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The department’s Deputy Director Le Truong Hien Hoa attributed the results to the efficiency of the city’s policy to solve difficulties and boost tourism recovery and development.
Notably, the city won “Asia's Leading Business Travel Destination” and “Asia's Leading Festival & Event Destination” awards at the 2023 World Travel Awards.
In the year, the city has announced nearly 50 tourism projects, with 20 new ones for medium- and high-class segments.
The highlight of the year is the first Ho Chi Minh City River Festival. The three-day event contributed to preserving and promoting the city’s culture and history, and making use of its waterways to boost the economy and tourism, in order to build its brand as a culturally rich riverside urban area.
In addition, the sector has proactively implemented 13 tourism promotion programmes in Germany, Australia, Portugal, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, the US, Singapore, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Hoa shared that the city will carry out a lot of activities on the occasion of the New Year and Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays to serve local people and visitors.
Notably, the headquarters of the municipal People's Committee and People's Council will be open to visitors on December 30 - 31, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:40 p.m.
Countdown programmes and firework displays will be organised in various places, together with a Vietnamese Tet festival from January 18-21, 2024, and Nguyen Hue flower street.
On the New Year holidays, the city also plans to organise a marathon race, a martial arts festival, and a bicycle racing tournament.
Hanoi’s State budget collection up nearly 24% in 2023
The State budget revenue of Hanoi as of December 28 topped 405.2 trillion VND (nearly 16.7 billion USD) or 114.8% of the projection, up 23.8% compared to the same period last year, according to the municipal Department of Finance.
Meanwhile, the total State budget expenditure of the capital city neared 87.5 trillion VND, equivalent to 83.2% of the projection, and up 0.7% year-on-year.
Director of the municipal Department of Finance Nguyen Xuan Luu said the tax and customs sectors, and the State Treasury of Hanoi have coordinated with relevant agencies at all levels to concertedly and effectively apply revenue management solutions, strengthen inspection, and minimise revenue loss, transfer pricing, and tax fraud, to increase revenue.
Attention has been paid to promoting the reform of tax administrative procedures, applying information technology and digital transformation in serving taxpayers, strengthening tax management for e-commerce and real estate transfer activities, and accelerating the use of electronic invoices, Luu said.
The city has focused resources on spending for investment and development, key transport infrastructure projects, and those in the fields of monument restoration, health care, and education monument restoration; and taken solutions to speed up the disbursement of public investment capital.
The city's budget will continue to be managed flexibly and economically, ensuring budget balance at all levels, he went on.
According to Ha Minh Hai, Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee, the city will continue to strictly implement the management by the Government, the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Taxation, the General Department of Customs, and the State Treasury in managing and using the State budget in 2024.
The city will also pay special heed to handling and removing difficulties in auctions, land allocation, and accelerating the implementation of projects to promote the collection of land use fee, thus ensuring capital for development investment, he stated.
Hanoi’s economy expands 6.27% in 2023
Hanoi has recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 6.27% in gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in 2023, with improvement seen quarter by quarter, said the municipal Statistics Office.
The rate stood at 5.81% in Q1, 5.91% in Q2, 6.22% in Q3, and 7% in Q4, Director of the office Dau Ngoc Hung said, considering this year’s growth as fairly good amid complex and unpredictable developments in the world and global trade contraction.
The service sector has expanded 7.26% in 2023 compared to last year, contributing 4.69% to the GRDP growth. Several sub-sectors have posted relatively good growth, including administrative and support services (including tourism) up 16.33%; arts and entertainment 15.39%; wholesaling and retailing 10.48%; finance, banking, and insurance 7.77%; and transportation and warehouse services 7.7%.
Meanwhile, the industry and construction sector this year has increased 5.29% from 2022, contributing 1.18% to the GRDP growth. The index of industrial production has grown by only 3% year on year, with processing and manufacturing up 2.6%, data show.
Hung noted that industrial production has faced an array of difficulties and challenges in 2023 due to global trade decline. Sales of key industrial exports have dropped while domestic consumption slowed down and input costs soared, causing pressure on production.
Foreign trade has faced many adversities with decreased exports to and imports from most major and traditional markets of Hanoi. The situation has improved since Q4, but difficulties remain, the official noted.
Total foreign trade this year stands at 54.4 billion USD, down 6.4% year on year. That consists of 16.7 billion USD in exports and 37.7 billion USD in imports, respectively falling 2.4% and 8.1%
During the year, the capital city has attracted more than 2.94 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI), comprising 441 million USD poured into 408 new projects, 307 million USD into 175 existing projects, and 2.19 billion USD into 326 transactions to contribute capital to and purchase shares of local companies.
In addition, 31,400 new businesses with registered capital of 346.6 trillion VND (14.28 billion USD) have been established in Hanoi in 2023, respectively up 6.3% and 5% from last year. Over 8,900 companies have resumed operations, down 8%.
While 21,700 firms have suspended operation, up 33%, 3,500 others dissolved, down 2%, according to the Statistics Office.
Nearly 7,000 planting area codes granted for fresh fruit exports
The Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced that to date it has coordinated with importing countries to issue 6,997 growing area codes and 1,613 packaging facility codes for export.
Fresh fruits, such as dragon fruit, mango, star apple, banana, grapefruit, passion fruit, seedless lemon, longan, lychee, chilli, and black jelly were given codes for export to China, America, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, China and Japan.
The department also worked with the departments of agriculture and rural development of provinces and cities to promote the establishment of qualified planting areas and proactively inspect and closely monitor approved growing areas and code-issued packaging facilities. At the same time, it also directed and urged localities to implement Directive 1838/CT-BNN-BVTV and Document 1776/BNN-BVTV dated March 23, 2023, on granting and managing codes of growing areas and packaging facilities for export, development and management of growing area codes and facility codes for packaging agricultural products for export.
The department has actively coordinated with localities to develop, expand and supervise the number and planting areas of codes as well as the number of packaging facilities meeting the requirements of importing countries.
Therefore, the department assigned its units to inspect some growing areas and packaging facilities in 13 provinces and cities, including Hải Dương, Bắc Giang, Sơn La, Đắk Nông, Đắk Lắk, Long An, Tiền Giang, Sóc Trăng, Cần Thơ, An Giang, Đồng Tháp, Đồng Nai and Bình Thuận.
Along with developing growing areas and packaging facilities for export products, the department also removed technical barriers and opened the market for fresh vegetables and key fruits.
Typically with Japan, the department agreed with the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on the requirement to import Vietnamese mangoes and dragon fruits to Japan as well as the use of new stamps for Việt Nam’s exported goods to the Japanese market from August 1, 2023. It also agreed with MAFF on a plan to transfer plant quarantine supervision and treatment of Vietnamese fresh fruits before exporting to Japan as of April 2024.
For the Chinese market, the department exchanged information with the General Department of Customs of China to complete the draft protocol on import requirements for chilli, fresh coconuts, frozen durian and other traditional Vietnamese fresh fruits (except fresh bananas) exported to the Chinese market and continue the negotiation process for citrus fruit products and medicinal herbs.
Banks repurchase significant amount of bonds before maturity
Commercial banks have spent trillions of Vietnam đồng to buy back bonds before maturity in the last months of this year.
Specifically, the Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) recently bought back all VNĐ500 billion of bonds in circulation before maturity, according to an announcement from the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX). The bond lot, which was issued on December 15, 2021 with a term of three years and fixed interest rate of 3.2 per cent per year, was a non-convertible bond, had no guarantees and did not include warrants. Previously, OCB bought back all 14 bond lots, which were issued in 2021 and 2022, ahead of schedule with a total par value of VNĐ12.4 trillion.
At Lien Viet Post Commercial Joint Stock Bank (LPBank), all two bond lots (code: LPBH2124014 and LPH2124015), which were issued in December 2021 with a term of three years, were also settled ahead of schedule. With a face value of VNĐ1 billion per bond, the total value of the bonds repurchased by LPBank was up to VNĐ2 trillion.
In addition, LPBank has just received notice from HNX about the delisting of bond coded LPB121035. The reason for cancellation is that the listed bonds are fully redeemed by the issuer before maturity. This is the bond lot worth more than VNĐ1.38 trillion that was issued on December 30, 2021 with a term of seven years.
In July this year, LPBank spent more than VNĐ4.1 trillion to buy back four bond lots before maturity.
Similarly, the International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB) also repurchased three bond lots before maturity with a total value of VNĐ1.5 trillion. All the three bond lots had a term of seven years and a face value of VNĐ1 billion per bond.
Since the beginning of this year, VIB has had 17 pre-mature bond buybacks with a total value of up to VNĐ6 trillion.
The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) also repurchased 3 bond lots ahead of maturity with a total value of VNĐ1.3 trillion in the last two months of this year.
However, after the buybacks, some above banks have recently announced the successful bond issuance worth trillions of đồng.
In particular, OCB successfully issued VNĐ2 trillion in the bond lot coded OCBL2326015 on December 14 this year.
Similarly, VIB on December 12 this year also issued VNĐ790 billion of VIBL2330005 bonds with an interest rate of 8 per cent per year and seven-year term.
Not only OCB or VIB, Vietcombank also plans to issue VNĐ3 trillion of separate bonds in December 2023 with a maximum term of six years and a floating interest rate.
According to financial analysts, the main motivation for banks to buy back bonds before maturity was low credit demand amid positive capital mobilisation and abundant liquidity of the banking system this year. Therefore, banks found themselves sitting on mountains of cash. In an attempt to reduce capital redundancy and optimise capital efficiency, banks had little choice but to use their excess money to buy back bonds.
Dr. Nguyễn Hữu Huân, head of the HCM City Economics University’s Department of Financial Markets, said the bond repurchase seems to be one of the banks’ measures to solve the problem of low capital disbursement and sluggish loan demand.
Data from the Ministry of Finance showed as of December 25 this year, the volume of pre-maturity corporate bond repurchase was VNĐ230.2 trillion, an increase of 5.8 per cent compared to the whole year of 2022.
According to Vietnam Bond Market Association (VBMA) data, the total value of issued corporate bonds by the end of November 2023 was VNĐ247.59 trillion, including 28 public issuances worth VNĐ27.07 trillion and 210 separate issuances worth VNĐ220.52 trillion. Of which, the banking industry accounted for the majority with nearly VNĐ120.06 trillion, equivalent to 48.6 per cent of the total issuance value since the beginning of this year.
VN conference to redefine global cashew supply chain
The 13th VINACAS Golden Cashew Rendezvous to be held from February 26 to 28 in Quảng Bình Province’s Đồng Hới City will seek to redefine the global supply chain after the Covid pandemic and this year’s economic downturn, according to the Việt Nam Cashew Association.
Vietnamese and foreign businesses would sit together to review market fluctuations and supply chain changes and reshape the world’s cashew value chain for 2024 and subsequent years towards a more sustainable, efficient direction, Việt Nam Cashew Association (Vinacas) chairman Phạm Văn Công said.
Participants would have the opportunity to access the latest information on crops, markets and prices, he added.
Organised by Vinacas and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, the conference is expected to attract 400-500 participants.
Công said around 300 foreign delegates have registered, including from Japan, an emerging but promising market for Việt Nam's cashew industry.
The event will feature a number of activities such as networking programmes, signing of deals and panel discussions on production and trading of raw nuts and kernels.
There will be a half-day tour for all participants to Quảng Bình’s stupendous cave system, a UNESCO’s world natural heritage, on February 26.
The event has been an important trade promotion event for Việt Nam’s cashew industry since it was first held in 2008, according to the association.
It is also a major global event in the global cashew industry since for over 10 years Việt Nam has been the world's largest importer of raw cashew and largest exporter of cashew kernels, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of global exports, it said.
The country also has the world's most advanced cashew processing equipment and technology, it added.
Statistics from the General Department of Customs show that Việt Nam earned US$3.31 billion from exporting 582,000 tonnes of the nut in the first 11 months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 23.1 per cent in volume and 17.4 per cent in value.
Record number of new firms seen in 2023
A record number of nearly 160,000 new firms were established in 2023, up 7.2 per cent year-on-year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Business Registration Management Agency has reported.
The impressive figure was 1.2 times higher than the average of the 2017-22 period, and surged 4.6 per cent compared to the target set for the year, according to the agency.
Although the number of newly registered businesses in the first quarter saw a yearly reduction of 2 per cent to over 33,900, the figure was 1.02-fold higher compared to the average level recorded in the 2017-22 period.
In the following quarters, however, the number of newly-established firms surpassed the 40,000 mark thanks to the State's drastic solutions to remove difficulties for the business community.
Among these measures were reducing lending interest rates, stabilising the foreign exchange market, speeding up the disbursement of public investment, and implementing credit packages to assist industries. Others included exempting, reducing and extending payment of taxes, fees and land use fees, and extending e-visa validity period for tourists.
In the fourth quarter, nearly 43,000 new enterprises were set up, up 20 per cent year-on-year and marking a 1.3-fold rise compared to the average level for 2017-22, the agency said.
It added that the total registered capital of new enterprises improved over the quarters in 2023 from VNĐ310.3 trillion in Q1, VNĐ397.12 trillion in Q2 to VNĐ379.3 trillion in Q3 and VND434.48 trillion in Q4.
In the year, 58,412 businesses have resumed operations, bringing the total number of firms entering and re-entering the market to over 200,000, marking a yearly rise of 4.5 per cent or 1.3 times higher than the number of firms withdrew from the market.
Recommendations for food businesses when exporting to Singapore
he Ministry of Industry and Trade said that according to a press release from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the private company Viet-Sin Grocery, registered for business in Singapore since 2020, has been fined SGD$36,000 on the grounds of illegally operating two cold storage warehouses and illegally importing some meat and seafood products from Việt Nam.
Specifically, SFA's report said that Viet-Sin Grocery company violated the cold storage operation three times and illegally imported several meat and seafood products from Việt Nam.
On April 26, 2022, SFA officers found about 1,784 kilos (kg) of meat, processed meat and seafood products stored in an unlicensed cold store at Gambas Crescent.
On March 15 this year, SFA officers found another cold store that was operating without a license at Woodlands Close, which stored about 1,240kg of meat, processed meat and seafood products. Both cold stores were operated by Viet-Sin Grocery.
Most recently, SFA found about 37kg of assorted meat products in a grocery shop at Woodlands St 31 operated by Viet-Sin Grocery on November 1.
On all three occasions, the products were imported from Việt Nam without a valid import licence and were from unaccredited sources. The products were seized by SFA.
According to Singapore regulations, businesses in Singapore that import food must meet the requirements of the SFA and must be licensed by a competent authority. Each shipment must be declared and accompanied by a valid import license.
Furthermore, Singapore is a market with high and strict requirements on food hygiene and safety. The production, import, and trading of food are strictly managed by the Singaporean government and must comply with the 2002 Food Business Law, a number of articles of which were amended on December 7, 2017, including regulations on food, environment, and public health
In addition to the requirements for product quality, especially for food products, Singaporean consumers are also very sensitive to information relating to food hygiene and clear and transparent origin and legal compliance of businesses.
Cases like the Viet-Sin Grocery company can negatively affect Singapore consumers' purchasing choices for Vietnamese food products in general and create a bad reputation for businesses exporting Vietnamese products in particular.
Vietnamese businesses should regularly update information on local regulations and choose suitable partners.
From the supplier's perspective, the current context and some recent events show that Singapore is in dire need of diversifying the supply of food products, especially the group of meat products of all kinds.
They also proposed that the State pay attention and consider negotiating with Singapore on the supply of meat and eggs to facilitate trade for the official import and export of these products from Việt Nam.
VN firm gets latest Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard certification
Local unicorn MoMo has become the first fintech company in Việt Nam to receive the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard version 4.0 certification, the latest major version of the payment card industry standard globally.
PCI DSS helps increase authentication layers, thus protecting customer information and transaction data as they are encrypted based on the most modern security standards.
PCI DSS v 4.0 is the most major PCI compliance update since the release of version 3.0 in 2014.
Thái Trí Hùng, deputy general director and chief technology officer of MoMo, said achieving the certification is a testament to his company’s capabilities and commitment to maintaining the highest standards of security in the industry.
In 2016, MoMo was one of the few payment intermediaries to achieve the PCI DSS - Service Provider level 1 certification, the most stringent PCI compliance level and applicable to large businesses that process six million credit card transactions annually.
PCI DSS is a set of security standards established by the PCI Security Standards Council that includes Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Financial Services, and JCB International to help protect cardholder data and sensitive authentication data wherever it is processed, stored or transmitted.
To receive this certification, service providers must test their network infrastructure every month and undergo annual security audits by the council.
First electrified vehicle exhibition to take place in Hanoi
An exhibition showcasing battery electric vehicle (BEV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is scheduled to take place at Yen So Park in Hanoi on January 13 - 14, 2024.
The showcase is set to feature a wide range of car models, including VF 5 and VF 9 of Vinfast, Ioniq 5 and Genesis of Huyndai, SantaFe Hybrid, XC90 T8 Recharge and XC60 T8 Recharge of Volvo, Nissan Kicks, Haval H6 HEV, and Haima 7X-E.
Visitors to the exhibition will also have the chance to immerse themselves in a remarkable driving experience.
The exhibition will offer numerous supplementary activities for visitors to enjoy, such as a remote control car racing competition, a car drawing contest, a lucky draw, and sampling a diverse range of cuisine.
Overnight interbank rates surge
Overnight interbank interest rates in Vietnam have surged to a two-month high, nearly quadrupling compared to the previous week, according to data from the State Bank of Vietnam.
In the trading session on December 26, the average annual interbank interest rate for overnight terms sharply rose to 1.02% from the previous session’s 0.74%. This increase was not limited to overnight rates, as interest rates for various maturities also soared.
Rates for one-week terms increased by 1.58 percentage points over the previous week, reaching 2.14%, while two-week tenors saw a 0.78-percentage-point rise, settling at 1.95%. Rates for one-month terms climbed by 0.51 percentage point to 1.98% week-on-week.
Compared to the end of November, overnight rates have increased by 0.85 percentage point, while rates for one- to four-week terms have surged by 1.45-1.78 percentage points.
As of December 13, credit had risen by 9.87% in the entire banking system since January, falling well below the expansion target of 14%.
Hanoi’s Tet bonus drops against last year
The highest bonus for the coming Tet Lunar New Year in Hanoi will be around VND205 million (USD8,471), down from VND400 million last Tet.
The Hanoi Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has announced the Tet bonus information based on a report of roughly 3,000 local businesses.
According to the department, the highest bonus for Tet 2024 will come from a foreign-invested firm with VND205 million.
The private sector's average Tet bonus will be VND3.5 million. Meanwhile, the figure for the foreign-invested sector is VND4 million.
The lowest Tet bonus this year will be some VND500,000.
Meanwhile, the highest bonus in Hanoi for the coming New Year will be VND90 million from a foreign-invested company.
For the Tet 2024 holiday, civil servants and state public employees will have seven days off from February 8 to 14, 2024.
Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes
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