The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade will cooperate with agencies, organisations, and businesses to support Vietnamese exporters in e-commerce.

Speaking at a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony between the agency, PUM Netherlands Senior Experts, and e-commerce platform MISSLINH on April 4, Hoang Minh Chien, deputy head of the agency, said the support aims to save costs and time, speed up order processing, and expand market access.

Promoted e-commerce is expected to further contribute to the country’s export, Chien said. 

The cooperation will be an important milestone in promoting cooperation in research and development as well as effectively supporting Vietnamese small and medium enterprises to export goods, especially agricultural products to the EU in the coming time, he said.

Both the PUM Netherlands Senior Experts and MISSLINH e-commerce platform work on the principles of transparency and sustainable development, and are on a mission to make a difference for Vietnamese businesses in the EU market.

Vietnam's ST25 rice exported to the Republic of Vanuatu

The Vietnam Trade Office in Australia has helped Vietnamese enterprises to sign a contract to export ten containers of ST25 rice to Vanuatu.

Head of the trade office Nguyen Phu Hoa said that the parties have also agreed on the next shipments, with the total demand expected to be up to thousands of tonnes of Vietnamese rice to Vanuatu.

In addition to supporting the successful signing of contracts and completing bank procedures to transfer 30% deposits to Vietnamese businesses, the trade office head and the business visited each major supermarket in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, to give supermarket owners a try, and invite the consumption of Vietnamese rice.

In Australia, with the slogan "Vietnam, land of world's best rice" initiated by the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia, Vietnamese rice has said its quality and gained a foothold in the market for three years.

Digital payments surge in first two months of 2022

Non-cash payment transactions witnessed a significant surge in the first two months of this year, indicating a notable shift in customers’ behaviour towards modern financial services.

Latest data of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) showed the volume of cashless transactions increased by 50.1% year-on-year, with QR code transactions posting the strongest surge of 142% in quantity and 50% in value.

Internet-based transactions saw an increase of 90.2% in volume and 10% in value, followed by mobile phone transactions with 60.3% and 13.9%, respectively. POS transactions increased by 36.7% in volume and 29.7% in value.

According to the SBV’s Payment Department, there has been notable progress in digital transformation activities in the banking industry when 95% of credit institutions have adopted and implemented digital transformation strategies in their units. Many of the top credit institutions that have embraced digital transformation have already achieved 90% of customer transactions on digital channels.

For example, VPBank's digital app streamlines banking activities from depositing money, making payments, opening credit cards and borrowing funds online. Sacombank offers "Tap to phone" for contactless payments and TPBank introduces personalised payment features like "Facepay."

These positive outcomes in digital transformation activities within the banking industry show that there is a clear shift towards a more digital future.

Last year, digital payment reported an 85.6% increase in volume and a 31.4% increase in value compared to 2021.

Vietnam operates greenhouse gas reporting system online

A reporting system for facilities to upload their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data online has been completed, and will be updated when the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Transport issue detailed guidance for their respective areas, according to a recent consultation meeting.

On March 31, the Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) organised a consultation meeting on Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) tracking and GHG reporting system to listen to international experience and the report on the process of development of online facility-level GHG reporting system.

For this work, VETS JICA SPI-NDC developed an online system, which is the first attempt to digitalise the Facility level GHG reporting system, and can provide the reporting platform with general guidance for facilities, and bottom-up information.

Project director Hoang Hai said the system had been completed and could consolidate a list of facilities that are required to conduct GHG inventory in accordance with Decision 01/2022/QD-TTg and update it when changes occur. Besides this, the system receives GHG inventory reports from facilities in digital form, instead of requiring them to submit printed reports as before.

“The competent authorities at the provincial level and relevant ministries will receive and provide feedback on GHG inventory reports through the system, rather than issuing documents to individual facilities, The system will continue to be updated when the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Transport issue detailed guidance for their respective areas,” Hai said.

According to Decree No.06/2022/ND-CP on mitigation of GHG emissions and protection of the ozone layer, cement manufacturers will have to submit GHG emission data to the Ministry of Construction (MoC) before March 31, 2023. From 2024, businesses will be responsible for this work with a biennial frequency.

Experts participating in the consultation meeting recommended that to complete this reporting system, it is necessary to review and standardise the terms and structure correctly by Measurement, Reporting and Verification experts. The system has to standardise the calculation tools and reporting forms for different sectors/sub-sectors according to the guidance of the ministries in charge.

Kanazawa Kota, section chief at the Office for Decarbonised Business Promotion at Japan's Ministry of the Environment, shared Japanese experience on GHG accounting and reporting, NDC tracking, and policy actions.

Experts from JICA SPI-NDC Project also proposed tracking indicators for the waste sector and cement sector at the meeting.

Khanh Hoa attracts big projects in sea tourism and service sector

The south-central coastal province of Khanh Hoa has issued investment certificates and decisions on investment increases for projects with total pledged capital of over VND31,200 billion, reported the local media.

At a conference to announce the master plan and investment promotion of Khanh Hoa Province held on April 2, the provincial government granted approvals for eight projects worth a total of over VND31,200 billion. Among these, the Bai Cat Tham tourist area project in the Van Phong Economic Zone and the Vinhomes Happy Home social housing project are big-ticket ones with respective capital pledges of VND25,000 billion and VND3,756 billion.

Besides, memoranda of understanding were signed for 16 other projects in sectors of industrial park infrastructure, traffic infrastructure, social housing, resorts, aqua-products farming, and information technology, with VND80,600 billion in pledged investment capital.

According to the Government news website at chinhphu.vn, under the authorization of the prime minister, the minister of planning and investment issued a decision on approval in principle for the urban area project in Cam Ranh Bay. The 1,255-hectare project, with total pledged capital of VND85,200 billion, will have around 8,474 detached houses, 10,730 villas and 19,816 social homes to serve around 230,700 residents.

Khanh Hoa is planned to become a centrally-governed city, with an orientation of developing into an international sea tourism and service center under the approved master plan of Khanh Hoa Province in 2021-2030, with a vision toward 2050.

Dragon Capital becomes major shareholder of Hoa Sen Group

Dragon Capital has raised its stake in Hoa Sen Group, which trades its HSG shares on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange, to over 5% and become one of the steelmaker’s major shareholders.

Amersham Industries Limited, a member of Dragon Capital, on March 28 bought 1.1 million HSG shares, while Samsung Vietnam Securities Master Investment Trust, another member of Dragon Capital, acquired 100,000 HSG shares.

The deals raised Dragon Capital’s ownership in the firm to 5.05% from 4.86%.

Hoa Sen has worked out two scenarios for 2023. In its first scenario, the firm would produce 1.4 million tons of products and obtain VND34 trillion in revenue and VND100 billion in profit, plunging 32% and 60% from the year-ago figures, respectively.

In the second scenario, in which the firm’s output reaches 1.5 million tons of products, its revenue would drop by 28% year-on-year to VND36 trillion, while profit increased 20% over the same period in 2022 to VND300 billion.

HSBC Economist: Viet Nam still remains in good position in FDI attraction

Viet Nam still remains in good position in luring foreign direct investment as there are "green shoots" which reflects investors’ confidence in the medium to long-term prospects of Viet Nam’s fundamentals.

Ms. Yun Liu, ASEAN economist at HSBC Global Research, made the above statement in her recent interview with VGP.

According to Yun Liu, in 2022, Viet Nam continued to attract a lot of FDI, especially in the electronics manufacturing space; but compared to where it was during its peak in around 2015-2016, the ratio of new FDI to GDP saw a slowdown.

So, for the first quarter of this year, the total overall FDI has slowed, but FDI to the manufacturing sector has actually gained.

Looking at Viet Nam from a long-term perspective, the country really has a good structural story, especially in terms of both FDI and consumption. Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue increased 13.9 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2023, which was very impressive.

Viet Nam has a lot of potential for consumption to grow even further, given the improving labor market, falling unemployment rate and rising wages. More and more people have moved out of the agricultural sector into more productive services and the manufacturing sector, which is also intensifying the urbanization trends.

In the long term, Yun Liu expressed her belief that Viet Nam is a very good story on this front, and actually, a lot of foreign investors are also seeing that opportunity and are moving quite early–for example, some of the Japanese, Korean and Thai investors.

Viet Nam's gross domestic product (GDP) grew about 3.32 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2023, highlighted Yun Liu, adding that the main drag of that growth was sluggish manufacturing.

In fact, the manufacturing sector saw the first year-over-year decline that Viet Nam has seen in the past two years. The trade headwinds that we have started to see since the last quarter of 2022 have been intensifying.

"If we look at different categories of goods that Viet Nam exported over the last three months of this year, it is actually broad-based weakness. So, a lot of it is related to the downturn of global electronic cycle.

From some of the leading indicators, we are seeing some initial signs of export order stabilization from around the globe. But for that to translate into a meaningful rebound, it is actually something that will still take quite a lot of time. So, we expect growth to pick up more meaningfully in the second half this year", noted Yun Liu.

Regarding export orientations in the upcoming time, the HSBC Economists said that it is quite a challenging situation, not only for Viet Nam but for a lot of export-oriented economies in Asia. For other ASEAN countries, a lot of them suffered the same situation.

Broad-based weakness actually started with electronics goods but all the other items also suffered quite sharp declines. 

VPBank collaborates with Amazon Web Services to lift digital banking experience

The Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) has officially signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in enhancing digital banking experiences for its customers.

VPBank will use AWS SageMaker and AWS AI Services to improve its analytics capabilities and accelerate the development of banking-financial applications, enhance automation of banking tasks, and drive new digital banking features such as chatbots and digital banking solutions to improve customer service.

The collaboration will also help VPBank optimise costs without having to invest in on-premises infrastructure to scale its digital banking services.

VPBank will also leverage the AWS Training and Certification programmes to develop a workforce proficient in cloud skills. Additionally, AWS will work together with VPBank to support its recruitment events targeted at engineers and developers to strengthen its digital workforce.

Luu Thi Thao, Standing Deputy CEO of VPBank said the collaboration between VPBank and AWS will create great innovations in the bank to satisfy the diverse needs of customers.

Besides, it will also help strengthen the stability of VPBank’s core banking system, meeting the highest standards of information security and safety, and helping customers feel more secure every time they conduct a transaction, especially in the digital environment, she added.

VPBank expects that its cooperation with AWS - the world biggest cloud provider - will lift the bank to a new height in technological capacity, helping it better serve customers and become a destination of high skilled human resources.

Fitch affirms Vietnam Electricity Northern Power Corporation at 'BB', outlook positive

Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed Vietnam Electricity Northern Power Corporation's (EVNNPC) long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating at 'BB' with a positive outlook.

The rating reflects EVNNPC's 'bb' Standalone Credit Profile (SCP), which is assessed at the same level as that on the parent, Vietnam Electricity (EVN, BB/Positive), especially in the context of both EVN and EVNNPC facing a host of difficulties and challenges in balancing their finance last year.

According to the agency, EVNNPC's credit profile benefits from its stable and diversified customer base with its top-20 customers accounting for around 9% of total revenue.

As one of the five distribution companies under the EVN group, EVNNPC manages power operation and business in the 27 northern cities and provinces.

In 2020, the corporation was assigned a Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘BB’ with a Stable Outlook by Fitch Ratings.

Retail sales of goods and services rise 14 per cent in Q1

The nation's total retail sales of goods and services saw a year-on-year increase of 14 per cent to over VNĐ1.5 quadrillion (US$64.1 billion) in the first quarter of 2023, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.

Excluding the price factor, the retail sales and service revenue in the three months went up 10.3 per cent, while that in the same period last year rose 2 per cent, according to the GSO.

Compared to Q1 of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the amount in this year’s first three months increased 26.7 per cent, the GSO noted.

Retail sales were estimated at nearly VNĐ1.19 quadrillion in the period, up 11.4 per cent (8.4 per cent if the price factor was excluded).

Sales of grain food and foodstuff grew 14.6 per cent, apparel (12.3 per cent); vehicles (4.5 per cent), and household items and equipment (4 per cent). Cultural and educational goods saw a decline of 2.7 per cent.

Among provinces and cities that witnessed a retail sales increase in the first quarter were Đà Nẵng with 17.6 per cent; Hải Phòng (14 per cent); Quảng Ninh (12.5 per cent); Hà Nội (12 per cent), Bình Dương (11 per cent), Long An and HCM City (9 per cent).

Meanwhile, accommodation and food services generated about VNĐ161.1 trillion in Q1, up 28.4 per cent from a year earlier. Notably, tourism revenue surged 2.2-fold from a year earlier to around VNĐ6.8 trillion, partly thanks to many New Year cultural and tourism activities which were not held in the same period last year due to COVID-19, according to the GSO.

GSO General Director Nguyễn Thị Hương attributed such positive results partly to the reopening to international tourists on March 15, 2022, overseas tourism promotion activities, and domestic consumption stimulation.

The country welcomed over 2.69 million international visitors from January to March, 29.7 times higher than the last year's corresponding period.

Measures have been taken to effectively exploit the domestic market with a population of nearly 100 million to fulfil the goal of an increase of 8-9 per cent in retail sales of goods and services, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Since the beginning of this year, the ministry has strived to enhance connectivity and ensure a balance between the supply and demand of essential goods, contributing to keeping inflation under 4.5 per cent.

The MoIT said it would continue to accelerate the amendment and completion of several legal documents on domestic market development.

It would also speed up the implementation of a strategy for developing domestic trade until 2030, with a vision to 2045, as well as related programmes such as a project on developing the domestic market in association with the campaign "Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnamese goods" in the 2021-25 period.

Domestic trade promotion activities would be integrated with consumer stimulus programmes.

Priority would be given to developing modern commercial and digital platforms, and e-commerce and non-cash payment methods would be encouraged.

The MoIT would focus on applying digital technology to trace goods' origin in commercial infrastructure systems such as supermarkets and markets, as well as developing new retail methods to meet the requirements of consumers.

Vietnam, Laos work together in building startup, innovation ecosystem

A forum that aims to connect technology researchers, developers, and science and technology management agencies of Vietnam, with Laos’ government agencies and businesses opened in Vientiane on April 4.

The Tech-Innovation Vietnam-Laos 2023 forum was jointly held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and the Lao Ministry of Technology and Communications.

It is intended to promote the commercialisation, application and investment in technologies in key areas in Laos such as farm produce processing and preservation, renewable energy, environmental treatment, IT and digital transformation, MoST Deputy Minister Tran Van Tung said in his opening remarks.

The forum will also help to tighten the links between the two ministries, while contributing to enhancing exchanges and coordination between researchers of the two countries, as well as cooperation between their enterprises, he continued.

For his part, Lao Minister Boviengkham Vongdara noted his hope that the forum will offer an opportunity for the two sides to cooperate in research and investment in science-technology and innovation, making science-technology a driving force and a firm pillar for national socio-economic development.

The two-day forum features 64 pavilions introducing research outcomes and promising technologies, notably those by representatives from the Vietnamese startup and innovation ecosystem in the fields of agriculture, construction and community development, beauty services, and marketing.

Within the framework of the forum, there are also in-depth seminars on tech connectivity, startup and innovation, and on development orientations for the startup and innovation ecosystem in Laos, along with exchanges and meetings between partners of the two countries.

Following the opening ceremony, the participants witnessed the signing of agreements on technological transfer between research institutes, universities and businesses of Vietnam and their Lao partners.

Mong Cai international border gate sees strong recovery

The Mong Cai international border gate in the northern province of Quang Ninh has become vibrant as before the pandemic, showing a positive sign in the economic recovery of Mong Cai city in particular and Quang Ninh province in general.

Tran Bich Ngoc, head of the border gate’s Management Board, said more than 188,520 people have gone through the gate in the first three months of this year.

The trade volume between Vietnam and China reached nearly 351,000 tonnes in the period, a year-on-year increase of 211%.

More than 8,900 vehicles traversed the Bac Luan II Bridge border gate between January and March, while 11,759 vehicles carried nearly 185,000 tonnes of goods through Km3 4 Hai Yen border checkpoint, up 411% year-on-year.

Mong Cai international border gate has become a customs clearance gateway for agro-fisheries products between Vietnam and China, Ngoc said.

Chairman of the Mong Cai city People's Committee Ho Quang Huy said the city is accelerating the construction of the first phase of Van Ninh general port project, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024. The port will serve as a transshipment point for agricultural products from the south to the north, then to China.

Mong Cai is also speeding up the construction of an inter-agency checkpoint station linked to a commercial service area at the Bac Luan II border gate, he said, adding that several key projects conducive for agro-fisheries export will be launched.

Vietnam remains important source of tourists to Singapore: official

Vietnam remains an important source of tourists to Singapore, and the country has always been an attractive destination for international holidaymakers, including Singaporeans, according to chief representative of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in Vietnam Serene Ng..

She said that Vietnam's strengths are in natural conditions, rich natural resources and culture, history, and national heritage.

Stressing the need for countries to cooperate with one another to innovate and develop new tourism solution and experiences, the official affirmed that Singapore wishes to work with relevant agencies in Vietnam to offer creative and more attractive products.

She highlighted that since Singapore waived its quarantine measures against the COVID-19 pandemic in April last year, its tourism sector has recovered strongly.

Serene Ng. attributed the positive result to the country’s implementation of strategies to welcome back visitors by improving human resources working in this field, and offering new products.

Quang Ninh aims to attract quality FDI inflows

The northern coastal province of Quang Ninh has strengthened measures to attract quality foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, especially from big names in the processing-manufacturing industry.

Hoang Trung Kien, head of the Quang Ninh economic zone management board, said the processing-manufacturing sector continues to significantly contribute to the province’s economic growth in 2023. Quang Ninh is expected to welcome nine new FDI projects in this field in the second quarter of this year.

According to the board, from the beginning of this year, many foreign corporations have come to seek for investment opportunities in Quang Ninh, including Janpan’s Sojitz, China’s Geely, Wish U Success and Campal groups of China’s Taiwan, Škoda of the Czech Republic, and Frasers Property Holdings of Singapore.

In the first quarter of 2023, Quang Ninh attracted nearly 500 million USD in FDI, equivalent to 40.9% of the yearly target.

On March 29, the province granted investment licences to three FDI projects with a total capital of 80 million USD, all in the manufacturing-processing industry.

They include a 55 million USD project to produce automobile rims using light metals in Bac Tien Phong Industrial Park, Quang Yen town by Xiamen Sunrise Group Co.,Ltd., a top wheel manufacturing group from China; and a 15 million USD project to build a plastic plant in Dong Mai Industrial Park, Quang Yen town by Vietnam Lioncore Industries Co.,Ltd.

The Republic of Korea's Samsong Vina Co.,Ltd. received an investment certificate for its 10.3 million USD project to manufacture automobile safety belts in Song Khoai Industrial Park, Quang Yen town.

Thai experts highlight Vietnam's tourism strength

Vietnam's unique culture can be the strength for the country to attract foreign tourists, said Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, Deputy Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Speaking with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s resident correspondents in Thailand, Chattan said that Vietnam is developing very fast and when international tourists come to Vietnam, they can see a lot of things.

If Vietnam wants tourists to enjoy the time they spent there, the country needs to develop more infrastructure, particularly transport infrastructure, he recommended.

According to the Thai official, tourists are interested in the Vietnamese culture, so Vietnam should further promote it.

He also suggested Vietnam develop tourism in second-tier cities and smaller towns.

Sharing the same view, Songrit Pongern, a journalist and Thai cultural researcher who has been to Vietnam many times, said that Vietnam, with its diverse culture, has many festivals to introduce to international tourists.

He said that Vietnam can do the same as Thailand, for example, introducing popular festivals that foreigners can join in and have a good experiences. The Thai ethnic minority people in the North of Vietnam also celebrate the Songkran Festival (new crop festival) which should be further promoted, Songrit suggested.

According to Songrit, Thailand's tourism strength is that the country has long attached the promotion of culture to tourism promotion campaigns. Thailand actively promotes its festivals and encourages foreigners to learn about the cultural festivals held throughout the year. The most familiar Thai festivals to foreigners are the Songkran Festival in April and the Loi Krathong festival in November. The two festivals appear in every tourism promotion campaign in Thailand both at home and abroad.

He said the Songkran festival is also an occasion for Thai people to pray for a better life and to have the most joy. Therefore, the festival is loved by many foreign tourists and they want to have the opportunity to participate in the festival not only once but many times.

Profit margin of chemical enterprises to decrease in 2023
     
Due to weaker demand amid the global economic downturn, VNDirect forecasts that the net profit of chemicals companies will decline in 2023.

After achieving impressive results in 2022, chemical exports showed signs of slowing down in the first two and a half months of 2023. The export turnover of basic chemicals only reached US$930 million, down 10.9 per cent year-on-year, due to weak global demand. Chemical export value ranks 12th in total export items of Viet Nam.

VNDirect forecasts that demand from Viet Nam's chemical export markets such as China and the United States will decline further until the end of 2023 due to high inflation expectations and economic recession risks.

For yellow phosphorus, the economic downturn has led to a decline in demand for electronics and semiconductors in 2023. World Semiconductor Trade Statistics forecasts the global semiconductor market will shrink by 4 per cent in 2023 to $557 billion, the first annual decline since 2019.

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, forecasts that first-quarter revenue will fall 5 per cent year-on-year.

VNDirect believes that the demand for yellow phosphorus - an input material for semiconductor production will decrease in 2023. Experts forecast that the price of yellow phosphorus will reach $4,500-$5,000 in 2023 due to weak demand.

For caustic soda, the domestic price of caustic soda is highly dependent on China, as China exports about 40 per cent of Viet Nam's caustic soda needs. The price of caustic soda in China has declined 27 per cent since December 2022 as the caustic soda factory in China returns to operation in 2023 and aluminium demand is weak. Furthermore, reopening China's economy will improve the supply of caustic soda in Viet Nam.

VNDirect forecasts that the price of caustic soda will reach about $700-800 per tonne in 2023, down 15 per cent year-on-year. Because price contracts are usually signed three months in advance, VNDirect believes that the net profit of caustic soda companies such as South Basic Chemicals JSC (CSV) and Viet Tri Chemical JSC (HVT) in the first half of 2023 will decrease compared to the second half of 2022.

The cost of electricity accounts for 20-30 per cent of the total cost of producing basic chemicals. Experts see that Viet Nam's electricity industry will record rapid growth in electricity consumption in 2022 - 2030.

According to VIet Nam’s draft Power Master Plan VIII, electricity demand will increase with a high compound growth rate forecast at 9.2 per cent in 2023-2030. VNDirect believes that the gross profit margin of businesses in the chemical industry will decline in 2023 due to rising electricity costs and lower average selling prices.

"In general, we forecast that the gross profit margin of basic chemical businesses will decrease by 4-6 percentage points year-on-year in 2023," said VNDirect.

During the 2023 General Meeting of Shareholders held on March 29, Duc Giang Chemical Group (DGC) approved a business plan with a consolidated revenue target of VND10.87 trillion in 2023, of which that from yellow phosphorus, the main product of the company, would reach VND4.6 trillion. Profit after tax is estimated at VND3 trillion. Thus, these targets decrease by 24.5 per cent and 50 per cent respectively compared to 2022, the year of high record profit of DGC since its establishment.

However, VNDirect still favours DGC stock as it is Asia's largest exporter of yellow phosphorus and VNDirect expects that DGC's net profit will rebound in 2024 thanks to recovering demand for other electromagnetic goods. 

Investment pours into HCM City industrial zones
     
HCM City’s export processing zones and industrial parks attracted investments of more than US$90 million in the first quarter of this year, a 21.36 per cent increase year-on-year.

According to the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), $48.8 million came from foreign investors, a doubling since last year.

Domestic firms invested VND956.2 billion VND ($41.35 million), down 15.8 per cent.

In the first quarter operations got underway at 18 projects and six others are under construction.

The total number of projects in the EPZs and IPs tops 1,700 with investment of $12.43 billion, including 554 foreign ones worth $6.92 billion. 

HCM City continues to make hi-tech, clean agriculture a priority

The HCM City agriculture sector continues giving priority to high-tech and clean agriculture development to adapt to climate change.

According to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the city’s agriculture sector continues restructuring agriculture production and developing key products.

It fosters the development of urban-oriented farming models amid the continued loss of agricultural land due to rapid urbanisation.

It encourages farmers to switch to high-value crops, and reduce unproductive rice and sugarcane fields.

It seeks to boost the value of its agricultural output to VNĐ640-660 million (US$27,400-28,200) per hectare this year.

In addition, the city focuses on biotechnology to develop high-quality and high-yielding plant varieties and animal breeds, striving to become a regional hub for the development and supply of high-quality seeds.

The city’s agriculture is recovering strongly after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) value of agriculture, forestry and fishery products in 2022 was estimated at nearly VNĐ8.4 trillion ($358 million), up 3.7 per cent year-on-year.

The production value of the agricultural sector reached VNĐ19 trillion ($810 million) last year, a year-on-year increase of 3.8 per cent.

Many new urban-oriented farming models have been successful and achieved impressive growth thanks to the application of advanced technologies.

The city now has more than 113,600 hectares of agricultural land, accounting for about 54 per cent of the total natural land area. Of this area, there are more than 400ha of hi-tech agriculture.

The value of high-tech agricultural products accounts for about 48 per cent of the city's total agricultural production value.

Lê Văn Cửa, deputy head of the management board of the city’s High-tech Agriculture Park, said the park promotes research and the application of technology in production to create high-quality plant varieties and animal breeds for the development of three key areas - crop cultivation, animal husbandry and seafood.

It has conducted technology transfer for enterprises in the city and other provinces, and provides 1-2 million seedlings of plants a year. 

It strives to supply five million seedlings of plants a year.

Đinh Minh Hiệp, director of the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the city's government has offered preferential policies on developing high-tech agriculture.

They include solutions for science and technology development, information technology application in agriculture, conducting research, and technology application and transfer activities.

The city also demonstrates the role of a high-tech agriculture park and a centre for biotechnology, and creates links between scientists, enterprises, cooperatives and household farmers.

The department has also worked closely with the city’s Farmers' Union to develop effective high-tech production and business models in the city. 

More Lam Dong durian farming areas’ traceability codes get China approval
     
China’s customs has approved another 32 farming area codes and three packaging facility codes for durian in Lam Dong, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Farming area codes are meant for traceability to facilitate agricultural exports.

China, the world's largest durian market, began importing the fruit from Viet Nam last year after approving 51 farming area codes.

The number has since increased to 246 area codes and 97 packaging facility codes.

Durian has been identified by Lam Dong as the fruit with the highest economic value. It has 14,432 hectares under various varieties of the fruit such as MonThong, Ri6 and Dona mainly in Da Huoai, Di Linh, Bao Lam, and Da Teh districts and an annual output of 100,000 tonnes.

Authorities in Da Huoai have been encouraging farmers to use traceability labels and helping them adopt VietGAP standards.

In 2016 “Da Huoai durian” was recognised as the district’s exclusive agricultural brand by the Intellectual Property Office of Viet Nam. 

Vietnamese coffee primarily exported as raw beans

Although Vietnam is the world’s second biggest coffee exporter, around 90% of Vietnamese coffee products are mainly exported as raw beans, resulting in low export revenue.

“Vietnam’s Robusta coffee has yet to get trademark protection certificates from any country,” Thai Nhu Hiep, vice chairman of the Vietnam Coffee Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said.

Ho Van Muoi, chairman of the Dak Nong People’s Committee, said that raw coffee beans accounts for 99% of the province’s coffee export volume while the country’s figure is 90%.

Gia Lai has around 99,000 hectares under coffee cultivation, 80 coffee processing factories and facilities. The proportion of its processed coffee accounts for about 5.7% and the rest is exported as raw beans.

Vietnam should focus on growing coffee varieties with international certificates such as 4C, Rainforest & UTZ, and Organic, according to experts at the “How to increase coffee export value” workshop held by a local newspaper and the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development.

Increasing the proportion of processed coffee products is also a solution to add value to Vietnamese coffee. Each container of Meet More coffee is valued 5-6 times higher than raw coffee beans, said Nguyen Ngoc Luan, CEO of Global Trading Connection Company.

Many experts believe it is necessary to address the root issues of the coffee industry, such as origin, quality, and brand building. Additionally, the Government needs to develop a plan to support businesses in borrowing loans, such as reducing interest rates.

Vietnam is currently the world’s largest producer of Robusta coffee and ranks second in coffee exports. The export value reached a record high of over US$4 billion in 2022, up 32% compared to the previous year, mainly due to reasonable prices and the global coffee undersupply.

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