In a stride towards aviation excellence, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has greenlit the official launch of the Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) model at Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh City, effective from February 1, as declared by the airport on January 30.

This announcement marks the culmination of an extensive three-year testing and collaborative efforts by Tan Son Nhat Airport and key stakeholders, positioning Tan Son Nhat as an A-CDM airport on the airport map both regionally and globally.

Since December 2020, two phases have been tried on daily flights, totaling 22,441, with the model applied during low, peak, and all-day periods for an extended duration.

Tan Son Nhat is the key gateway airport in the southern region, boasting the country’s highest takeoff and landing frequency, with nearly 260,000 flights annually. Passenger throughput at the airport reached 42 million last year, exceeding its designed capacity by one and a half times.

During the trial of the A-CDM model, significant operational efficiencies were observed, including a higher on-time flight rate, minimised instances of aircraft waiting on the taxiway, and improved luggage and cargo handling thanks to better flight planning.

A-CDM model follows a global trend embraced by major airports. In Europe alone, 32 airports have successfully deployed A-CDM, with eight in the testing phase. Furthermore, close to 20 airports in Asia have also succeeded in adopting this transformative model.

A-CDM, as a standardised process, facilitates seamless collaboration and information sharing among airport operators. It is tailored to address congestion, enhance operational planning efficiency, optimise the use of airport resources, and improve forecasting capabilities and ultimately flight punctuality.

AeonMall Vietnam to develop shopping centre in Da Nang

The Saigon Thuong Tin Real Estate Joint Stock Company (TTC Land) and AeonMall Vietnam Co., Ltd on January 30 officially announced a plan to construct an Aeon Mall shopping centre as part of the TTC Plaza Da Nang project, which is developed by TTC Land in central Da Nang city.

TTC Plaza Da Nang is a modern complex building project in the central region, including 18 floors with four commercial floors (Aeon Mall), 126 tourist apartments, 150 hotel rooms, and more than 30,000 sq.m of office for rent. It is one of the key projects in the locality.

The partnership is expected to promote the existing advantages of both sides, thus affirming the brands of TTC Land and AeonMall in Vietnam.

Tetsuyuki Nakagawa, General Director of AeonMall Vietnam, said after over 10 years of development in the Vietnamese market, AeonMall Vietnam is gradually realising its goal of opening 30 shopping centres in the coming time.

Dang Van Thanh, Chairman of TTC Land, spoke highly of the long-term vision and strategy of Japan's largest retail conglomerate as it considers Vietnam as its second key market to expand investment and business activities in.

AeonMall is a well-established and reputable retail centre brand that has successfully attracted a large number of Vietnamese customers, he said, adding that the partnership will help promote sustainable business activities for both sides.

The TTC Plaza Da Nang project is scheduled to be completed and become operational in late 2025. It is expected to bring numerous opportunities for both companies to provide quality products and services to the local community, contributing to fostering growth and sustainable development of the retail market in Da Nang.

Vietnam pledges support for Philippine investors

The Vietnamese Government commits to accompanying and creating favourable conditions for Philippine enterprises to land successful, sustainable and long-term investment in Vietnam in accordance with the country’s regulations, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on January 30.

Co-chairing the Meeting with Businesses with visiting Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., Chinh described the fruitful Vietnam – Philippines relations as an important foundation that creates motivation and confidence for enterprises from both sides to expand investment and business as well as promote trade and investment cooperation.

However, the bilateral economic, trade and investment ties have lagged behind the two countries’ sound political relations, opportunities and potential, he pointed out, suggesting the two sides work together to renew the existing cooperation locomotives in the areas of investment, trade, and consumption while developing new cooperation ones across digital transformation, green transition, and climate change response, and boosting collaboration in the fields of one’s strength and the other’s demand.

Recognising the complementary factors of the two economies, the PM highlighted that Vietnam and the Philippines should enhance competition to improve the quality of products and services to meet the customers’ requirements, and promote cooperation to leverage common strength.

The Vietnamese Government leader urged both sides to remove bottlenecks, grant investment licenses in a swift manner as well as lift irrational technical barriers, adding relevant authorities in Vietnam have worked to create a better business climate and development space for businesses from the two countries.

As there are no roadblocks in the bilateral cooperation, PM Chinh asked both sides to organise more meetings and exchange events to push ahead the two economies’ connectivity, concretise high-level agreements, and develop the Vietnam – Philippines Strategic Partnership into a deeper and more practical and effective fashion for prosperity in each nation and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

For his part, the Philippine President stressed that the Strategic Partnership should expand its reach to enterprises, especially those operating in the areas of innovation, towards sustainable development so as to bring practical benefits to the two countries, and for regional peace, stability, cooperation, and development.

He hailed Vietnam’s open policies and enthusiastic support for businesses, and expressed his belief that Philippine companies will continue expanding cooperation and investment in Vietnam – a dynamic developing country, while Vietnamese firms should see Philippines a potential market for investment and business collaboration.

The Philippine leader recommended both sides keep on developing cooperation across traditional fields of economy and trade and other non-traditional ones such as mining, green technology, transport and technology.

Regarding Vietnam’s concern over the Philippines’ trade defence measures and technical barriers, he said the two countries should build a good business environment and step up cooperation at governmental and business levels.

The event drew the attendance of many Vietnamese and Philippine enterprises who are engaging in the fields of infrastructure development, trade, realty, automobile industry, aviation, IT, food, energy, education-training, among others.

They got updated with the socio-economic development in each nation and business cooperation outcomes between the two countries over the past time, and shared new investment trends and orientations in the coming time.

Vietnamese firms want to cooperate with the Philippine peers in digital transformation, green transition, hi-tech industries, and food processing. Meanwhile, the Philippine side hopes to collaborate with Vietnam in electric automobile production, infrastructure development, telecommunications, energy, food, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and retail sales.

Vietnam records 47.6-fold increase in electronic invoices

The General Department of Taxation has reported a surge in the number of electronic invoices directly generated from cash registers, reaching a remarkable 104.8 million last year which represented a 47.6-fold increase compared to the initial implementation period.

By the end of last year, the country recorded 40,355 businesses registering to use electronic invoices generated from cash registers, or 94.36% of the planned target.

General Director of the general department Mai Xuan Thanh said the sector has rolled out the e-invoice system in 2021, contributing to reforming administrative procedures, reducing costs and improving business productivity.

Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, head of the Tax Administration Department for Small and Medium Enterprises, Business Households and Individuals, said several local tax authorities have achieved high results in the initiative, such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Dong Nai and Quang Ninh.

In concerted efforts to facilitate the widespread adoption of electronic invoices generated from cash registers nationwide, tax authorities have embarked on campaigns to encourage taxpayers to seamlessly transition to and embrace this innovative form of invoicing, she added.

Philippines remains Vietnam’s biggest rice importer

Vietnam views the Philippines as one of its most important rice importers, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has told visiting Secretary of the Philippine Department of Agriculture Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr..

Currently, the Philippines is Vietnam’s sixth biggest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 16th in the world. It remains Vietnam’s biggest rice buyer. Last year, two-way trade reached 7.8 billion USD, down only 0.1%.

Dien stressed the significance of Laurel’s visit to bilateral trade, especially the rice trade, and affirmed that the two countries are important trade partners of each other in Southeast Asia.

Within the framework of the state visit to Vietnam by Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. on January 29 and 30, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Philippine Department of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on rice trade.

The deal set out major cooperation orientations and activities to boost collaboration in rice trade in the next five years. It demonstrates the friendship and good cooperation between the two countries, and is expected to benefit both economies.

Dien suggested the two sides build a plan to materialise the MoU after it takes effect, urged Laurel to instruct concerned agencies to closely coordinate with the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to implement procedures on food safety and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and soon open doors for each other's fruits and meat products.

The two sides should optimise the existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially the Vietnam - Philippines joint trade subcommittee, he added.

Laurel, for his part, shared Dien’s view on the two countries’ potential for agricultural product trade, noting Vietnamese rice accounts for 85% of imported rice in the Philippines.
He suggested Vietnam shared its forecast for rice production this year, and suggested the country maintain its stable rice supply to the Philippines.

Dien affirmed that Vietnam stands ready to supply rice to the Philippines in a stable and long-term manner.

Construction starts on aircraft component factory in Da Nang

The KP Aero Industries Co. Ltd from the Republic of Korea on January 30 held a ground-breaking ceremony to start the construction of its KP Vina Aircraft Component factory with an investment of 20 million USD at Da Nang Hi-Tech Park in Hoa Vang district, the central city of Da Nang.

It’s the second project in the aerospace industry in the city after a project by Vietnam UAC Ltd.Co.

The KP Vina aircraft component factory is expected to become operational in September this year, creating about 500 jobs.

The factory will be the place to produce, process, and assemble aircraft parts, including auxiliary engine doors, wing boxes, gliders, and left-wing support systems of Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 Max.

The project investor is a partner of leading companies in the aviation field like Boeing, Airbus, and Korean Air.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Vice Chairman of Da Nang City People's Committee Tran Chi Cuong said that the project works toward the city’s socioeconomic development orientation and investment attraction prioritized areas in the 2020 – 2025 period and the following years.

Da Nang strives to become one of the investment destinations for the aviation industry in the world. Under the Politburo’s Resolution No.43, the city is on the path to become a hub of science and technology in Vietnam.

Philippines - a high potential market for Vietnamese exports: office

Given its large population, diverse demand for goods and services, not too strict import standards, and production complementarities, the Philippines is a high potential market for Vietnamese exports, said the Trade Office of Vietnam in the archipelago nation.

The office noted the Philippines had a population of about 113 million in 2023, ranking 13th in the world, seventh in Asia, and second in ASEAN. As dynamically developing economies in the region, Vietnam and the Philippines share many similarities and also production complementarities, so there remains much room for them to expand economic and trade ties.

The country's domestic production is relatively limited, leading to high demand for imports, especially food products, and its import standards for goods and services are not too strict.  

Those factors, together with the close proximity and similar consumption habits, means the Philippines is a high potential market for Vietnamese exports, the office said, noting that Vietnam is the 10th largest trading partner of the Philippines.

Thirty-five products and groups of products from Vietnam are being sold in the Philippines, including farm produce, aquatic products, confectionery, animal feed, cement, steel, construction materials, textiles and garments, machinery, and equipment. Notably, farm produce, particularly rice, have always accounted for a large proportion of the total exports.

Vietnam has continually posted a trade surplus with the Philippines over the past years, the Trade Office went on.

Despite impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade topped 7.8 billion USD in 2022, up 14.7% year on year. That consisted of over 5.1 billion USD in Vietnam exports to and 2.7 billion USD in imports from the Philippines, respectively rising 11.6% and 12.8%, according to the Asia - Africa Market Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In 2023, the trade revenue was equivalent to the 2022 figure, 7.8 billion USD, comprising 5.15 billion USD in Vietnam’s exports and 2.65 billion USD in imports, respectively increasing 1% and declining 2% year on year.

Rice is a staple export of Vietnam to the Philippines. Last year, the former shipped 3.1 million tonnes of rice, down 2% from 2022, to the latter to earn 1.75 billion USD, up 17.6%. The Vietnamese grain made up over 80% of the Philippines' rice import volume, statistics show.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s main imports from the archipelago country include computers, electronic devices, and components, machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts, metals, electrical cables, aquatic products, automobile components, confectionery, and animal feed.

To further tap into this market, the Trade Office held that it is necessary to continue sustaining Vietnam’s status as the biggest rice supplier for the Philippines while diversifying the export structure and raising the shipment value.

The Philippines is a high potential market, but Vietnamese businesses have yet to pay due attention to it, the office said, pointing out the necessity to step up communications to help companies realise its potential to boost exports.

Public-private partnership highlighted in high-quality rice production project

Effective public-private partnership and support from partners are key to the success of the project on developing 1 million ha of high-quality, low-emission rice linked with green growth in the Mekong Delta region by 2030, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said at a talk on January 30.

Speaking at the on-line talk on the role of public-private partnership and innovation in implementing the major rice production project in the Mekong Delta, Hoan said to implement the project, Vietnam needs to mobilise resources and technical advances. One of the important tools is the "Food Innovation Hub Vietnam” (FIHV) which was established under an initiative of the World Economic Forum to link domestic innovation networks and international ones, and promote the use of digital technology to develop smart agricultural value chains.

He said the FIHV will help expand the scale and accelerate the transformation process of Vietnam's agricultural sector in particular and the economy in general to become a green, sustainable, and low-emission agricultural powerhouse. 

The minister also said that, in addition to efforts from state agencies in developing policies and creating favourable conditions to develop green and sustainable agriculture, the engagement of the private sector, support of international partners, organisations, non-governmental organisations, research agencies, and domestic and international experts are important.

“Effective public-private cooperation and support from partners will be the key to the project's success,” he said.

Paavo Eliste, Practice Manager from World Bank said that like many other countries which are affected seriously by climate change, Vietnam has been proactive in implementing new policies to promote the transformation process in the direction of low emissions and green development. At the same time, Vietnam also takes action to increase competitiveness in the international market.

Paavo Eliste said that the implementation of the project opens up great potential for promoting activities in innovation, mobilising carbon financial resources, applying digital technology, and engaging the private sector in unprecedented ways to expand access to markets.

Digitisation imperative for HCM City’s wholesale markets: experts

Wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh City will be gradually reformed to better serve both buyers and sellers and keep pace with socio-economic development trends, according to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.

There are three major agricultural and food wholesale markets: Binh Dien in district 8, Thu Duc in Thu Duc city and Hoc Mon in Hoc Mon district.

They receive up to 8,000 tonnes of goods every night on average, including vegetables, fruits, meats, and seafood.

The wholesale markets play an important role in supplying especially essential items to the city, the department said.

But Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, deputy director of the department, said they are overloaded and have shortcomings, and have failed to keep up with socio-economic development.

Their infrastructure and technology use are limited, oversight and control of food hygiene and safety is difficult and impromptu selling in their vicinity is rampant and lack oversight, he said.

At the Binh Dien Wholesale Market, for instance, many illegal agricultural and food sellers sell on the street and sidewalk, and discard garbage around them, posing food safety and sanitation risks and significantly affecting small traders at the market, he said.

At a recent conference on the future development of wholesale markets in the city, experts emphasised the urgent need for investing in upgrading their facilities, standardising operating procedures and embracing digital transformation.

Wholesale markets face challenges due to the rise in online shopping and changing customer behaviours, and digital transformation could help them overcome challenges, they said.

Phuong said e-commerce is growing at 20-305a year, with HCM City being among the leaders in the list, and so, to adapt to the new situation, its wholesale markets could not ignore the trend of digital transformation of businesses.

HCM City seeks to build a new wholesale market model that meets five requirements: modern and ensuring hygiene and food safety and reliable supply, having systems to control the quality of inputs until they are transported to retail points, brand building and export orientation, an efficient management apparatus, and ensuring the management and operation of wholesale markets in line with the context of digital transformation, he said.

According to a research group from the University of Economics and Law (Vietnam National University, HCM City), the digital transformation of the three wholesale markets can be carried out in three stages: digital transformation of their business models and management models and incorporation of technologies to create new products and services.

Nguyen Thanh Hoa at the city’s Department of Information and Communications said relevant parties need to pay attention to the four basic pillars of digital transformation: human resources, new business processes, technology, and data.

If any of these four elements is missing, the digital transformation process would face many difficulties and have a low success rate, he added.

Phan Thanh Tan, Director of the Binh Dien Market Management and Trading Company, said there is great focus on digital transformation to better manage the wholesale market.

It has studied information technology models and learned from the successful digital transformation of wholesale markets in developed countries to select appropriate technologies and models, he said.

The company has also urged traders, partners and employees to limit the use of cash and adopt information technology for tracing pork origins (using identification rings), adding that it has also enhance the use of technologies in its management and access control system, he said.

At the three wholesale markets in HCM City, inspection of goods origins and environmental sanitation are regularly carried out, according to the city’s Department of Food Safety.

Its units and the markets’ management also regularly remind traders not to use chemicals and preservatives in fruits and vegetables, it said.

Its management team No. 10, stationed at the Binh Dien market, regularly checks the quality of goods and takes samples of all items that enter the market to test for borax, it added.

Nguyen Van Sac, head of the team, said: "We are inspecting all agricultural products to ensure they contain no banned substances. Particularly, We conduct more regular tests of some high-risk items. Only goods that have all indicators within allowable levels and clear documents are allowed to enter the market.”

According to the department’s management team No. 9 at the Hoc Mon Wholesale Market, nearly 500 samples of pork, vegetables and fruits were tested last year, and all met food safety standards.

Speaking about unregulated trading around wholesale markets, Pham Khanh Phong Lan, director of the department, said the city has established teams to focus on dealing with this “headache.”

Credit offers on the rise nearing Tet

High demand during the Tet shopping season has prompted commercial banks to introduce credit offers worth hundreds of billions VND for consumers, said industry experts and insiders. 

In the last month, major banks including Vietcombank, ACB, TPBank, SHB, BIDV and consumer finance companies have been rolling out offers with incentives to individual customers. 

Industry insiders said there was substantial demand for loans from the public, surpassing the previous year. However, they said it could also be attributed to a decline in income and an increase in unemployment. Despite the high demand, consumer finance companies are exercising caution in disbursing loans, particularly as debt defaults show no signs of improvement.

Since the end of the previous year, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued directives urging credit institutions and bank branches to provide additional credit for individual consumption. The SBV emphasised the immediate implementation of solutions utilising data from the national population database to ensure safe and effective lending operations and enhance people's access to bank credit.

Nguyen Quoc Hung, Secretary-General of the Vietnam Banking Association (VBA), said it has been a welcome change as consumer credit growth was at its lowest level in the past five years due to economic difficulties, declining incomes and increasing bad debts.

Experts and insiders, however, said a gradual recovery in domestic demand, leading to a resurgence in consumer credit is anticipated in 2024.

Economist Nguyen Huu Huan, head of the Finance Market Department at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, said solutions to the surplus liquidity in banks hinge on robust growth in three driving forces: domestic consumption, exports, and public investment.

While domestic consumer demand remains relatively weak, Huan suggested that reducing taxes and fees could contribute to boosting consumption. However, to stimulate consumer credit, the Government must adopt stronger policies, especially in the real estate sector, and measures to make housing more affordable.

Last year, private investment only saw a modest increase of 2.7%, the lowest in the past decade, which had been typically growing by 12-14% annually. Meanwhile, consumer demand saw a mere uptick of 3.52%, with economic growth largely driven by Government spending.

Looking ahead to 2024, Hoang Huy, an analyst at Maybank Investment Bank in Vietnam, said he anticipated a resurgence in domestic consumption as the primary driver of growth. This optimism will likely be fuelled by the revival of exports, more stable financial conditions for households, and a gradual recovery in the real estate market.

Experts said that consumer loans from banks, particularly those for home purchase and renovation, will outperform those of consumer finance companies, primarily due to the recent positive changes in the real estate market. Consumer finance companies were expected to face challenges as their primary customer base, those falling below the national income level, continued to grapple with financial difficulties.

"Consumer credit this year will face continued difficulties because borrowers are reducing demand, while lenders are more cautious due to increasing bad debt. Bad debts of consumer finance companies are rising rapidly, forcing them to be cautious in lending," said Professor Dr Dinh Trong Thinh.

Another impediment to the growth of consumer credit has been Vietnam's lack of a robust legal framework to handle violations related to lending activities. Addressing this issue will be crucial for instilling confidence in banks and financial companies to lend more freely.

According to a recent survey of banks and financial institutions, handling bad debt in consumer lending is challenging due to the absence of collateral. Moreover, banks and financial institutions lacked the necessary manpower to handle thousands of small individual bad debts. To make matters worse, the traditional method of selling these debts in batches was no longer viable.

For instance, at BIDV, non-collateral bad debts for consumer loans account for less than 1% of the total consumer loan balance. However, the sheer volume of loans, numbering in the thousands, complicated the recovery process due to a manpower shortage.

In practice, selling a portfolio of bad debts was deemed infeasible due to the absence of buyers in the market, given the small scale and lack of collateral of these loans. Additionally, credit institutions were prohibited by investment law from hiring debt recovery services. While debt recovery faces many challenges, legal proceedings and lawsuits are often prolonged and costly.

Vietnamese, Swedish state audit agencies beef up collaboration

A delegation of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) led by Deputy Auditor General Bui Quoc Dung visited the Swedish National Audit Office (NAO) on January 29-30 after attending the 22nd meeting of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) in Finland.

At a working session with the Swedish NAO’s representatives, Dung spoke highly of the office’s contributions to bilateral and multilateral ties. 

He suggested the two agencies step up experience exchange and promote bilateral cooperation, suggesting the Swedish NAO further support and cooperate with the SAV at multilateral forums like INTOSAI.

Deputy Auditor General of the Swedish NAO Claudia Gardberg Morner noted her hope for stronger cooperation between the two countries and the two agencies, saying the Swedish NAO stands ready to share its experience and help the SAV in technical training, especially in such areas as environmental auditing, and the implementation and development of audit standards.

On this occasion, the two delegations engaged in a seminar during which they shared experience in implementing international audit standards and audit activities in the field of environment.

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