hanoi route

Bamboo Airways on April 28 launched the Melbourne-Hanoi air route, becoming the first Vietnamese airline to operate the route, contributing to promoting the partnership between Vietnam and Australia.

The opening of the route marked a new success in the airline’s efforts to connect Vietnamese and Australian localities after the launching of the routes between Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne in February and between Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney in March this year.

According to the carrier, the Melbourne-Hanoi route will help shorten travelling time between the two cities to nine hours. The airline is offering many promotion programmes to celebrate the new route.

Vinamilk announces new board of directors
     
Vinamilk has announced revenue of VND61 trillion (US$2.7 billion) and after-tax profit of VND10.6 trillion for the financial year 2021.

The dairy giant also set a revenue target of VND64 trillion ($2.8 billion) for 2022, up 5 per cent compared to last year. Its pre-tax profit is expected to reach VND12 trillion.

It planned to pay dividends in 2022 with a payout ratio of 38.5 per cent, equivalent to VND3,850 ($0.17) of dividends per share, a relatively high ratio in the market.

At the annual general meeting on Tuesday, Vinamilk elected its new board of directors for the 2022-2026 term.

Nguyen Hanh Phuc, former general secretary of the National Assembly, received approval from shareholders to become chairman of the board, replacing Le Thi Bang Tam who has stepped down from the post.

The other members of the board include Alain Xavier Cany, Dang Thi Thu Ha, Do Le Hung, Hoang Ngoc Thach, Le Thanh Liem, Lee Meng Tat, Mai Kieu Lien, Michael Chye Hin Fah and Tieu Yen Trinh.

In addition to the top job, Phuc was also elected as chairman of the Human Resource Committee and member of the Compensation Committee.

The board re-appointed Mai Kieu Lien as chief executive officer. She was voted as chairwoman of the Strategy Committee as well.

Ha Noi bolsters value of farm produce for export
     
In recent years, Ha Noi has invested heavily in the development of agricultural commodities areas, creating safe farm produces to meet export standards. This is a solid solution to work towards the official export of the city's key farm produce.

To enhance productivity and quality and develop banana production for export, Ha Noi has promoted the issuance of growing area codes, inspection, supervision and increasing management.

According to the Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (HDARD), Chu Phu My, creating codes for safe agricultural production areas has played an important role in exporting the country's key farm produce.

HDARD has also conducted surveys, assessments of growing areas, survey maps for growing areas and collected information. The department has also verified records and made data entries on the OTAs system, electronic records, code plates and issued stamps for growing area codes.

Last year, Hanoi Agricultural Development Center supported granting three planting area codes in line with OTAS standards (Organic Standards) for domestic consumption and export. Specifically, Van Khe Commune, Me Linh District, has a 15-ha riverside banana-growing area and Hong Ha Commune, Dan Phuong District, has over 30 ha for growing bananas in two riverside areas.

The issuance of growing area codes helped Ha Noi’s banana products to reach many markets. Once the pilot project is applied, it will expand the code-granted growing areas, helping increase the value of bananas.

Registered foreign investment down, disbursement up in first four months
     
Foreign investment inflows into Viet Nam during the first four months of the year saw a decline of 11.7 per cent year-on-year to around US$10.8 billion, a report from the Foreign Investment Department (FIA) has shown.

Although a decrease of 56.3 per cent was seen in the newly-registered capital to nearly $3.7 billion, a respective surge of 92.5 per cent and 74 per cent was recorded in the investment injected into operating projects to nearly $5.29 billion, and capital contributions and share purchase deals to $1.83 billion.

In addition to LEGO's new project worth $1.32 billion, most large-scale projects were capital-added, baoquocte reported.

Among these projects were Bac Ninh Province-based Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park, which raised its capital by nearly $941 million, and South Korean Samsung Electro-mechanics Vietnam Co., which added $920 million to its investment.

The four months also saw an additional $306 million for Hong Kong's Goertek project and more than $494.2 million for the Singaporean Fujifilm Business Innovation Viet Nam project.

The online newspaper cited the FIA as saying that the projects contributed to boosting foreign investment capital. That also shows the confidence and expectations of foreign investors toward the Vietnamese market.

The FIA said the opening of international routes from March 15 would positively affect investment capital flows in the near future. Despite the negative effects of the pandemic, foreign investors still put their faith in the economy and investment environment of Viet Nam and made new investment decisions, and expanded their operating project investments.

According to the report, from January to April, disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) also grew positively by 7.6 per cent to $5.92 billion.

The processing and manufacturing sector lured the largest share of FDI with nearly $6.2 billion, accounting for 57.2 per cent of the total. The real estate sector came next with $2.8 billion or 26.1 per cent. The two sectors of wholesale and retail, and science and technology were the runner-ups with $667.8 million and $357.5 million, respectively.

New COVID-19 adaptation programme for social impact businesses
     
The Agency of Enterprise Development (AED) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) jointly launched today the “COVID-19 Adaptation Programme” for social impact businesses (SIBs) to increase their capacity and refine business models to address the challenges they are facing.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Viet Nam is decreasing but the adverse effects of COVID-19 on businesses, especially those led by vulnerable groups, are still prolonged and damaging.

A UNDP study in August last year showed that household businesses and micro, small and medium enterprises found their revenue declined sharply, forcing them to cut back operations and lay off workers.

Enterprises in tourism, restaurants, hotels and passenger transportation were those hardest hit. This impact is exacerbated among female-headed households.

“This support package will contribute to helping SIBs remove the above bottlenecks and difficulties through concrete actions, such as sending experts and intermediary organisations to accompany SIBs for six months to solve specific problems in management, business, and product development,” said Le Manh Hung, general director of MPI’s Agency for Enterprise Development.

US extends deadline for issuing conclusion on anti-dumping probe into plywood imported from Viet Nam
     
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced the extension of the deadline for issuing a final conclusion on the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax evasion investigation into hardwood plywood imported from Viet Nam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Accordingly, the DOC plans to issue the conclusion on October 17 instead of April 20. This is the third extension that the DOC has made on the case, which was launched on June 17, 2020 following a request by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The MoIT said that the purpose of the investigation is to ensure the efficiency of trade remedies imposed on hardwood plywood of China.

Therefore, in case Viet Nam's plywood manufacturers and exporters can prove that they are not evading the trade remedy measures the US is applying to China, they will not be subject to the anti-subsidy tax rates.

The MoIT and relevant ministries and agencies have shown close coordination with the DOC in the case, while Vietnamese plywood exporters have worked with the DOC to clarify that they do not aim to evade US’ trade remedy measures.

The ministry advised Vietnamese plywood producers and exporters to continue to keep a close watch on the case and show full cooperation with the US side.

The ministry will also work with US agencies to ensure the case is investigated in an objective and fair manner. 

Voting for Viet Nam’s Top 10 ICT businesses 2022 launched
     
The Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA) has begun voting procedures to find the Top 10 leading information, communication and technology (ICT) firms in 2022.

Speaking at a press meeting held in Ha Noi on Thursday, VINASA said this year’s event would select the 10 best ICT companies in 20 categories, including five fields of traditional fields of IT industry, priority areas for digital transformation, enterprises with capacity in new technologies, digital startups and special voting groups.

In 2022, the programme has two notable changes by adding the field of ICT equipment research, manufacturing and distribution enterprises to the voting field. With the growing trend of the Internet of Things (IoT) combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data, the boundary between hardware and software has been blurred.

New functions and devices are developed continuously. Digital transformation cannot be separated from IT and industries, software and technology solutions cannot be separated from hardware devices. To encourage and promote the development of these enterprises, VINASA added the category to the voting.

In addition, the organising board will select, establish and announce the trillion-revenue enterprise club in this year's programme.

Viet Nam is aiming for 100,000 digital enterprises by 2030 and forming at least 10 digital technology firms that play a leading role and have international competitiveness, with a turnover of over US$1 billion.

CMC Telecom, Uniphore partner to optimise customer experience industry with AI

CMC Telecom has entered into a partnership with Uniphone, a leader in conversational automation, that will enable it to offer businesses a comprehensive communication and customer experience management portfolio with customisable solutions and the latter’s platform.

Uniphore’s conversational automation platform provides intent, sentiment and tonal analysis to every contact centre conversation, thereby transforming an agent and end-to-end customer experience.

It combines conversational AI, workflow automation and RPA (robotic process automation) in a single integrated platform to democratise customer experiences across industries.

Le Anh Vu, CIO and head of the cloud computing technology unit at CMC, said, "The co-operation with Uniphore … helps us complete our eco-system of products on the cloud computing infrastructure in general and accelerate voice and unified communication services, one of the five big moves to make CMC a billion-dollar corporation in 2025.”

Gokul Gopalakrishnan, Uniphore's head of business operations in Asia, said: “Our partnership with CMC Telecom is a step towards strengthening our partner eco-system in the Vietnamese market. The demand for AI, automation and emerging technologies is growing exponentially and brands are rapidly revolutionising the way they interact with their customers.”

CMC is the latest addition to Uniphore's Unite Partner Programme launched late last year. It seeks to provides partners with the necessary resources to leverage technology and enhance their portfolio and offerings to increase revenues. 

Geographical indication granted to Ca Mau black tiger shrimp

The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) has granted geographical indication protection to Ca Mau black tiger shrimp, one of the key farming products of Vietnam’s southernmost province.

At a business meeting on April, the Ca Mau Department of Science and Technology awarded the geographical indication certificate to four companies, namely Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, Minh Phu Mangrove Shrimp Social Enterprise, Ca Mau Seafood Processing and Services Company, and Camimex.

Ca Mau Province currently has 280,000 hectares of shrimp farming, making it the largest shrimp farming area in Vietnam, of which 80,000 hectares are devoted to farming under the canopy of mangrove forests, producing the best quality shrimp.

The province also boasts 50,000 hectares that combine shrimp farming with rice production, creating organic shrimps and rice good for the environment and consumers’ health.

Thanks to the environmentally friendly and zero-emission farming methods, Ca Mau black tiger shrimp have received various international certificates such as ASC, BAP and Global GAP, helping the products to reach over 90 countries and territories.

Vietnam's digital economy reaches $53 billion in Q1

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) held a meeting of the National Committee on April 27 on Digital Transformation, revealing that the country's digital economy generated revenue of $53 billion in the first quarter of this year.

According to the MIC's report presented at the conference, the contribution made by the digital economy has been growing considerably over time.

Vietnam's economy has been bolstered by the digital revolution, comprising three main components: ICT, the Internet, and the digitalisation of industries.

The economy centring around the Internet has experienced a 28 per cent rise in revenue, reaching $8 billion in Q1 of this year, while the ICT sector and the digital economy of industries have experienced average revenue growth rates of approximately 15 per cent each over the same period.

The number of newly-formed digital technology companies reached over 65,000 by the end of February, representing a growth of nearly 500 enterprises on-year.

The introduction of roughly 3,500 digitally-enabled public services has also created favourable conditions in the context of the 4.0 era.

Businesses propose high dividend payments to shareholders

Many businesses in the apparel sector are offering shareholders high dividend payments, leveraging buoyant performances in the past year.

With a swift production rebound in 2021, the textile and apparel sector closed the year with an export value exceeding $39 billion, showing more than a 10 per cent jump on-year.

Many firms in the sector, therefore, outperformed their production and business targets and decided to offer shareholders high payout ratios ranging from 30-60 per cent.

With 2021 revenue touching $21.63 million and pre-tax profit reaching $2.18 million (equal to 236 per cent of the projection), the leadership at Vinatex Phu Hung JSC has decided upon a 50 per cent payout ratio to their shareholders in which 30 per cent will come as stocks and 20 per cent in cash.

At the company’s 2022 annual general shareholders' meeting (AGM) held recently, its leaders said that after its fibre plant 2 was put into operation, helping to double its production capacity with more than 44,000 spindles, the company’s revenue and profit figures posted a sharp jump, turning Vinatex Phu Hung from a small- to a medium-size firm in the spinning industry.

Similarly, Hue Textile Garment JSC wrapped up 2021 with rosy business figures.

Local e-wallet market evolving fast but needs to include expats, tourists: expert

The e-wallet market in Vietnam is witnessing the implications of rivalry amongst incumbents and new entrants, with an increased amount of consolidation across core market players, said RMIT University Finance lecturer Dr Seng Kiong Kok.

A pattern that is taking shape is less for investment via a new entry but rather investment directly into the ecosystem in which the core market players exist. Notably, Vietnamese payment app MoMo managed to raise US$200 million in a funding round amid the pandemic.

“Given how competitive the e-commerce landscape is currently, it does feel as though we are moving towards the creation of a super-app. There are calls from large e-commerce providers, such as Lazada, for greater integration of the marketplace invariably leading to fewer barriers across platforms,” said the RMIT representative.

This super-app dynamic is furthered by the fact that e-commerce and e-wallet platforms are essentially perfect substitutes of each other, allowing users to shift consumption with little consequence. Also, it is further established within the formation of strategic partnerships such as that between MoMo and Gojek – once again, an outcome of the increased competitive landscape. More strategic partnerships between e-wallet providers and on-demand multi-service platforms are expected to be established.

Work on Long Thanh airport terminal must start by year-end: Gov’t

While conducting an on-site visit on April 27, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh urged relevant units to speed up preparation for work on the Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province to break ground for a passenger terminal and runways by the end of the year.
As of April 24, over 1,200 workers had been mobilized to the construction site of the project. More than 907 machines, vehicles and equipment are being used in 32 construction lines, according to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the investor of the big-ticket airport project.

However, shortages of cleared land and materials for ground leveling and some obstacles related to surface have slowed down the process of the project, said ACV.

Dong Nai Province and the project management board reached a consensus to complete site clearance before April 30.

Besides, ACV asked the contractors to add 10-15 construction lines to accelerate work after the cleared site is handed over.

Vo Tan Duc, Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai government, said that over 86% of cleared land had been handed over to the project. The remaining 347 hectares for the first phase will be handed over in May.

The deputy prime minister asked the province to complete the land handover by June 30.

In 2022, ACV will disburse some VND8.5 trillion for components such as site leveling, the passenger terminal and airfields.

When all components of the project are executed, the disbursement will increase to VND20 trillion in 2023 and to VND25 trillion in 2024 and 2025.

Work on a passenger terminal will start in October, while runways will get off the ground in December as the design of the airport project is 60%-70% complete, said Le Dinh Tho, Deputy Minister of Transport.

Vietcombank gets new deputy general director

Nguyen Viet Cuong, director of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam’s (Vietcombank/VCB) Ba Dinh Branch, was assigned to the post of deputy general director of Vietcombank, with effect from April 26 this year.
Vietcombank in the day held a ceremony at its headquarters in Hanoi to announce leadership changes.

Besides Cuong, the bank’s management board recruited and appointed Tran Thanh Nam, global advisor at digital banking platform Timo, as director of the operation and renovation divisions at Vietcombank starting the same day.

Newly-registered foreign investment plunges 56.3% in Jan-Apr

Newly-registered foreign investment in the first four months of the year reached US$3.7 billion, plummeting 56.3% year-on-year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said.
In this period, the country attracted more than US$10.8 billion in foreign investment, down 11.7% year-on-year.

Of the total, US$5.29 billion was registered to be added to 323 operational projects, surging 92.5%. In addition, foreign investors committed to injecting US$1.83 billion into over 1,000 transactions to contribute funds and acquire shares in local firms, soaring 74.5%.

Notably, the foreign investment disbursement in the four-month period totaled US$5.92 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%.

Foreign investors poured capital into 44 cities and provinces, with Binh Duong being the largest recipient of foreign investment with some US$2.35 billion, accounting for 21.7% of the country’s total registered foreign investment and rising over 4.9 times over the same period last year.

Bac Ninh came second with nearly US$1.57 billion, followed by HCMC with some US$1.28 billion.

In terms of sectors, the processing and manufacturing sector took the lead in investment capital at nearly US$6.2 billion, accounting for 57.2% of the total registered capital. The real estate sector ranked second with US$2.8 billion.

Among the 72 countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the January-April period, Singapore was the biggest investor with over US$3.1 billion, making up 28.8% of total registered capital, followed by South Korea with more than US$1.82 billion and Denmark with US$1.32 billion.

Binh Loi Railway Bridge, Saigon River dredging project hits multiple hurdles

A major project comprising two components – Binh Loi Railway Bridge linking HCMC’s Thu Duc City and Binh Thanh District, and dredging a section of the Saigon River, from the bridge to the Ben Suc Port in the neighboring province of Binh Duong – has run into rough weather due to an unfeasible capital recovery plan.

According to the Project Management Board No. 7, the Binh Loi Railway Bridge was completed and opened to traffic on September 14, 2019 and handed over to the Vietnam Railway Corporation on January 20 this year, Tuoi Tre Online newspaper reported.

However, the Vietnam Railway Authority has yet to receive the materials from the dismantlement of the old Binh Loi Railway Bridge although the Project Management Board No. 7 has repeatedly made requests.

As for the dredging of the Saigon River section, the design has been completed but capital for the package has yet to be allocated.

Vietnam enjoys 2.53 billion USD of trade surplus in four months

A trade surplus of about 1.07 billion USD was recorded in April, pushing the total in the first four months of this year to 2.53 billion USD, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported on April 29.

In the January-April period, the domestic economic sector suffered a trade deficit of 9.2 billion USD, while the foreign-invested sector enjoyed  a surplus of 11.73 billion USD.

The export revenue in April reached 33.26 billion USD, down 4.2 percent from the previous month but up 25 percent year on year. The figure hit 122.36 billion USD in the first four months, a rise of 16.4 percent over the same period last year.

So far this year, 22 goods groups have seen export revenue exceeding 1 billion USD, including five each with a revenue of over 5 billion USD. Exports of fuel and mineral products accounted for 1.3 percent of the total export revenue, while contribution from processing sector is 89 percent, and that of the agro-forestry and fisheries sectors, 6.8 percent and 2.9 percent.

According to the GSO, the country’s imports were 32.19 billion USD in April and 119.83 billion USD in four months, mostly production materials.

In the first four months of this year, the US remained the largest export market of Vietnam with 35.7 billion USD, while China was the largest goods supplier with 37.1 billion USD worth of goods.

In the period, trade surplus generated from the EU market was 10.4 billion USD, up 36.1 percent year on year.

In order to promote export in the time to come, the Ministry of Industry and Trade reminded exporters to apply measures against risks while trading with foreign businesses.

Domestic exporters were also advised to optimise advantages from 15 free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed to diversify markets.

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