Securities companies are optimistic about stock market movements this week and are betting the positive trend will continue but the market will witness alternative ups and downs during its uptrend.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased by 0.3 per cent to close last week at 1,357.05 points.

The index gained a total of 1.16 per cent last week.

An average of 739.5 million shares was traded on the southern exchange during each session last week, worth VND23.9 trillion (US$1 billion).

According to SSI Securities Joint Stock Company (SSI), the VN-Index had recovered from the support area of ​​1,352 - 1,340 points, along with an increase in trading volume. The index had returned to the uptrend.

BOS Securities Joint Stock Company (BOS) said the VN-Index received strong support at the area around 1,340 points in the last session of last week.

Technical indicators still maintained signals that the market would recover, BOS said.

“However, the market is likely to face difficulties at 1,370 points in the short term as profit-taking pressure is increasing. Fluctuations are expected to appear more often when the index enters this zone. BOS recommends investors prioritise market observation and maintain their current portfolio,” it said.

“The stock market had a dramatic reversal in the last minutes of the session. Many stocks rose again when the cash flow entered the market robustly and decisively,” Viet Dragon said in last Friday’s market report.

“However, we still see that the stock market is risky and has not shown any signs of stability. Therefore, investors who are holding stocks can sell and should not disburse at this time,” it said.

“The VN-Index got support and reversed back to gaining thanks to a strong cash inflow that can match the profit-taking pressure. It is expected that the VN-Index will continue to recover and will approach the resistance zone of 1,370 points,” it said.

“The effective containment of the COVID-19 pandemic and proper monetary and fiscal policies will be important supportive elements for the market in this period,” said Nguyen Anh Khoa, Head of Analysis and Investment Consulting Department of Agriseco Securities.

“The resistance area of 1,370-1,400 points will still be a challenge. Therefore, it is likely that the market will witness alternating dropping sessions while gradually moving up to 1,400 points in the second half of August,” he said.

“Although some provinces in Viet Nam are experiencing increasingly strict social distancing measures, the economy continues to show resilience, underpinned by the strength of demand both at home and abroad,” said Anand Pathmakanthan, Head of Regional Equity Research at Maybank Kim Eng Securities Limited.

“This wave of the disease may gradually subside from September, thanks to strict containment measures and accelerated vaccination that will help put the country back on a more solid growth trajectory, with supply chain repositioning being a key long-term driver,” he told a recent online meeting held by Maybank Kim Eng.

“The VN-Index may increase by 10 per cent in the second half of 2021, led by real estate, materials, logistics and retail stocks. With the financial sector showing positive signals when the growth spreads across the market, we still see attractive opportunities in leading banks such as Techcombank (TCB), Vietcombank (VCB), Military Bank (MBB) and VPBank (VPB),” he said.

“The VN-Index had a third consecutive week of recovery last week with increased liquidity compared to the previous week and higher than the 20-week average,” said Saigon-Hanoi Securities Joint Stock Company (SHS).

“Foreign investors turned to be net sellers last week with more than VND2.2 trillion on both exchanges, which also put pressure on the market,” it said.

Industrial stocks gained the most last week with stocks such as Vinaconex (VCG) increasing by 5.2 per cent, Geleximco (GEX) rising by 5.4 per cent, and Hai Phong Port Joint Stock Company (PHP) gaining by 27.5 per cent.

They were followed by materials stocks such as Hoa Phat Group (HPG) increasing by 0.5 per cent, Nam Kim Group (NKG) rising by 3.6 per cent, Petro Viet Nam Ca Mau Fertiliser JSC (DCM) increasing by 10.6 per cent, and PetroVietnam Fertiliser & Chemicals Corp (DPM) increasing by 19.8 per cent.

The remaining groups all had slight increases such as financial services, community utilities, oil and gas, banking and consumer services, pharmaceutical and healthcare.

Vietnamese importers warned of 34 suspended Indonesian coal exporters

The Trade Office of Vietnam in Indonesia has advised Vietnamese importers to not trade with 34 Indonesian mining companies whose coal exports have been suspended by the local government for failing to meet domestic market obligations.

Accordingly, Indonesia has introduced sanctions for producers that fail to meet their domestic market sales obligations, with 34 companies temporarily banned from exporting coal because of unfulfilled supply agreements with state-run power utility PT PLN between January 1 and July 31 this year.

Starting on August 7, the ban will be in effect until these companies fulfill their supply obligations.

The Trade Office of Vietnam in Indonesia has provided the Ministry of Trade and Industry with the list of the 34 firms, saying that Vietnamese coal importers should not sign new contracts with them until the ban is lifted.

Customs data shows that Vietnam’s coal imports from Indonesia slid 9.3 percent to 9.66 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2021. The import value, meanwhile, surged 42.6 percent to exceed 732.8 million USD as global coal prices was soaring on the back of sharply increasing demand from China and several North Asian countries.

 Lack of raw materials limits supply of instant noodle

Enterprises producing dried foods are struggling to meet increased demand caused by social distancing measures, due to a lack of raw materials.

Kajiwara Junichi, General Director of Acecook Vietnam Co told VnEconomy that the implementation of the "3 on-site" model, as part of the businesses continuity arrangements while social distancing measures are in place, has made the company's total production output decrease.

Currently, the number of employees participating in the "3 on-site" model accounts for only half of his company’s total workforce, he said.

This has led to reduced output and a failure to meet market demand. Meanwhile, some cases of COVID-19 infection were detected among their transport partners. This has affected the delivery of goods between branches of the company and to its distributors and supermarkets, he added.

Saigon Aquatic Product Trading JSC is also facing the same problem.

VnEconomy cited the company’s general director Truong Tien Dung as saying that his company was forced to close a facility producing fish cakes, canned and dried goods due to lack of raw materials. This resulted in a shortage of these products in its retail chains such as food stores and supermarkets.

In order to overcome this challenge, his firm is looking for alternative sources of raw materials to make up for the current shortage, Dung said.

At a recent online meeting in HCM City, Ly Kim Chi, President of the Food and Foodstuff Association of Ho Chi Minh City (FFA), said that up to now, many food companies have still maintained their production. However, some of them that implemented the "3-on-site" model could only utilise 50-60 per cent of their workforce, resulting in shortages of goods.

Insufficient raw materials were also problematic, according to the FFA.

It explained that producing a food product required many different types of raw materials. Raw material suppliers could shut down production at any time if they had F0 infected cases. Without a certain type of key raw material, businesses might have to stop their production altogether. That meant consumer goods and essential foodstuffs would be insufficient.

Chi cited a field of green onions in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province as an example. In the pre-pandemic period, traders would come to that field to buy green onions and transport onions to factories in HCM City by trucks. However, amid the pandemic traders could not rent trucks to transport onions. That resulted in an inadequate source of green onion, causing difficulties for instant noodles producers who needed the green onion to make the seasoning.

In order to deal with this issue, food businesses petitioned the State management agencies to allow them to temporarily find alternative sources of auxiliary materials such as spices, flavourings and additives or adjust the appropriate quantity of materials while ensuring the quality, safety and basic characteristics of food products so that they would not affect the health of users.

For example, for instant noodles, food firms could reduce the number of auxiliary materials such as dried green onion and pepper, depending on the supply available, if the material suppliers stopped operation, Chi said.

Under the Food Safety Law and related regulations, with the above adjustments, companies had to redo the procedures for self-declaration of products and change the packaging, according to Chi.

However, doing this right now would take a long time, Chi said, adding that the cost of reprinting packaging would be very high. Meanwhile, it was so wasteful to discard old packaging, leading to the possibility that companies had to temporarily shut down production.

Thus, the FFA petitioned the State management agencies to replace the above procedures by allowing businesses to send detailed written reports to the agencies along with offering transparent information for consumers.

In particular, it suggested HCM City authorities deliver forecasts on market demand while drawing consumption plans and then proposing to neighbouring provinces that they expand their scale of production.

It was also necessary to set up a working group that would be responsible for solving difficulties for businesses in a timely manner and a hotline to receive information. That would help prevent the disruption of production and trade chains in the current context.

The city also needed to foster stronger exchanges and partnerships with neighbouring provinces with large supplied of raw material, Chi added. 

Reference exchange rate up 8 VND at week’s beginning

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,153 VND/USD on August 16, up 8 VND from the last working day of previous week (August 13).

With the current trading band of +/-3 percent, the ceiling rate applied to commercial banks during the day is 23,848 VND/USD and the floor rate 22,458 VND/USD.

The rates at commercial banks all rose.

At 8:30 am, Vietcombank listed the buying rate at 22,700 VND/USD and the selling rate at 22,930 VND/USD, both up 20 VND from the rates on August 13.

BIDV added 15 VND to both rates, listing the buying rate at 22,725 VND/USD and the selling rate at 22,925 VND/USD./.

Thousands join regional digital sales event

 Up to 9,300 users have registered and used www.onlineasean.com, the official website for the ASEAN Online Sale Day 2021, from August 8-10, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The site also recorded over 35,000 hits, a 400 per cent increase in traffic from last year's event.

Over 300 businesses from 10 ASEAN countries joined the regional digital event, more than double the number of businesses in 2020.

The majority of buyers were reportedly from the Philippines (50.17 per cent), followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam and Singapore.

The sales event offer buyers a wide range of products and services including handicrafts, electronics, furniture, fashion items and F&B. Major regional digital commerce players such as Qafa Haus, Zalora, Madalagos Chocolate, Alibaba, Lazada, Pazzion, Escala Fashion and Shopee all participated.

Organisers said during the pandemic, the region has seen a boom in digital commerce, which is fast becoming a key part of regional commerce and trade.

Phuc Trach pomelo to be sold online

The central province of Ha Tinh has established new distribution channels on e-commerce and digital platforms to expand the sale of local Phuc Trach pomelos amid Covid-19 while ensuring pandemic prevention requirements are met.

 Phuc Trach pomelos are grown on an area of 2,700 ha in 21 communes and towns in Ha Tinh province. There are 159 cooperative groups growing the fruit that have been recognised as meeting Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices standards.

Promoting the locality’s fruit on e-commerce platforms has become an effective way to bolster consumption, so the province has boosted efforts to bring more local agricultural products to consumers via online channels.

Phuc Trach pomelos are known for their juicy, crispy sacs and sweet and sour taste.

To be sold on e-commerce platforms, fruit must meet Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices as well as other standards./.

Businesses should upgrade online strategy during the pandemic

Experiencing the effects of lockdowns, consumer buying behaviours have been changing at an unprecedented rate.

This change forced businesses to adapt if they wanted to maintain and increase revenue, said experts at a webinar on enhancing strategy on Thursday.

The webinar helped businesses reassess customer behaviour thereby upgrading their online business strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consumer buying behaviour is influenced by many factors and within seconds, a buyer's decision could change.

Research by Think With Google showed that 82 per cent of smartphone users consult their phones for information on products they want to buy. But, one in 10 of those end up buying a different product than they had planned.

As a payment solution provider and a business, Visa Viet Nam and Biti's are two examples that show the awareness and strategic adaptation of businesses in the face of changes in needs and habits, or behaviours, of customers.

With the mindset of putting customers as the focus of their business strategy, these two businesses have actively researched and found new business solutions.

Biti's made a bold change in its business strategy, which is to switch to trading agricultural products from last month.

This business said that this was a new direction to meet the most urgent needs of the people, and at the same time a solution to help businesses work.

Visa Viet Nam conducted a survey on the change in payment habits of users at the end of last year. The survey showed that when affected by the pandemic, 44 per cent of consumers made their first online transactions on social networks, while 82 per cent spent more online than in the previous year.

Statistics showed that more and more Vietnamese people know how to use online payments and most are spending more through online and card payments.

Through the webinar, brand owners who have been successful in e-commerce implementation helped businesses to learn how to connect with customers through the internet and electronic devices, understand consumers' online shopping behaviour to seize opportunities for e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The workshop also helped businesses grasp solutions on e-commerce and digital transformation, helping businesses to gradually transform their operations from traditional methods to do business in the online environment, and attract customers through online tools.

Singapore-based Ampverse acquires SBTC Esports

Leading esports organisation Ampverse has announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in SBTC Esports, one of Viet Nam’s most prominent esports teams.

The deal comes at a time when esports viewership continues to accelerate globally along with advertising.

SBTC also operates the SBTC academy, providing funding, support and a professional environment for young aspiring gaming talent.

Matthias Beyer, chief gaming officer at Ampverse, said: “We have always wanted to enter the Vietnamese market and we have been impressed with the story of SBTC.

“We at Ampverse are very delighted to welcome SBTC into its family and officially expand into one of the most vibrant esports markets, Viet Nam.”

Song Bang Tinh Cam (Lived with Love), its formal name, was founded by Thay Giao Ba, a former professional player and one the most entertaining streamers in Viet Nam today.

SBTC Esports fields a professional team each in the League of Legends (PC) and Wildrift.

Since its launch in 2018, it has become the most popular team in the country, according to analytics company, Esports Charts.

It averaged over 80,000 live viewers across the League of Legends VCS Spring 2021 season, the highest of any team in Vietnam.

Singapore-based Ampverse owns and builds influential and high-performance esports communities across Asia.

The deal with SBTC follows the acquisition of Thailand’s leading team and current Arena of Valor Pro League Champions, Bacon Time, last year. 

Binh Duong province earns 4.5 billion USD trade surplus despite COVID-19

The People’s Committee of Binh Duong province has said despite the impact of COVID-19, the local economy still records a remain a good growth.

In the past 7 months, the province's industrial production index (IIP) increased by 7.3 percent over the same period last year, and the total retail sales of consumer goods and services 7 percent. Meanwhile, the export of goods earned more than 20 billion USD, up 43.5 percent over the same period last year, contributing to the province's trade surplus of nearly 4.5 billion USD.

According to Chairman of the Committee Vo Van Minh, if the epidemic situation is put under control in October, the local socio-economic situation will see a recovery in the last months of the year. The province is accelerating its vaccination drive to meet the target of 95 percent of the population inoculated so as to help restore production and business.

Meanwhile, the industrial production indexes are forecast to recover quickly in the fourth quarter if the pandemic eases, and exports will maintain an increase of over 26 percent. Local authorities forecast that other indicators will also recover, contributing to maintaining the dual goals.

Chairman Minh also said that in the remaining months of 2021, many challenges and difficulties are still there. That is why the province requires authorities of all levels, sectors and localities to further strive for the set targets. He also requested departments and branches to focus all their efforts and concertedly implement solutions to promote economic recovery, production, ensuring social security and the health of people and workers./.

Core tech critical for start-ups to develop sustainably

Core value and core technology are important factors for start-ups to scale-up quickly and develop sustainably, experts have said.

According to the CEO of Le Group of Companies Le Quoc Vinh, the model of burning-cash to scale-up is no longer appropriate and proved to have weaknesses in the context of the pandemic.

For a start-up, a key problem is choosing which way to go in developing business strategies: burning-cash to scale-up to seize market opportunities or to go the long way towards sustainable development, Vinh said.

Bui Thanh Do, Founder and CEO of Thinkzone Ventures, said that the investment trend in start-ups was changing in recent years, adding that a number of start-ups were focusing more on core value and core technology.

Still, start-up firms must choose models of rapid growth which is critical to attract venture capital funds, he said, adding that venture capital funds often eye companies that could potentially expand by at least 20 times over four to five years because the initial scale of start-ups was often very small.

He said that ThinkZone was now investing in a taxi operation platform which was developing core technology to connect 110 taxi companies. This platform never scaled-up too fast an its revenue remained modest.

However, Do said that start-up firms could develop rapidly and sustainably at the same time if they had core value and technology to help solve big problems for large markets.

According to Nguyen Chi Thanh, deputy director general of Viettel Telecom, a key partner of the national digital transformation competition for start-ups Viet Solutions, after two years the competition received more than 600 applications, about 10 per cent of which had cooperation with Viettel to provide services to more than 120 million customers in countries which Viettel had invested in.

Thanh said that start-up companies which cooperated with Viettel after Viet Solutions were not prominent in the media, but were sustainable.

"Start-ups today tend to be more cautious and choose sustainable development models, while focusing on core value to create different values, not following market trends," he said.

Thanh said that start-ups could still scale fast if they could grasp market opportunities, then focus on developing sustainably later, adding that burning-cash to scale-up was a risky model, especially when there were market fluctuations.

To survive and succeed, start-ups should determine what their core strengths were and focus on doing well with core value, he said. Start-ups which lacked market experience should choose investors who already had market share for cooperation to develop quickly and effectively.

"Start-ups need to identify what the market, society and economy needs to place focus on," he said. 

PM orders law revision to solve difficulties in investment, business

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has sent a dispatch to several ministers, ordering a revision of laws to address difficulties in investment and business amidst complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The document was sent to the Ministers of Planning and Investment, Finance, Industry and Trade, Natural Resources and Environment, Construction, Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development, Information and Communications, Justice, and Home Affairs.

It pointed out that after reviewing the recommendations of all the 63 provinces and cities, relevant agencies detected specific obstacles and difficulties facing investment, production and business activities caused by the overlapping and inconsistency of several legal documents.

A revision by Government Office detected a number of contents that need to be studied, amended and supplemented immediately to remove obstacles specified in 29 laws related to State management of 10 ministries.

To promptly remove difficulties and obstacles, clear bottlenecks, mobilise all social resources, and promote production and business, the Government leader requested the ministers to direct and prioritise resources for the revision, research, amendment and supplementation of legal documents under their authority.

The highest priority should be given to speeding up the amendment and supplementation of legal regulations that are overlapped, disputabe and inconsistent, he stressed./.

Apparel and footwear businesses risk losing orders amid prolonged COVID-19

The ongoing wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the supply chain of local export industries, including garments and textiles, and footwear, if no solution is found soon to help businesses overcome their difficulties, many face the risk of orders being halted or cancelled.

Supply chain disruptions and labor shortages are currently the two biggest challenges for the apparel industry.
The impact of the pandemic is therefore making it difficult for many textile and garment enterprises to maintain production and business, with a few that are applying an on-the-spot working model also at risk of unstable operations.

Currently, the two most significant challenges facing the domestic textile and garment industry are supply chain disruptions and labour shortages.

Le Tien Truong, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), stated that production under the on-site working model can only be maintained in the short term. Due to this, localities must be flexible in order to assist enterprises ensure production and business activities in a safe manner based on unified standards.

In relation to the leather and footwear industry, the pandemic is also making it difficult for businesses in the industry to apply the on-site option.

According to details given by Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, vice president and General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO), the application of a flexible new production model in line with the current situation does not mean that the "in place" working model can be negated.

Furthermore, local firms implementing the on-site model should continue to be maintained and encouraged, while those that are facing difficulties should be flexible in terms of applying safe production plans as a means of ensuring regulations on pandemic prevention and control.

With the characteristics of each enterprise and industry being very different, it is therefore necessary to improve the flexibility of businesses as a way of proposing the most suitable plans for production, Xuan said.

She went on to stress that it is vital to improve the responsibility of firms and their participation in terms of pandemic prevention and control, whilst developing on-site medical facilities for enterprises in order to respond to emergencies.

Health experts believe that the application of measures aimed at preventing the further spread of the disease remains necessary, with the correct approach and strategy making pandemic containment process more effective.

Loship aims to file for IPO on New York Stock Exchange by 2024

BAce Capital-backed Loship, Vietnam’s leading one-hour delivery e-commerce startup, targets to become the first Vietnamese delivery to list on the New York Stock Exchange by 2024.

Earlier this month, Loship, confirmed its $12 million pre-series C funding round co-led by BAce Capital, an Ant Group-backed venture capital firm, and Sun Hung Kai & Co., Ltd., a leading alternative investment company listed in Hong Kong, China.

Other investors participating in the round include MetaPlanet Holdings, Wealth Well, Prism Ventures, and SQ Capital Group, along with a plethora of individual investors.

Amid the pandemic-led downturn, Loship has shown resilience and come out stronger from the crisis. The round comes on the heels of Loship’s undisclosed bridge funding round in February 2021 led by Skype co-founder backed MetaPlanet Holdings.

Trung Hoang Nguyen, co-founder cum CEO of Loship, told VIR, “The initial public offering (IPO) is one of the key milestones we want to achieve in the next three years. We hope to debut on the New York Stock Exchange by 2024, after reaching profitability. A successful IPO will fuel our future growth, create an exit option for investors, and help employees to realise their employee stock ownership plan."

“As a young Vietnamese entrepreneur, I dare to dream big. Funding rounds shouldn’t be the sole goal of startups – we need to aim at exit strategies to further increase our value,” he added. 

VNG considers going public in a $3 billion SPAC merger

Vietnam's first unicorn VNG is mulling to list in the US through a reverse merger involving a special purpose acquisition company.

VNG is holding discussions with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) for a potential deal overseas. A representative of VNG said no decision on an initial public offering (IPO) or SPAC has been made or approved, and otherwise declined to comment.

However, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that VNG is holding discussions with financial advisers for this. They said the transaction could value VNG at $2-3 billion ($86,960-130,430), asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

In 2017, VNG and Nasdaq – the United States’ second-largest stock exchange – signed an MoU to explore VNG’s IPO opportunities on the Nasdaq. Both sides were optimistic about the outlook of Vietnam’s first unicorn tapping into the US equity market for capital, but no official agreement has been reached yet. In fact, VNG has not even applied for listing on Nasdaq yet and the stock market has not determined whether VNG meets its requirements.

With this move, VNG will join other Southeast Asian firms in seeking US listings through SPAC mergers. These include Grab, which is going public through a $40 billion SPAC merger with Altimeter Growth Corporation in the fourth quarter. In July, Singapore's online real estate firm PropertyGuru Pte. also agreed to go public through a SPAC merger with Bridgetown 2 Holdings Ltd. Meanwhile, Indonesia's Traveloka is in talks to raise funds for a listing via the same channel.

Sources of domestic raw materials for animal feed need creating urgently

In the long term, the Chairman of the Vietnam Poultry Association said that it is necessary to consider soon reducing dependence on the import market by actively producing and supplying raw materials for animal feed domestically.

On August 12, the Vietnam Poultry Association, CropLife Asia, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) joined hands to organize a webinar on solutions to help livestock production in Vietnam to develop more sustainably and add more stable sources of raw materials to reduce the dependence on imported animal feed.

It was recorded that in Dong Nai Province, the capital of livestock production in the Southeast region with a total herd of about 2.6 million cattle and about 26.4 million chickens, farmers are facing many difficulties.

Nguyen Xuan Vinh, the owner of a pig farm in Xuan Truong Commune of Xuan Loc District in Dong Nai Province, said that his pig farm has a scale of 200 porkers and consumes about 17 bags of miller’s bran every day. Currently, the price of miller’s bran escalates continuously, the cost of feed for his pigs surges by nearly VND200,000 every day.

Mr. Nguyen Kim Doan, Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Livestock Production Association, said that from November last year to now, the price of pig feed has climbed nine times, with an average increase of VND300-VND600 per kg. Therefore, when being sold, the cost price rises by VND1 million for each pig. Feed price advances while the price of live pigs drops, so, at present, farmers are losing money, and they do not dare to repopulate pig herds.

Nguyen Thanh Liem, a farmer in Tam Hiep Hamlet of Gia Ray Town in Xuan Loc District, said that his duck farm currently has more than 1,000 unsalable ducks, and he has to spend millions of Vietnamese dong or more on feed every day. In the past few days, he had to sell off ducks to local people.

In Tay Ninh Province, an animal feed agent in Chau Thanh Town said that all kinds of animal feed for pigs, chickens, and ducks have risen by at least 25 percent since the beginning of the year. For animal feed, such as Con Co, Cargill, GreenFeed, and Hi-gro, the price has rallied by up to 30 percent.

Similarly, farmers in the Mekong Delta are also being impoverished because of high feed prices.

Nguyen Van Tan, a pangasius farmer for export in Chau Phu District in An Giang Province, said that fish feed has increased four times from the beginning of the year and is currently fluctuating around VND12,000 per kg, depending on the type. The cost price of pangasius fish is about VND23,000 - VND25,000 per kg, but the selling price is only about VND21,500-VND22,500 per kg, making farmers suffer losses.

As one of many shrimp farming households that face difficulties, Mr. Tran Van Viet, Director of Thanh Cong Industrial Shrimp Farming Cooperative in Dam Doi District of Ca Mau Province, said that the current shrimp prices have fallen too low, so shrimp farmers suffer heavy losses. Currently, farmers definitely suffer losses with sized-50-pcs-per-kg shrimp or more, and they can break even or make a little profit with sized-30-50-pcs-per-kg shrimp. Although shrimp prices decline, the prices of shrimp feed continue to increase. Therefore, after harvesting, many farmers have suspended shrimp farming.

At the seminar, Ms. Tran Ngoc Yen, Director of Agromonitor Market Analysis Company, informed that after the African swine fever outbreak, the price of live porkers rocketed, farmers could make a profit of up to VND6 million per head. Now they can only have a profit of VND1.5 million-VND2 million per head. This profit comes with the condition that the pig farm owners have autonomy in the source of sows. However, if they have to buy piglets for breeding, they will suffer losses.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Chairman of the Vietnam Poultry Association, said that the current price of chickens and ducks is extremely low. Besides the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to difficult consumption, according to Mr. Son and Ms. Yen, farmers lose money and constantly face risks mainly because of the high global feed prices. For a long time, Vietnam has been too dependent on imported feed materials, so when there is a fluctuation in the global raw material prices, the domestic feed price will also increase in tandem.

In the long term, the Chairman of the Vietnam Poultry Association said that it is necessary to consider soon reducing dependence on the import market by actively producing and supplying raw materials for animal feed domestically. Because according to the forecast, the demand for feed materials in the coming time will continue to surge strongly as Vietnam will need about 28 million-30 million tons per year in the next five years. If the source of raw materials cannot be autonomous, farmers will continue to struggle when prices fluctuate.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son said that besides tax and trade policy solutions, Vietnam needs basic and methodical strategies to gain autonomy in domestic feed materials. Of these, the most feasible and effective solution is to develop biotech crops, such as corn and soybeans, to use as feed materials because of high productivity and output.

Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy Phuong, Deputy Director of Price Department under the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, suggested the application of many synchronous solutions to increase feed supply, such as taking advantage of by-products of domestic manufacturing and livestock production industries. Domestic feed producers also need to maximize the source of raw materials to gradually replace imported ones and reduce costs by taking advantage of local raw material sources.

Although Vietnam is one of the world's leading food producers and exporters, the country has to import 70-85 percent of feed materials from abroad every year. Vietnam can only supply 4.5 million-5 million tons of corn, 4 million tons of miller’s bran, and 4 million tons of cassava for the production of animal feed each year, while the demand is 26 million-27 million tons of raw materials.

According to the GSO, in 2020, Vietnam’s import value of animal feed and raw materials rose by 3.75 percent, but in the first six months of this year alone, this rate jumped by 36.6 percent over the same period last year.

Binh Duong Province weathers “COVID-19 storm” to register trade surplus of roughly US$4.5 billion

Despite the COVID-19-induced challenges, Binh Duong reported a trade surplus of nearly US$4.5 billion in the first seven months of 2021 thanks to a 43.5% year-on-year (YoY) rise in export revenue to more than US$20 billion, according to the Provincial People’s Committee.

Binh Duong’s economy still showed good resilience amidst the serious impacts of the pandemic, with socio-economic targets maintaining decent growth. Specifically, the province’s index of industrial production (IIP) during January-July rose 7.3% YoY, while total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue also went up 7%.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Vo Van Minh said that the local socio-economic situation will bounce back well in the last months of the year if the pandemic is brought under control by October. What’s most important at present is the immunisation strategy, he said, stating that the province is hoping to inoculate 95% of its population to achieve herd immunity, creating ideal conditions for production and business recovery.

Minh requested that in the remaining months of 2021, departments and sectors should closely follow their set plans, while synchronously implementing measures to accelerate economic recovery and production, ensuring social security as well as the life and health of the people and workers.

Specifically, support policies should be built to effectively support businesses applying the “3 on the spot” model. In addition, further efforts are required to step up testing, screening, pandemic prevention and control, and treatment of infected workers, towards establishing “green zones” for industrial areas to prevent production and supply chain disruption.

Central farmers make efforts to maintain cultivation during Covid-19 pandemic

Drought and the Covid-19 pandemic have been heavily affecting the lives of people across the country and the Central of Vietnam. Despite difficulties, farmers in the Central provinces still maintain production and cultivation to create agricultural products, vegetables, and fruits to serve their lives, increase their incomes, and support Covid-19-hit areas in the province and the South.

After the Covid-19 pandemic broke out again in Ho Chi Minh City and Southern provinces, farmers in the Central have strived to collect agricultural products to send to people in the South. Especially, many farmers have donated their whole vegetable fields to support people in pandemic-hit areas. For instance, Nguyen Thi Thu, a farmer in Village 3 of Nghia Dung Commune in Quang Ngai City of Quang Ngai Province, gave 820kg of pumpkin, 350kg of winter melon, 70kg of garlic, 115kg of lime, and 180kg of papaya. Cao Nguyen Duy Cuong, a farmer in Village 6 of Nghia Dung Commune, donated 200kg of winter melon, 200kg of papaya, and 150kg of jicama to send to people in the South and HCMC.

Nghia Dung Commune has 90ha of short-term vegetables and fruits. The commune supplies more than 2,000 tons of vegetables and fruits to the market annually. The 66-year-old farmer Le Minh Nong said that he had donated over 2 tons of agricultural products for people in HCMC. He only spared 500-600kg of vegetables and fruits for sale to generate income for the new crop.

Vo Van Tin, a 64-year-old farmer in Phuoc Hiep Commune in Tuy Phuoc District of Binh Dinh Province, confided that they had never had a year of farming under such complicated pandemic conditions like this year. Farmers were concerned about consumption and price. However, they were also aware that the whole country was facing many difficulties, so at this time, they need to stick to the fields to cultivate to support the province and Southern provinces to fight the pandemic.

Mr. Pham Long Thang, Director of Phuoc Hiep Cooperative in Tuy Phuoc District, said that the cooperative had 255 households, cultivating 13.5 hectares of land for fruits and vegetables under the VietGAP model. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, traders purchased farm produce slowly, so nearly 70 percent of agricultural products were stuck. Fortunately, supermarkets have been increasing their purchasing power by 400-500kg per day at stable prices, so difficulties have been partly reduced for farmers. At present, the cost of Covid-19 tests for drivers and steersmen of the cooperative is relatively large. Therefore, the cooperative hopes that the province will support this expense to ease pressure on the unit to facilitate the transport of agricultural products for smooth consumption, as well as to support people in areas under lockdown.

Nearly 6,700 hectares of summer-autumn rice of farmers in An Nhon Town of Binh Dinh Province are ready for harvest while the province is implementing social distancing following Directive No.16 of the Prime Minister. To support farmers, local authority directs agricultural cooperatives to coordinate with village heads and contract with the owners of combine harvesters to harvest rice for farmers. The locality requires the owners of combine harvesters, drivers, and mechanics to have a negative Covid-19 test result within three days. The local authority will arrange accommodations for them while they work in the pandemic-hit areas.

Mr. Dao Van Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Dinh Province, said that the province still prioritized maintaining transport routes of cargo and agricultural products on National Highway 1A. Therefore, shipments of goods and agricultural products can be supplied to the South smoothly. For local people, the agricultural sector has mobilized businesses to flexibly place orders to supply the local market, supermarkets, and isolation areas sufficiently so that people can feel assured to prevent the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Phu Yen is asking units and enterprises to study and open transport routes to bring goods, agricultural products, and aquatic products of farmers of this province to supply the southern markets, including pandemic-hit areas in HCMC and Binh Duong Province.

Vice-Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Quang Ngai Province Tran Ngoc Vinh said that the provincial Farmers Support Fund had disbursed more than VND5.2 billion for hundreds of farmers to carry out projects on growing shallot and garlic and raising livestock and poultry. Meanwhile, Binh Dinh Province’s Farmers Support Fund has facilitated and maintained 447 agricultural development projects of 1,269 farmer households with a total loan of nearly VND62 billion. With these loans, localities want to help farmers continue to maintain production, contributing to serving the essential needs of local people. 

Vietnam seafood exports to stay slow in second half

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the yellow card for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from the EU, Vietnamese seafood exports will likely see few signs of improvement in the second half of 2021.

According to the report “A trade-based analysis of the economic impact of non-compliance with illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing: the case of Vietnam”, issued by Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and the World Bank, seafood exports have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic while the yellow card from the EU has yet to be removed.

Since May 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta provinces, affecting production, processing, and export of seafood because of measures such as isolation and social distancing. Therefore, it is forecast that seafood exports will stay slow over the last six months of 2021.

In the best-case scenario, where the pandemic is reduced and relatively controlled within three months, the monthly growth will only be 6-8 per cent. Seafood exports could reach the target of $9 billion by the end of 2021. In the worst-case scenario, where the pandemic lasts longer and China continues or increases control of frozen seafood imports, exports may only reach approximately $8.8 billion.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global seafood trade in 2020, changing consumption trends in fishery products and reducing demand for seafood imports in most markets. The main importers of Vietnamese seafood such as the EU, China, South Korea, and Japan all slightly decreased imports from Vietnam (by 3-6 per cent).

Regarding the yellow card from the EU, Vietnam has been rolling out efforts to reign in IUU fishing since 2017. Government agencies and the entire Vietnamese fishing community have been striving to meet the recommendations of the EU and remove the yellow card. However, while the EU has lauded Vietnam’s efforts, it has not removed the yellow card yet.

The EU is a very important trade partner for Vietnam and a major importer of its fish products, including seafood. Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU have increased sharply over the past 20 years, from $90 million in 1999 to nearly $1.5 billion in 2017 (and since decreased to $1.3 billion in 2019).

Between 2017 and 2019, since the yellow card was awarded, the value of seafood exports to the EU declined by 12 per cent or $183.3 million. Total marine product exports have decreased by over 10 per cent, equivalent to $43 million in value. Of these, cephalopod plunged the most with 37 per cent, bivalve mollusks decreased 11 per cent, tuna decreased by nearly 2 per cent, and crabs decreased by 11 per cent. The exports of farmed products to the EU also decreased by 13 per cent from 2017 to 2019.

This downward trend is expected to continue in 2021, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected Vietnam’s fishing activities as well as the catch certification of seafood exported to the EU.

Since 2018, the EU has dropped from being its the second-largest importer of Vietnamese seafood to fifth place, now ranking behind Japan, the US, South Korea, and ASEAN. The EU's share of Vietnam’s total marine product exports dropped from 15 to 11.6 per cent from 2017 to 2019.

In 2020, Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU were also affected by COVID-19, resulting in a turnover of only $959 million, a decrease of 5.7 per cent compared to 2019. The UK leaving the EU in February 2020 also resulted in a decrease in the demand from the EU.

Central farmers make efforts to maintain cultivation during Covid-19 pandemic

Drought and the Covid-19 pandemic have been heavily affecting the lives of people across the country and the Central of Vietnam. Despite difficulties, farmers in the Central provinces still maintain production and cultivation to create agricultural products, vegetables, and fruits to serve their lives, increase their incomes, and support Covid-19-hit areas in the province and the South.

After the Covid-19 pandemic broke out again in Ho Chi Minh City and Southern provinces, farmers in the Central have strived to collect agricultural products to send to people in the South. Especially, many farmers have donated their whole vegetable fields to support people in pandemic-hit areas. For instance, Nguyen Thi Thu, a farmer in Village 3 of Nghia Dung Commune in Quang Ngai City of Quang Ngai Province, gave 820kg of pumpkin, 350kg of winter melon, 70kg of garlic, 115kg of lime, and 180kg of papaya. Cao Nguyen Duy Cuong, a farmer in Village 6 of Nghia Dung Commune, donated 200kg of winter melon, 200kg of papaya, and 150kg of jicama to send to people in the South and HCMC.

Nghia Dung Commune has 90ha of short-term vegetables and fruits. The commune supplies more than 2,000 tons of vegetables and fruits to the market annually. The 66-year-old farmer Le Minh Nong said that he had donated over 2 tons of agricultural products for people in HCMC. He only spared 500-600kg of vegetables and fruits for sale to generate income for the new crop.

Vo Van Tin, a 64-year-old farmer in Phuoc Hiep Commune in Tuy Phuoc District of Binh Dinh Province, confided that they had never had a year of farming under such complicated pandemic conditions like this year. Farmers were concerned about consumption and price. However, they were also aware that the whole country was facing many difficulties, so at this time, they need to stick to the fields to cultivate to support the province and Southern provinces to fight the pandemic.

Mr. Pham Long Thang, Director of Phuoc Hiep Cooperative in Tuy Phuoc District, said that the cooperative had 255 households, cultivating 13.5 hectares of land for fruits and vegetables under the VietGAP model. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, traders purchased farm produce slowly, so nearly 70 percent of agricultural products were stuck. Fortunately, supermarkets have been increasing their purchasing power by 400-500kg per day at stable prices, so difficulties have been partly reduced for farmers. At present, the cost of Covid-19 tests for drivers and steersmen of the cooperative is relatively large. Therefore, the cooperative hopes that the province will support this expense to ease pressure on the unit to facilitate the transport of agricultural products for smooth consumption, as well as to support people in areas under lockdown.

Nearly 6,700 hectares of summer-autumn rice of farmers in An Nhon Town of Binh Dinh Province are ready for harvest while the province is implementing social distancing following Directive No.16 of the Prime Minister. To support farmers, local authority directs agricultural cooperatives to coordinate with village heads and contract with the owners of combine harvesters to harvest rice for farmers. The locality requires the owners of combine harvesters, drivers, and mechanics to have a negative Covid-19 test result within three days. The local authority will arrange accommodations for them while they work in the pandemic-hit areas.

Mr. Dao Van Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Dinh Province, said that the province still prioritized maintaining transport routes of cargo and agricultural products on National Highway 1A. Therefore, shipments of goods and agricultural products can be supplied to the South smoothly. For local people, the agricultural sector has mobilized businesses to flexibly place orders to supply the local market, supermarkets, and isolation areas sufficiently so that people can feel assured to prevent the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Phu Yen is asking units and enterprises to study and open transport routes to bring goods, agricultural products, and aquatic products of farmers of this province to supply the southern markets, including pandemic-hit areas in HCMC and Binh Duong Province.

Vice-Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Quang Ngai Province Tran Ngoc Vinh said that the provincial Farmers Support Fund had disbursed more than VND5.2 billion for hundreds of farmers to carry out projects on growing shallot and garlic and raising livestock and poultry. Meanwhile, Binh Dinh Province’s Farmers Support Fund has facilitated and maintained 447 agricultural development projects of 1,269 farmer households with a total loan of nearly VND62 billion. With these loans, localities want to help farmers continue to maintain production, contributing to serving the essential needs of local people.

Greetings to RoK on National Liberation Day

State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on August 15 extended his greetings to President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in on the country’s 76th National Liberation Day (August 15, 1945 – 2021).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also sent his greetings to his RoK counterpart Kim Boo-kyum.

Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue did the same to Speaker of the National Assembly of the RoK Park Byeong-seug.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son also cabled his message of greetings to his RoK counterpart Chung Eui-yong.

Vietnam and the RoK established bilateral diplomatic relations on December 22, 1992. The countries are working to fulfill the goal of lifting two-way trade to 100 billion USD in a balanced, sustainable and effective manner./. 

Forestry production expected to rise 5.5 percent annually in 2021-2025 period

Vietnam aims for a growth at 5-5.5 percent each year in forestry production in the 2021-2025 period, according to a Government resolution approving the investment policy for the sustainable forestry development programme in the next five years.

Under Resolution No. 84/NQ-CP issued on August 8, forestry will be developed into a modern, effective and competitive sector with strong production chains.

In 2025, export value of wood and forestry products is hoped to reach 20 billion USD, including 1.5 billion USD from non-timber products, with higher processing ratio.

In 2025, income from planted production forest is expected to rise about 1.5 times compared to that in 2020.

The sustainable forestry development programme targets the sustainable management, protection, development and exploitation of forests, thus contributing to creating jobs, protecting the ecosystem, eco-diversity, strengthening capacity to adapt to climate change, and protecting national defence and security.

The programme will focus on maintaining the existing forest coverage of 42 percent in a sustainable manner and developing new areas in 2021-2025. Alongside, the productivity and quality of forest will be improved to meet both the demand of materials for production and environment protection.

The resolution also underlines the need to prevent wildfire and expand special-used, preventive and coastal forests, as well as to design policies to encourage businesses to invest in rural areas.

The total budget of the programme is estimated at 78.85 trillion VND (3.42 billion VND), 17.4 percent of which will be funded by the State budget and 82.6 percent from other sources./. 

Apparel and footwear businesses risk losing orders amid prolonged COVID-19

The ongoing wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the supply chain of local export industries, including garments and textiles, and footwear, if no solution is found soon to help businesses overcome their difficulties, many face the risk of orders being halted or cancelled.

Supply chain disruptions and labor shortages are currently the two biggest challenges for the apparel industry.

The impact of the pandemic is therefore making it difficult for many textile and garment enterprises to maintain production and business, with a few that are applying an on-the-spot working model also at risk of unstable operations.

Currently, the two most significant challenges facing the domestic textile and garment industry are supply chain disruptions and labour shortages.

Le Tien Truong, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), stated that production under the on-site working model can only be maintained in the short term. Due to this, localities must be flexible in order to assist enterprises ensure production and business activities in a safe manner based on unified standards.

In relation to the leather and footwear industry, the pandemic is also making it difficult for businesses in the industry to apply the on-site option.

According to details given by Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, vice president and General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO), the application of a flexible new production model in line with the current situation does not mean that the "in place" working model can be negated.

Furthermore, local firms implementing the on-site model should continue to be maintained and encouraged, while those that are facing difficulties should be flexible in terms of applying safe production plans as a means of ensuring regulations on pandemic prevention and control.

With the characteristics of each enterprise and industry being very different, it is therefore necessary to improve the flexibility of businesses as a way of proposing the most suitable plans for production, Xuan said.

She went on to stress that it is vital to improve the responsibility of firms and their participation in terms of pandemic prevention and control, whilst developing on-site medical facilities for enterprises in order to respond to emergencies.

Health experts believe that the application of measures aimed at preventing the further spread of the disease remains necessary, with the correct approach and strategy making pandemic containment process more effective.

Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/VIR/SGT/SGGP/Nhan Dan/Hanoitimes 

VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS AUGUST 15

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