Electric boards showing stock movements inside the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE). — Photo courtesy of HoSE

lthough there are many risks as the global economy is facing uncertainties, the Vietnamese stock market is supported by positive news from policies and orientations of the Government.

After two consecutive weeks of decline, the market recovered last week. However, the small gain in the market and low liquidity showed the caution of the cash flows.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index increased by 0.1 per cent to end last week at 1,059.31 points, while the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) fell 0.42 per cent to 209.95 points.

Both benchmark indices rose last week, of which the former was up 0.4 per cent and the latter added 0.7 per cent.

Dinh Quang Hinh, analyst of VNDirect Securities Corporation, said that the market received some supportive information last week such as some commercial banks actively lowered deposit and lending interest rates.

Moreover, the Government also held a conference to find solutions to remove difficulties for the real estate sector, helping real estate stocks recover in the last sessions of the week.

But cash flow in the stock market, in general, was still weak, reflected in the low liquidity.

The trading value on HoSE decreased by 12.2 per cent compared to the previous trading week to more than VND43.1 trillion (US$1.8 billion). Meanwhile, the trading value on HNX increased by 13.9 per cent to VND4.85 trillion. Therefore, on average, the trading value in each session only reached VND9.6 trillion on both exchanges.

Analyst Pham Binh Phuong from Mirae Asset Securities Vietnam said that liquidity was likely to hit the bottom, creating a balance opportunity for the market.

After many weeks of net buying, foreign investors turned to be net sellers on the two exchanges with net sold value of about VND410 billion.

Sacombank (STB)’s shares were sold the most by foreign investors with a value of VND317 billion.

Influencing the market’s sentiment last week was the resilient economic data of the US showing that the US labour market remains strong and the inflation is still high.

This raised the possibility of more rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve in the future.

Domestically, investors focused on an online conference solving and promoting the safe, healthy and sustainable development of the real estate market, with the expectation that the Government will soon have synchronous and drastic measures.

In the short term, Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) believes that the signals of interest rate reduction from commercial banks are positive, but the global economy is still struggling, especially the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict tends to escalate, causing the price of energy and many basic raw materials to continue to fluctuate unpredictably.

Therefore, the potential of rising inflation and higher interest rates is still a big risk.

Meanwhile, MB Securities Company (MBS) said that the market rebounded slightly last week after falling for two consecutive weeks despite the low liquidity and outflows of foreign capital. The positive point is that the market’s breadth inclined to the positive territory with many stock groups reporting good performance.

In addition, the liquidity below the threshold of VND10 trillion shows that the selling pressure is not strong. With the low liquidity, the VN-Index is likely to remain fluctuating in the range of 1,040 – 1,075 points this week. 

HCM City firm lays off 3,000 workers as orders fall

Pou Yuen Vietnam Co. Ltd., in HCM City has announced plans to lay off some 3,000 workers due to falling number of orders, according to the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

"In their urgent document sent to us, Pou Yuen Vietnam said that they would lay off about 3,000 workers in February," the department said on February 19. "These laid-off employees have already had to stay at home for a long time due to a lack of orders. As future orders are unpredictable, the company has had to dissolve several production lines."

While the company’s labor union has proposed to support the laid-off workers 0.88 months of monthly basic salary for each working year.

In addition, Pou Yuen Vietnam has also announced that they would not renew contracts with about 3,000 other workers who have worked for between 1-3 years.

Taiwanese-invested Pou Yuen Vietnam Co. Ltd., is the largest employer in HCM City with around 50,500 workers. Based in Binh Tan District, Pou Yuen Vietnam is the contractor for famous brands including Adidas, Nike and Reebook.

Earlier in June 2020, the company also laid off over 2,800 workers due to order shortages.

VinWonders, Sun World partner with Klook to promote Vietnam’s tourism online

VinWonders and Sun World, two leading theme park brands in Vietnam, have partnered with Klook, a leading travel and leisure app in Asia-Pacific, to promote inbound tourism in Vietnam.

Through digital marketing campaigns, the two hope to increase the awareness among the tourists, especially free independent travellers (FIT), of Vietnam’s outstanding destinations.

They will target key markets such as the Republic of Korea, India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan (China), which reported strong growth in the number of tourists to Vietnam in 2022.

Michelle Ho, Klook General Manager of Philippines, Thailand & Vietnam, predicts that 2023 will be a stronger year for Vietnam's inbound tourism.

Despite the looming global recession, many international travellers are making plans to visit Vietnam in 2023, promising a booming year for the tourism market, she said.

According to Klook's Travelsilence study, 81% of the Asian travelers are still eager to travel internationally in 2023, and many of them are making Vietnam their next destination.

Data from Google Destination insights showed that Vietnam is one of the fastest growing destinations globally with more than 75% growth, and the country ranked fourth in growth. With Vietnam expecting to welcome 8 million international travelers in 2023, twice as many as in 2022, the strategic partnerships will enable the country, and partners in particular, to reach wider and further, capitalising on more of the rising demand through Klook's integrated channels.

Vietnamese firms told to focus on social, environmental performance to enter German market

Vietnamese enterprises need to improve their social and environmental performance to secure their position in global supply chains, a seminar heard in Ho Chi Minh City last week.

Nguyen Ngoc Sang, project manager of the German Business Incubator at the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (AHK Vietnam), said in recent years Vietnam had been a popular investment destination for many countries, especially Germany.

AHK Vietnam was receiving increasing requests from German companies to find suppliers in Vietnam, he said while speaking at the seminar on enhancing Vietnamese companies’ competitiveness in global supply chains through compliance with the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act.

With its geographical location, Vietnam is considered the gateway to Southeast Asia, a rapidly growing and dynamic region, according to Sang.

It is attractive to investors thanks to its low labour costs, high labour compliance, strong growth for many years, and open mechanism for attracting investment.

It has signed many trade deals, including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which gets much attention from European investors, including German, and enterprises seeking to diversify their supply chains also prefer the country.

According to Nguyen Tuan, deputy director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City (ITPC), said trade and investment ties between Vietnam and the EU, especially Germany, have seen robust growth in recent years.

Germany is Vietnam's largest trading partner in Europe, accounting for more than 19 per cent of its exports and acting as the gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter other European markets.

While productivity and quality standards remain key factors, international business partners are increasingly looking at social and environmental conditions when choosing suppliers.

To ensure exports to demanding markets, Vietnamese enterprises must comply with stringent regulations like the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG).

Lanh Huyen Nhu, project coordinator for Sustainable and Climate Resilient Supply Chains at AHK Vietnam, said the act, which came into effect in January this year, sought among other things to prevent child and forced labour and ban substances that are hazardous to people and the environment.

Companies in Vietnam could be indirectly affected by these regulations if they are part of a supply chain of a German company.

According to experts, while due diligence in supply chains and the resulting obligations are not new, these standards are becoming even more relevant, requiring more initiatives from businesses.

Understanding and putting these requirements into practice would lower risks and strengthen their competitiveness in the global supply chain, they said.

ASEAN to host first regional shopping festival

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will host the first region-wide online shopping event in August this year to promote cross-border trade through e-commerce.

Indonesia, the rotating chair of the bloc in 2023, has recently proposed an idea of promoting e-commerce among the member states, attracting the participation of consumers and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The first related event will be an online sales day held on ASEAN Day (August 8), which is about to showcase the best of ASEAN products at special prices.

According to the 2018 e-Conomy SEA, an edition of a multi-year research project by Google and Temasek to shed light on the internet economy in Southeast Asia, the internet-based economy in ASEAN, regarding online travel, e-commerce, online media and ride-hailing services, was estimated to hit 72 billion USD.

The study also predicted that Southeast Asia's internet economy could surpass 240 billion USD by 2025.

In 2019, the ASEAN Agreement on Electronic Commerce was signed in order to facilitate the development of e-commerce transactions in the bloc and strengthen cooperation between member countries.

Star anise exports to China expand by over 65%

Vietnam exported 3,513 tonnes of star anise to the Chinese market last year, representing a rise of 65.6% compared to 2021’s figures, according to the Vietnam Pepper Association.

Although star anise exports to India, a major market for the fruit, decreased sharply by 30.8% compared to 2021, the country’s export volume of star anise decreased by only 12.2% in total, while export turnover surged by 36.7% to US$72.9 million.

Currently, India remains the main consumer of Vietnamese star anise, accounting for 41.3% of the total volume, followed by China.

Furthermore, the United States and the Netherlands also represent major export markets of Vietnamese star anise with 846 tonnes and 673 tonnes, respectively.

At present, there are several markets that have great demand for importing star anise, including India, Singapore, Bangladesh, the Middle East, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China), the US, and the EU. These countries have imported star anise mainly for use as a spice to cook dishes.

Hanoi in high demand of laborers for economic recovery

Hanoi is estimated to need about 120,000 laborers in the first quarter of this year following the economic recovery that enable businesses of different sectors to resume operations with good market prospects. 

The Employment Service Center of the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs gave this projection which is based on the positive recovery of the city's economy in 2022 and early 2023.

In reality, bustling activities in tourism, transportation, and rising orders at the beginning of the year have opened up new employment opportunities for local workers, according to the center.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Employment Service Center Vu Quang Thanh said more than 500 companies posted job ads at the center seeking more than 15,000 workers in January, despite the Lunar New Year, Vietnam's most important holiday.

Pro Sports, a Hanoi garment company, planned to hire 300 to 400 employees for its current factories at the beginning of the year. With the expansion of new facilities in the time to come, the company will need between 800 and 1,000 more workers.

According to the Hanoi Center for Employment Services, businesses in the manufacturing sector are hiring more at the beginning of this year, accounting for 30% of the total recruitment demand in the first quarter.

Banking and financial activities are also in high demand for hiring, with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 transaction staff, corporate customer relations staff, and staff appraisers.

In addition, fields such as transportation - logistics, accommodation and food services, tourism, and information technology are also seeking 10,000 to 18,000 new laborers.

Enterprises operating in the real estate sector have an estimated recruitment demand of 10,000 - 15,000 positions, mainly brokers and call center staff.

According to the center, thanks to the numerous tourism stimulus policies and programs, the demand for human resources in accommodation, food and beverage services, and tourism and hotel establishments is expected to rebound in the first quarter and the following quarters. The estimated hiring demand for this group of industries is about 10,000 - 12,000 workers.

Under the city’s plan on supporting, and developing the labor market in 2023, Hanoi aims to create new jobs for 162,000 workers.

To achieve this goal, the city continues to roll out solutions to energize the labor market, including reducing the time to handle administrative procedures, holding vocational training and finding new jobs for unemployed people, deploying policies to provide loans for job creation, labor export, production development, restoration and development of traditional handcraft industries.

Last year, Hanoi created jobs for more than 200,000 people, achieving 126% of the year’s plan thanks to flexible solutions during the year.

Market sees strong impact of foreign capital

The first trading month of 2023 saw only 16 sessions due to the Lunar New Year holiday break, but nonetheless, Foreign Exchange Traded Funds poured in more than VND2,247 bln into the stock market.

In January 2023, the amount of foreign capital that poured into HoSE amounted to VND 3,797 bln.

Capital flow from foreign investors, including foreign ETF, began to make a strong impact on transactions from November 2022, when the Vietnamese stock market had hit bottom with the VN Index falling to the lowest level of 873.78 points on 16 November 2022. However, aggregate foreign capital flow, including from all foreign accounts, only started to return to net buying from November 2022, while in September and October before that, this capital flow still recorded as net sale.

In contrast, foreign ETF capital inflow showed signs of an explosion right from the beginning of October 2022. Specifically, according to FiinTrade data, in September 2020, foreign ETFs net poured only about VND 15.7 bln into the Vietnam stock market, but by October 2022, it skyrocketed to nearly VND 1,900 bln. In November 2022, foreign ETF capital reached more than VND 6,200 bln.

Since the beginning of October 2022 until 7 February 2023, the total amount of capital that foreign ETFs have poured into the Vietnam stock market is over VND 14,228 bln. The total net buying value of all foreign investors on HoSE from the beginning of November 2022 to 7 February 2023 is VND 34,464 bln. This is a very large amount of capital and according to FiinTrade, it was because of three consecutive months of net buying at a record scale.

A contrasting data is that transactions from domestic institution investors and domestic individual investors was very weak. In the last three months until the end of January 2023, domestic organizations only net bought about VND 4,385 bln. Domestic individual investors net sold a huge amount of VND 37,377 bln. Even if counting the order matching alone, domestic individual investors net sold VND 42,537 bln.

This contrast reflects something very clearly that any investor who has experienced the recent bottom phase can see the panic of individual investors during selloffs, short-terms, or stop-losses. In these huge net selling numbers of individual investors, there were also some accounts of business leaders that were disbursed, but overall, domestic investors were still selling, and foreign investors were buying.

Better training needed to address tourism manpower shortages

The tourism sector is facing a serious staff shortage after the COVID-19 pandemic, so improving training quality to meet recovery and development demand is now an urgent need.

In 2019, before the pandemic broke out, Vietnam had more than 2.5 million workers in the industry, including 750,000 working directly.

Hard hit by the pandemic, international tourism came to a halt while the domestic market was also affected in 2020, forcing travel companies to cut down 70 - 80% of their staff.

In 2021, the number of those working full time accounted for just 25% of the 2020 figure, workers quitting their jobs or having labour contracts terminated early about 30%, and those suffering temporary furloughs 35%.

Therefore, since the industry was fully opened on March 15 last year, tourism businesses have encountered staff shortages.

Dau tu (Vietnam Investment Review) cited Cao Thi Ngoc Lan, Standing Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, as saying that the country is facing a heavy labour shortage, especially during major holidays.

She also pointed out a serious deficiency of highly skilled personnel, particularly for high-level management positions. Besides, the manpower imbalance among regions is also a problem, leading to low service quality in some areas with strong growth in the tourist number.

This industry needs about 485,000 workers for accommodation facilities at present. Meanwhile, Vietnam is expected to record positive tourism growth during 2022 - 2030 when it will need to add about 60,000 labourers to the sector annually, Lan added.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said vocational schools and tourism colleges are able to supply just 15,000 workers for the sector each year, and that manpower training hasn’t meet demand in reality.

Nguyen Tien Dat, co-founder of the Prato tourism training centre, held that the existing manpower is still weak at vocational, foreign language, and communication skills, so it is necessary to strongly engage state agencies, schools, and businesses in promoting manpower quality.

Assoc. Prof. and Dr Pham Hong Long, Dean of the tourism faculty at the Hanoi-based University of Social Sciences and Humanities, suggested tourism training courses be internationalised, which will be a trend that many domestic training establishments will follow in the time ahead.

Increasing localisation of auto industry helps support industries grow stronger

The strong growth in automobile sales and the increase of locally-assembled auto models are a lever to further promote Vietnam's auto industry, helping it gradually engage in supply chains of leading automobile manufacturers.

Many automobile businesses have still persisted in developing the auto supporting industry in order to be proactive in supply, and reduce production costs while still ensuring product quality, significantly contributing to the nation’s socio-economic development.

Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) officially put a manufacturing line of two models Veloz Cross and Avanza Premio into operation in late last year, aiming to stop the import of complete built-up units of these models from Indonesia.

Previously, between March – November 2022, as many as 3,248 units of Avanza Premio and 12,876 units of Veloz Cross were imported from Indonesia for sale in Vietnam.

As a result, 273 details of the two models are manufactured by 30 suppliers in Vietnam. The TMV said that this is a crucial milestone, strongly affirming commitments to promoting the localisation rate in the auto industry, thus contributing to the country’s development.

The localisation rate of components and spare parts of the TMV reached over 40%, doubling that of this kind of the entire auto industry.

The automobile maker has focused on classifying and developing a list of potential suppliers of spare parts, and designed appropriate plans to help them improve their management and 
Orders for fruits and vegetables have outnumbered those for other agricultural products so far this year, signalling a bright outlook in the time to come.

Thanks to China’s reopening of market, many Vietnamese businesses have strengthened their export to this huge market.

Head of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Nguyen Quoc Toan held that businesses should focus on optimising their advantages to make a breakthrough for fruit and vegetable export, especially when China reopens its market.

Last year, many kinds of fresh fruits received licences to be exported to China through official channel, while many others were allowed to enter other markets.

This year, Vietnam aims for growth of at least 20% in export revenue of fruits and vegetables, at US$4 billion.

Data from the department showed that so far, Vietnam has 1.21 million hectares of fruit farms with an output of about 18.68 million tonnes.

Vietnam Fruit Vegetables Association (VinaFruit) General Secretary Dang Phuc Nguyen said that Vietnamese fruits and vegetables have gained good reputation in the world with high quality and ensured food safety.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan said that in the time to come, the ministry will work closely with the MARD to increase trade promotion programmes on the digital platforms using information technologies, thus strengthening the export of farm produce, creating favourable conditions for exporters, especially in the Chinese market.

The ministry also plans to organise the first Vietnam-Shanghai (China) trade forum in Hanoi in April, he said.

The official also advised domestic firms to actively apply science and technologies in production and processing to increase their products’ values.

Deputy head of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development Le Thanh Hoa said that the global fruit and vegetable market is forecast to reach about 392 billion USD in 2025, adding domestic firms should pay greater attention to the processed fruit and vegetable segment to reduce risks from transportation.

Vietnam speeds up projects supporting green growth to achieve carbon neutrality

Vietnam needs to step up the approval of big projects and those supporting green growth in order to achieve the target of carbon neutrality by 2050, according to Kazuo Kusakabe, Chief Representative of Toshiba Asia Pacific Pte Ltd in Hanoi. 

Speaking at a forum on measures to boost post-COVID-19 cooperation between Vietnam and Japan towards green growth organised by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) on February 15, Kusakabe said climate change is a challenge for the world, including Vietnam.

CIEM Director Tran Thi Hong Minh said, to address challenges caused by climate change toward green growth after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation.

As one of the most vulnerable countries by climate change, Vietnam has been proactive in proposing many solutions to minimise the impacts of climate change, including its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in the UK, she said.

To solve challenges related to climate change, Vietnam has carried out cooperation programmes with Japan, especially in terms of green growth, Minh said, noting that these activities have produced many important results, especially in the fields of investment, import-export, sustainable infrastructure development, and human resource development.

According to reports from the MPI’s Foreign Investment Agency, Japan has always been one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam. Key areas with great potential for cooperation between Vietnam and Japan include electrical and electronic equipment, wooden architecture, wind power, biomass and solar power, organic aquaculture and farming.

Nguyen Anh Duong, Director of the CIEM's General Research Department, said Japan and Vietnam can consider four orientations to promote cooperation towards green growth in the coming time, focusing on improving institutional capacity, regulations, and policies related to green growth; developing sustainable infrastructure in Vietnam; promoting low-carbon and low-emission value chains; and developing international treaties, rules and international standards related to green growth.

According to Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute for Brand and Competitiveness Strategy, Vietnam needs to boost international cooperation and roll out measures to mobilise domestic and international private capital to complete its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Participants at the forum discussed and analysed new domestic and international trends and motivations to promote green growth efforts in Vietnam. They also proposed recommendations to further expand cooperation between the two countries.

Vietnam urged to ensure exports to Asian, African markets in 2023

Vietnamese exporters need to ensure their capacity and maintain existing export markets, typically Asian and African outlets, amid many challenges in 2023, a senior trade official has said. 

These challenges included a world economic recession, competition among major big economies, trade protectionism, inflation and rising interest rates, Lê Hoang Oanh, Director of the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said.

To do so, firms must make sure that their products meet the quality requirements of exported goods and shipped goods, which Asiam and African markets need rather than what they have, Oanh told congthuong.vn. 

She said open export procedures, convenient logistics services, and updated information about the import policies of the host country would also be necessary to facilitate exports to these markets.

According to the official, ensuring raw materials would play a key role for exporters, especially those exporting textiles and garments to China and South Korea and others shipping seafood products to South Asia and Southeast Asia.  

Input materials for production needed to be diversified to avoid dependence on one or several markets, she added. 

In 2023, Oanh encouraged exporters to continue promoting their exports to some lucrative markets such as China and India. In China, firms should pay attention to the Yunnan market. 

Guangxi and Yunnan have the same population of about 50 million people but the scale of Vietnam’s trade with Yunnan in 2022 reached only 3.2 billion USD compared to the country's 30 billion USD trade with Guangxi, she explained. 

Meanwhile, India is also a potential market with considerable purchasing power and market demand thanks to a population of 1.4 billion people. Annually, India imported about 560 billion USD worth of goods. However, Vietnam’s exports made up only 1.4% of the country's total import value of 8 billion USD.

Besides the markets mentioned above, Oanh also advised exporters to look to African markets, which have much untapped opportunities for them to accelerate their exports, as Vietnam only accounted for 0.6% of Africa's import turnover worth 600 billion USD per year.

Vietnam’s merchandise trade with Asia reached 475.29 billion USD in 2022, increasing by 9.6% compared to 2021 and accounting for the highest proportion (65.1%) in the country's total import-export value.

Major trade partners of Vietnam in Asia include China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Last year, the value of imports and exports between Vietnam and Africa was 8.1 billion USD, down 3.9%.

Binh Duong Province attracts second most FDI in Viet Nam
     
Binh Duong Province as of the end of 2022 has attracted more than 4,082 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with nearly US$40 billion of registered funds, ranking it among the top two provinces in the country in FDI attraction, just after HCM City.

HCM City and Binh Duong were the leading localities in FDI attraction in 2022 with $3.94 billion and $3.14 billion, respectively.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's (MPI) Foreign Investment Agency, the southeast region will continue to be the major FDI magnet of the country in 2023. This year, the country may lure about $36-38 billion in FDI.

Binh Duong has estimated its gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth rate at 8.01 per cent and GRDP per capital at VND170 million ($7,100), according to the provincial People’s Committee.

Binh Duong's total import and export turnover hit nearly $61.5 billion, of which, exports reached $35.7 billion, up 9 per cent year-on-year, resulting in a trade surplus of $10 billion. Total social investment capital reached over VND154.5 trillion, up 12.9 per cent year-on-year.

Denmark was the biggest investor of Binh Duong with $1.32 billion, followed by the Netherlands with $609 million, and China at $258 million.

Preben Enef, general director of LEGO Vietnam Technology Co. Ltd. (Denmark), which is investing $1.3 billion in a toy factory in Binh Duong, appreciated the support from leaders of the province as well as ministries for the construction of the project.

The locality’s post-pandemic recovery and development efforts have also gained applause from the Republic of Korea Chamber of Commerce (KOCHAM) office in Binh Duong and the European Chamber of Commerce (EUROCHAM) in Viet Nam.

In recent years, Binh Duong has spent large amount of money to improve road infrastructure to enhance transport connectivity with HCM City and nearby provinces, develop concentrated industrial zones and attract workers from provinces and cities around the country.

Vinh Long famers face large orange stockpile

Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long have stockpiled an inventory of around 80,000 tonnes of King Oranges.

Nguyen Van Liem, deputy director of Vinh Long’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that Tra On District sees the highest stockpile of King Oranges of 60,000 tonnes, followed by Tam Binh and Vung Liem districts with 10,000 tonnes each.

The cost for growing 1,000 square metres of oranges is around VND90 million (USD3,829) compared to VND60 million (USD2,553) previously. So, if one kilo of oranges are sold for less than VND10,000, farmers will suffer losses.

According to Liem, besides Vinh Long, many localities in the Mekong Delta region grow King Oranges. Meanwhile, lots of other localities such as Nghe An, Hung Yen, Lao Cai, Ha Giang and Dien Bien have also increased planting oranges.

He advised local residents to halt the expansion of new King Orange growing areas.

At present, traders buy around 200 tonnes of King Oranges per day at the price of VND1,500-4,000 (USD0.06-0.17) per kilo.

The Vinh Long Province Farmers' Association said that they would co-operate with concerned agencies to find outlets for King Oranges.

Ha Giang weighs mixed-use airport project

The northern upland province of Ha Giang is working on a plan to build an airport which will serve both military and civil purposes, said a local official.

A planning consulting firm in the province suggested building the airport for civil and military uses on 500 hectares of land, which could accommodate aircraft such as Airbus A320s and A321s, Dang Quoc Khanh, head of the provincial Party Committee, said at a conference chaired by Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung to appraise the master zoning plan of Ha Giang.

Regarding tourism development orientations, Ha Giang will not opt to focus on building resorts. Instead, it would develop eco and community-based tourism projects, through which visitors can experience local landscapes and cultural customs, Khanh said, adding that the development of the mixed-use airport would contribute to local tourism growth.

Speaking at the conference, Minister Dung said Ha Giang, as a northernmost Vietnamese province, has a strategic location and substantial growth potential, and that he had considered the proposal to build the airport to bolster the border economy.

Nguyen Van Son, chairman of the provincial government, said Ha Giang is set to pursue sustainable development goals. The mountainous border province will strive to get its GRDP growth exceeding 8% per annum by 2030. It looks to serve some five million tourist arrivals and targets 60% in forest coverage by 2030.

Vietnam steps up IUU fishing fight

Vietnam is intensifying the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices just ahead of the fourth Vietnam visit by European Commission (EC) inspectors.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang has signed a decision providing guidelines for combatting IUU fishing, thereby laying the foundation for the EC to remove its yellow card imposed on Vietnam’s fisheries, the Government news site (baochinhphu.vn) reported.

Local authorities will have to ensure all fishermen register for fishing licenses and install the vessel monitoring system by May.

They were also tasked with handling all cases of Vietnamese fishermen being arrested for violating overseas fishing laws and preventing fishing vessels from operating illegally in foreign waters.

Authorities were urged to develop policies enabling debt extension for legitimate fishing vessel owners facing financial hardships, run vocational training courses and propagate domestic and foreign fishing laws to fishermen.

In October 2017, the EC issued the yellow card due to Vietnam’s inadequate action to fight IUU fishing.

Vietnam’s seafood exports to the European Union have plunged significantly since the European Commission issued the yellow card.

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