2020 was a difficult year for all businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was a year in which Vietnamese enterprises exerted greater efforts for international integration and development.

Vietnamese tourism was the hardest hit economic sector. According to the Vietnam Tourism Association, the sector lost US$23 billion in revenue after receiving only about 3 million foreign visitors, down 80%, and only 50 million domestic tourists, down 50%. About 90% of the sector’s employees were let go or temporarily laid off.

About 60% of tour operators and travel companies ceased operations. Many hotels closed. Room occupancy rates of accommodation establishments in big cities and tourist areas fell to 10 or 15%.

Vietnamese tourism companies have turned to the domestic market.

Le Anh Dai, Deputy Chairman of the Lao Cai provincial Tourism Association, says "Domestic tourists are teaching us to adapt and be creative in designing new products. The industry’s slow down during the pandemic has been a useful incentive to take stock and become more united in order to meet the crisis together.” 

Meanwhile, Nguyen Kim Oanh, Director of the Binh Anh Hotel, notes with her business’s turnover falling 70 to 80% last year, it was time to implement a new strategy to attract domestic visitors.

“Our strategy has been to invite domestic tourists to come and experience our services for free," says Oanh. "They will then spread the word to other customers. We have had some success in attracting local tourists so far.” 

Vietnamese exporters have also faced difficulties. Garment makers suffered the greatest losses, with total export turnover falling down 15 to 20% last year.

According to Than Duc Viet, Director General of the Garment 10 Corporation (Garco 10), his company has changed its production processes and product structure and focused more on the domestic market.

“Last year we opened five new shops in the Garco 10 chain. We didn’t see much growth, but didn’t suffer any decline from the epidemic. Our gross domestic sales didn’t decline," says Viet, adding this year the firm is targeting growth of 20% to 30%.

Nguyen Thi Bao Hien, Chairwoman and Director General of the Hien Le Group, which specializes in farm produce, says this year her group plans to build a new factory and expand production and exports.

“In 2021 we are considering the construction of a plant with a capacity 7 times that of the current one. Hopefully by the end of next year we will have a new plant and new products.”

Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, maintains 2020 was a turbulent year but also a year when the business community became more focused on resilience and sustainable development.  

“What the business community wants most now is for the Government to work with other nations to control the epidemic. This is very important to help businesses choose a direction for 2021 and beyond. For enterprises to grow sustainably, they need an appropriate ecosystem and stable, transparent policies,” confides Loc.

To stand firm in 2021 and in the future, businesses need to redefine themselves and improve their products. Digital transformation and creativity in business, along with increasing investment in technology and creating new supply chains, will be the key to development.

Agricultural sector enjoys remarkable development after joining WTO

After 13 years since joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), the local agricultural sector has recorded an array of tremendous achievements to clearly demonstrate its role as the fulcrum of the national economy, according to various economic experts.

Despite being impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Vietnamese agriculture sector achieved an impressive export turnover of US$41.25 billion, an annual rise of 1.6%, representing its highest figure ever.

Phung Thi Thu Huong, general director of Green Path Vietnam Company, believes that both the market opening and the slashing of tariff lines has contributed to creating a wealth of opportunities for many Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery products. These factors have allowed them to achieve greater penetration into the global market, rising to the leading position in terms of output, in addition to export turnover.

After joining the WTO, the nation marked a new phase of moving towards full and deep international integration, thereby opening its doors to close international economic relations.

These served as the basic conditions for a breakthrough, with the country looking to achieve rapid growth based on boosting market expansion, increasing export turnover, whilst also attracting additional foreign investment.

Furthermore, the nation has enjoyed rapid development through engaging in the WTO, along with a host of free trade agreements (FTAs), both of which have served to boost export achievements, Huong states.

“By joining the WTO, from a nation that has to import rice and food, we have now become a powerful rice exporter. Notably over the past years, there have been drastic changes in the structure of crops and animals thanks to technological application in agriculture,” says economic expert Le Dang Doanh.

Despite these positives, experts recommend that the domestic agricultural sector should continue to devise proper guidelines aimed at maximising the benefits of international integration, whilst also striving to minimise adverse effects.

Therefore, economic experts urge the agricultural sector to restructure itself, develop both domestic and export markets, whilst fully focusing on advantageous industries in an effort to pool resources and invest in them.

Experts warn of correction in trading this week

Market experts warned that investors should be cautious as trading might become choppy as the VN-Index approaches the 1,200-point landmark.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.22 per cent to end Friday's trading session at 1,166.78 points.

It had lost 2.3 per cent last week.

An average of 810.6 million shares were traded on the southern exchange during each session last week, worth VND17.4 trillion (US$754.1 million).

According to Mirae Asset Securities Co, the VN-Index suffered a strong decline session on Tuesday last week after the index hit its historic peak of 1,200 points.

“The recovery in the next three sessions was just due to short-term bottom purchases. The risk of further decline of the VN-Index still exists due to the profit-taking exercises at low prices,” the company said.

Phu Hung Securities Joint Stock Company (PHS) said that the market closed the last session of last week with fluctuations around the reference level.

“On Friday, efforts to push up the market in the morning session could not sustain until the end of the afternoon as demand at high prices was weakened. There was also a pressure from foreign investors' net selling,” the company said.

“In the mid- and long-term, the index has a chance to surpass the historic peak of 1,200 points. However, technical indicators on the daily chart showed that the three-session recovery span after the massive sell-out session tended to end.

“In a negative case, the index needs another drop to challenge the sentimental level of 1,100 points again, before it can return to the main recovering trend,” the company said.

"In general, the market may soon be under pressure. Therefore, investors should maintain a portfolio proportion at a balanced level and wait until the end of correction phase to re-join the market,” it said.

Regarding market movements, the VN-Index had the first week of decline last week after 11 consecutive weeks of increasing. VN-Index had two declining sessions at the beginning of the week; in which, on the 3rd session on January 19, the VN-Index had a session fall of nearly 61 points.

VN-Index declined in the first two sessions of last week, there were times when the index hit its lowest level at 1,098 points, down more than 100 points from the peak of 1,200. Then the bottom catching demand appeared to help VN-Index recover in the remaining three sessions. Meanwhile, the HNX-Index increased strongly by 14.65 points to 240.12 points.

According to statistics of Saigon-Hanoi Securities Joint Stock Company (SHS), banking stocks fell the most last week with Vietcombank (VCB) down 0.2 per cent, VPBank (VPB) declining 2 per cent, Military Bank (MBB) dropping 4.3 per cent, Vietinbank (CTG) losing 4.8 per cent, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) down 5.3 per cent, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) falling 7.4 per cent, Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) down 9.4 per cent.

Oil and gas group also suffered, such as Vietnam National Petroleum Group (PLX), down 3 per cent, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) falling 5.6 per cent, PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (OIL), dropping 6.3 per cent, PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Service Corporation (PVD), losing 6.6 per cent, PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), down 7.9 per cent, PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC), down 9.6 per cent, PetroVietnam Coating Corporation (PVB), declining 10.4 per cent.

The remaining groups were also under pressure such as pharmaceuticals and healthcare fell 2.9 per cent, consumer goods 2.4 per cent, construction materials 1.1 per cent, industrial 0.9 per cent, services consumption down 0.7 per cent and finance 0.5 per cent.

Foreign investors net sold 8.7 million shares last week, equivalent to a net selling value of VND534 billion.

According to experts from SHS, the market failed at an important resistance around 1,200 points for the second week in a row and this was the reason why the selling pressure increased, causing the market to correct to below 1,100 points last week.

According to Bao Viet Securities Co, the market expects some flourishing movements in the next trading sessions after the futures expiration event in January.

“VN-Index is likely to challenge the old resistance zone around 1,200 points in the short-term. However, the market’s recovery trend seems to slow down with interlaced corrections in the next sessions.

“Stocks will have a clearer differentiation, following the fourth-quarter business results of listed companies. Besides, investment funds strengthen the portfolio restructuring according to the indexes VN30, VNFINLEAD by end-January.

“This shall create some volatilities for the stocks in the index baskets. The stock exposure should be increased to 40 per cent-60 per cent of the total investment. Investors should take advantage of the market’s corrections to increase the stock proportion,” the company said. 

SSI announces outstanding 2020 results

SSI Securities Corporation reported strong growth last year, with pre-tax profits growing by 54.4 percent to nearly 1.56 trillion VND (67.57 million USD) and income by 43.4 percent to 4.528 trillion VND (195.5 million USD).

The stock market had a successful 2020, with the two main indices, the VN-Index and VN30 gaining 14.9 percent and 21.8 percent.

Average liquidity in the fourth quarter rose 79.5 percent from the previous quarter to 11.6 trillion VND.

SSI retained its position as the leading brokerage on the HCM City Stock Exchange for a seventh consecutive year with a market share of 12.33 percent.

At the end of last year it got an 85 million USD loan from a consortium of foreign banks led by Union Bank of Taiwan, for securities trading services and trading valuable papers and margin lending at low interest rates among other things.

Last year it was conferred the title of ‘Labour Hero in the Doi moi (Renewal) period’ for its contributions to the sustainable development of the country’s securities sector.

FPT Shop opens 30 laptop centres across the country

FPT Shop opened 30 laptop centres across the country on January 22.

The COVID-19 pandemic made a large number of consumers buy laptops to work from home, resulting in growth of 20-30 percent of the whole sector last year, according to Nguyen The Kha, Senior Director Mobility Groups of FPT Shop.

For FPT Shop, the laptop segment alone achieved 60 percent growth, not only thanks to the sales of traditional products but also high-end segment, such as gaming laptops, which saw a three-fold increase in revenue compared to 2019, he said.

"With a breakthrough growth of 60 percent last year, laptops were one of the major contributors to FPT Shop's revenue and gross profit. Therefore, we have officially entered the journey of opening 68 laptop centres across the country in the first quarter of this year," said Kha.

FPT Shop expected to open the 68 laptop centres and the laptop business to grow about 20-30 percent in revenue compared to the same period last year.

Toyota recalls 13,000 cars over fuel pump error

Toyota and Lexus Vietnam have announced to recall over 13,000 cars due to fuel pump errors.

11,693 cars are both locally assembled and completely built units imported including Camry, Corolla, Innova, Alphard, Fortuner, Land Cruiser 200, Land Cruiser Prado, Hilux and Hiace that were built from 2017 to 2019. Lexus Vietnam also recalled 1,334 cars that were built from 2017 to 2019.

Those cars have shown error warnings, vibrating engines, failure to start or sudden stop while running. Those errors are caused by a fuel pump inside the fuel tank. The pumps may have low quality and lost their shapes and become broken when the cars are fuelled.

Both Toyota and Lexus Vietnam said they would replace the fuel pump for free for all of their customers who are affected. The repair will take up to four and a half hours to complete. Customers can directly contact Toyota or Lexus agents in Vietnam for the repair.

People who bought those cars via unofficial channels will also get support. Toyota and Lexus Vietnam will work with the mother company Toyota Motor Corporation for verification. After getting approval, those cars will be checked and repaired.

Mitsubishi Vietnam also recalled and offer free repair to over 9,000 Xpander cars that were built in 2019 and Outlander cars that were built in the 2018-2019 period because of a similar fuel pump error.

In mid-2020, the automotive service parts and accessories company Denso recalled millions of fuel pumps. Those erroneous pumps have been sold to various automakers like Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Honda, Subaru and Ford.

Viet Capital Securities revenues, profits up sharply

Viet Capital Securities’ net revenues increased by 12 per cent last year to VND1.73 trillion (US$75.02 million) and were 25 per cent above the target it had set for itself.

Profit after tax was VND769 billion ($33.34 million), an increase of 11 per cent.

Income from brokerage was VND439 billion ($19.03 million), a 35 per cent increase.

VCSC ranked fourth on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange last year with a brokerage market share of 7.69 per cent.

Amid the disruption COVID-19 caused to international travel throughout 2020, the company said it shifted its focus to domestic investors and foreign investors with a long-term presence.

Its investment banking segment recorded revenues of VND148 billion and profit before tax of VND102 billion, decreases of 17 per cent and 9 per cent.

Proprietary investment saw revenue of VND9 billion and profit before tax of VND514 billion, an increase of 20 per cent and 30 per cent. In the final quarter the company increased its holdings in TCB, VPB, MBB, and IJC, and reduced its position in SCR and DIG.

In the second quarter it raised $40 million in unsecured syndicated loans from a consortium led by Bank Sinopac, which helped lower its cost of borrowed funds. 

Banks post positive results in Q4 2020

Among companies that released fourth quarter results, many banks ended the year on a positive note.

With the growth of credit services, Vietcombank (VCB)'s profit surged in the fourth quarter of 2020 despite a double increase in cost contingency.

In the fourth quarter, the bank posted a rise of 20.3 per cent against 2019 to nearly VND10.4 trillion in net interest income.

Its profit from services recorded an outstanding performance, up 247 per cent against the same period to nearly VND3.1 trillion. This result is equivalent to that of the first nine months.

While Vietcombank's total revenue rose nearly 35 per cent to over VND14.39 trillion, its operation cost also went up by 7.7 per cent to more than VND3.43 trillion.

The bank reported an increase of nearly 29 per cent year-on-year in profit after tax to over VND5.67 trillion. However, in 2020, the profit after tax slightly decreased by 0.3 per cent against 2019 to nearly VND18.5 trillion.

VPBank (VPB) also had positive results in the fourth quarter of last year. Even though the bank recorded a decline in net interest income, down 0.5 per cent year-on-year to VND13.3 trillion, its profit before tax still increased by 16 per cent to VND3.6 trillion. VPBank's profit after tax in the fourth quarter climbed by 15.6 per cent to VND2.9 trillion.

For the whole of 2020, its consolidated profit after tax also posted an increase of more than 26 per cent against 2019 to over VND10.4 trillion.

Another bank that recorded good performance in 2020 is Sacombank (STB). In the fourth quarter, the bank's net interest income surged 70 per cent year-on-year to over VND3 trillion. It reported a significant climb in profit from selling shares, up more than 515 per cent to VND120 billion.

While its operation cost also rose sharply by 53 per cent to nearly VND4 trillion, the bank's allowance for credit losses decreased by 86.4 per cent to VND63.6 billion.

In the quarter, the profit after tax climbed by 57.4 per cent year-on-year to VND836.6 billion. Sacombank's profit after tax in 2020 was up by 9.3 per cent to VND2.7 trillion.

Meanwhile, Saigonbank (SGB) is the first bank posting a loss in the fourth quarter of last year.

In the report, Saigonbank reported a loss of VND56 billion in profit before tax. The plunge in net interest income was the reason for the loss. Its net interest income reduced nearly 30 per cent to VND144 billion.

In 2020, the bank's profit after tax declined by 32.9 per cent year-on-year to over VND97 billion. 

Banks to introduce domestic credit chip cards to promote cashless payments

The National Payment Corporation of Viet Nam (Napas) last week said it would work with seven banks to introduce domestic credit chip cards with unified standards to limit cash payments and tackle black credit.

The domestic credit chip cards are expected to be officially launched this week. The seven banks include Viet Nam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank), Ban Viet Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VCCB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), HCM City Housing Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank (HDB), Bao Viet Bank (BVB), Sai Gon Thuong Tin (Sacombank) and Viet Nam Thuong Tin (Vietbank).

Previously, four State-owned commercial banks issued domestic credit cards but the issuance was temporarily halted due to inefficient operation. Some joint-stock banks already issued this type of card but without unified technical standards.

Nguyen Quang Minh, Napas’ deputy director, said the new domestic credit cards would be accepted throughout the networks of all banks while the previously-issued ones had limited acceptance.

“In developed countries, domestic credit cards are very common,” Minh said. “That banks will join with Napas to issue domestic credit cards will significantly contribute to limiting cash payments and provide more options for consumer credit to prevent black credit.”

The domestic credit chip cards had high security in accordance with the State Bank of Viet Nam’s standards and EMV standards – a security technology used worldwide for chip card payments and acceptance devices – originally developed by Europay, MasterCard and Visa, he said.

Cardholders would not have to pay fees for transactions with an interest-free period of up to 55 days compared to the typical 45 days. The acceptance points would have to pay fees of about 1.1-1.3 per cent of the transaction values, lower than other credit cards.

The fees for cash withdrawal would be about 1-2 per cent of the transaction value (a minimum of VND10,000-20,000 per transaction) also much lower than the fee of about 4 per cent of other international credit cards.

Statistics from the Viet Nam Bank Card Association showed that operating domestic credit cards saw a decrease of 10 per cent in 2017-20 and new issuances fell by 36 per cent.

However, the total transaction value of existing domestic cards increased by 25 per cent in the period. 

Da Nang licenses US$110 million semiconductor project

Da Nang authorities have granted an investment licence to a semiconductor manufacturing project worth US$110 million, making it the second largest foreign-invested project in the Da Nang Hi-tech Park.

Known as United States Enterprises, the factory will cover a total area of 102,200 square metres, with the first stage covering over 61,000 square metres and costing US$66 million.

Construction of the project is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2021 and the plant will be put into operation two years later.

The project is registered under two US investors Ha Vinh Ly and Nhe Thi Le, who currently own Hayward Quartz Technology Inc, a leading supplier for original equipment manufacturers.

The United States Enterprises plant specialises in the production of semiconductor materials for equipment in the electronics industry.

This is the second largest foreign-invested project in the Da Nang Hi-tech Park, following a project by UAC to manufacture aeronautic components, said Pham Truong Son, head of management of hi-tech and industrial parks in Da Nang.

To date, the Da Nang Hi-tech Park has attracted 23 projects, including 11 FDI projects worth a total of US$510.1 million and 12 domestic projects worth a total of VND6.3 trillion (US$273 million).

Indian, VN agree need for enhancing investment, trade ties

Trade and investment ties between Viet Nam and India, both dynamic and rapidly developing economies, are not commensurate with the potential and need to be enhanced, according to their officials and diplomats.

Speaking at an online and face-to-face webinar on the India –Viet Nam Investment Forum held in HCM City last week, Pranay Verma, India’s ambassador to Viet Nam, said Viet Nam was an important trade and investment partner for his country, but bilateral trade and investment remained low compared to the potential.

“We need to … identify new areas and explore new opportunities.”

Four areas in which Indian companies have strength and technological know-how, infrastructure, energy including renewables, IT, and pharmaceuticals, are among the sectors they need to promote co-operation and engagement, besides healthcare and the digital economy, according to the ambassador.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong said, “In order to take advantage of the opportunities after the Covid-19 pandemic, it is time now for Vietnamese and Indian businesses to grasp opportunities for co-operation and diversifying supply sources to together penetrate the global value chain deeper.

“Viet Nam welcomes Indian businesses to invest in processing and manufacturing, the automotive supporting industry, information and communication technology, renewable energy, high-tech agriculture, and innovation.

“These are areas in which Indian businesses have strengths and are in line with Viet Nam's desire to attract foreign investment.”

Don Lam, deputy chairman of the Committee IV under the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform and co-founder and CEO of VinaCapital, said, “Vietnamese and Indian companies can leverage their respective strengths and learn from the other in areas such as IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles, renewable energy, and agricultural processing.

“Viet Nam and India are both strong emerging economies, with rich histories and cultures, each focused on improving the lives of their citizens and realising their enormous potentials.

“We are both stronger when we work together to further eliminate the barriers to trade and investment and create even more favourable conditions for businesses to succeed.”

Verma said, “When we talk about an investment partnership, we tend to focus on Indian investment in Viet Nam, but I think as Viet Nam’s economic capacity and economic profile grow, it is time to also focus on the possibility and potential of Vietnamese investment in India.”

Vietnamese investment in India is now only around $30 million, mainly in pharmaceuticals, IT, building materials, and chemicals while India’s is $1.9 billion including through third countries, according to Verma.

There are many sectors in India open to foreign investment, including Vietnamese.

“Areas you have significant strength in, for example, urban infrastructure development, agriculture and food processing, I am very keen to see Vietnamese investors come to invest in India,” he said.

Another area is tourism infrastructure, he said.

India is looking at upgrading tourism infrastructure, and Viet Nam has good experience in promoting tourism, and so “this is one of the areas that India can benefit from Vietnamese investment,” he said.

The Vietnamese ambassador to India, Pham Sanh Chau, said the giant country, with a population of almost 1.4 billion, would be a promising market for Vietnamese enterprises, especially in fields like textiles and food processing.

Sumita Dawra, additional secretary in India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, said her Government had recently taken steps to facilitate and attract investment.

Don Lam said: “Companies from both countries still know very little about each other or about the opportunities in each market. Part of that is because there is not a lot of promotion. But events like today’s are a good beginning, but we can always do more.”

The Indian consulate general in HCM City has said it would soon organise trade and investment meetings with all 27 provinces under its jurisdiction to invite Indian investment and expand the trade basket.

Organised by the consulate in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform, the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City, and VinaCapital Group, the forum attracted nearly 500 Indian and Vietnamese companies. 

Demand for imported luxury seafood rises

 Viet Nam’s imports of high-value seafood such as king crabs and lobsters are rising due to their falling prices, and are expected to rise even further during Tet, experts have said.

Robert Greenan, deputy consul general at the US consulate in HCM City, said last year exports of Alaskan seafood rose 125 per cent to US$19 million.

Viet Nam became the US’s sixth largest buyer of agricultural products and foodstuffs with imports worth $4 billion.

According to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute in Viet Nam, demand for seafood is rising in the country, and several processing factories are moving from China to Viet Nam due to tariffs.

Alaskan seafood is mostly bought by restaurants and hotels and processors. The institute aims to expand the distribution network so that more customers can buy Alaskan seafood for cooking at home.

During Tet, there is especially high demand for Alaskan king crab since it is relatively easy to cook and suitable for special occasions, according to seafood provider The Alaska Guys Viet Nam. Cod fillet is also popular due to its aroma and boneless meat, making it suitable for making porridge for children and seniors.

Canada is also a large supplier of luxury seafood to Viet Nam with zero tariffs under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. In 2020 Viet Nam imported over $78.5 million worth of seafood from Canada, 10 per cent more than in 2019.

Tran Van Truong, director of Royal Seafood Co. Ltd, said free trade agreements had reduced the prices of these products, enabling his firm to open more stores in 2020.

Demand for seafood during Tet was expected to be three times higher than normal, and so his company was increasing imports.

Online businesses are also profiting from the falling prices of luxury seafood, and are offering free shipping or pre-processing the seafood to provide more convenience to customers. 

HCM City secures pork supply for Tet

HCM City distributors have stockpiled enough pork to meet demand during Tet (Lunar New Year) in mid-February, Le Huynh Minh Tu, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, has said.

The CP Livestock Joint Stock Company is for instance committed to supplying price-stabilised pork through 12 outlets in HCM City.

Nguyen Trong Tri, its deputy sales director, said his company would meet 30 per cent of the demand.

Feddy Company Limited, a subsidiary of The GreenFeed Viet Nam Corporation, will supply 550 tonnes of fresh and frozen pork and 75 tonnes of pork-based products.

During the peak demand period, its pork production will surge by 20-30 per cent.

According to the city Department of Finance, companies that signed up for the price stabilisation programme such as the Saigon Union of Trading Cooperatives (Saigon Co.op), Big C supermarket, VISSAN Joint Stock Company, and Sagri Agriculture Incorporation, are allowed to increase pork prices only by VND6,000-15,000 (US$0.26-0.65) per kilo from January 12.

Prices are thus expected to stay 5-23.4 per cent below market rates until March 13.

If the prices of pig on the hoof decrease, distributors will launch promotions to maintain the price gap at 5-10 per cent.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry, pig stocks have recovered to 87 per cent of the number before the outbreak of African swine fever last year.

This year Viet Nam has also imported 600 tonnes of pork ahead of Tet. 

Co-working space expects huge rise in demand

Many businesses have struggled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but co-working spaces have bucked the trend and is expected to expand in the coming time, fuelled by companies seeking flexible leasing contracts, according to Savills experts.
 
Co-working spaces that provide flexibility for various kinds of businesses will develop, explaining it is sparked by the outbreak as well as demand for communication and exchange within the firms.

A survey from Savills showed that as of July 2020, demand for co-working spaces doubled that recorded in April, while 41 percent of office operators relished their exciting prospects for the office market in the next 12 months.

Savills experts expected growth of the office market will be promoted by foreign firms, insurance and e-commerce businesses who recorded strong development amidst the pandemic.

Demand for office is on the rise, and it will go up further in 2021, as the pandemic is under good control together with upbeat signs in local macroeconomy and demography./.

Efforts to support Vietnamese agricultural product exports

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the granting cultivation area codes and packaging facilities codes to serve the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products have been implemented quickly and effectively, bringing good results nationwide.

Specifically, for markets such as the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Australia, New Zealand, 1,150 cultivation area codes and 41 packaging facilities codes have been issued. For the Chinese market in particular, there are 1,742 cultivation area codes for more than 180,000 hectares and 1,840 packaging facilities codes for nine fresh fruits licensed for official export.

Accordingly, the growing area to be issued with a code must meet the many other requirements, such as identifying the planting area (often using GPS navigation system); applying good agricultural practices, with emphasis on keeping cultivation diary to trace product origin when inspecting by competent authority; regularly monitoring the harmful organism; practicing good field hygiene and farming practices; ensuring that there are no pesticide residues exceeding the permitted levels according to the regulations of the importing country. These both satisfy the requirements of importers and are of great value in enhancing the reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products in the international market.

Therefore, in recent years, localities have focused their resources on implementation, and actively communicated so that farmers and businesses clearly understand the meaning and importance of issuing codes for cultivation area and packaging facilities. Every year, the Mekong River Delta provinces provide the market with a large amount of fruit for export and domestic consumption. To maintain stability and improve the quality of agricultural products, exporting enterprises have been proactive in raw material areas by linking with the growing areas that have been issued with codes.

In addition, many northern provinces have accelerated the process of issuing cultivation area codes for a variety of specialty fruits in order to increase the added value. As a result, in 2020, many types of fruit will be exported through official channels to quality markets at prices many times higher than before, such as lychee exported to Japan, longan exported to Australia, and dragon fruit exported to the US. These results have contributed to bringing Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover to a record US$ 41.25 billion in 2020 in the context of the agricultural sector facing many challenges due to natural disasters and epidemics.

In the coming time, along with taking advantage of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which took effect from August 2020 and other signed agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), the granting of cultivation area codes and packaging facilities codes will be promoted with greater value, such that Vietnamese agricultural products can openly enter large markets with preferential tax rates. This is also a new opportunity for Vietnam’s agriculture sector to strengthen the fulfilment of standards for many commodities, accelerate exports right from the first months of 2021 to realise the target of exporting agricultural, forestry and fishery products for the whole year reached US$ 42 billion.

Silicon Valley investor lands in Da Nang

Đà Nẵng City’s industrial zones and high-tech park authority (DHPIZA) has granted an investment licence to a semiconductor project worth US$110million from the firm United States Enterprises.

Head of the DHPIZA, Phạm Trường Sơn, said the project was invested by the Hayward Quartz Technology Inc – a leading supplier supporting all major original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the semiconductor business segment and an authorized quartz distributor and fabricator to all major raw material manufacturers from Silicon Valley in the US.

Sơn said the project was the second-largest direct investment from the US after the Đà Nẵng Sunshine Aerospace under the Universal Alloy Corporation of the US was built with an investment of US$170 million.

He added the plant will focus on machining and fabrication specialists for quartz, ceramic and silicon and other materials such as aluminium oxide, mono and poly-crystalline silicon and sapphire.

Investors begin flocking to the Đà Nẵng Hi-Tech Park. The park was designed to offer hi-tech investors favourite conditions of investment and land. VNS Photo Công Thành 
The plant, which covers 10.22ha, will commence construction in the first phase in the second quarter of 2021 to become operational in 2023.

It will produce 2.1 million products and 704 tonnes of silicon dioxide in the first phase before increasing to 5.8 million products and 792 tonnes of silicon dioxide in the second phase.

Đà Nẵng authorities have been seeking investors from Silicon Valley and the US investing in healthcare, high-tech industries, artificial intelligence (AI), education, real estate and automation at Đà Nẵng Hi-tech Park and Information Technology Park.

According to DHPIZA, another project, the Telala Đà Nẵng plant, under the Inoue Ribbon Industry of Japan, was built with a total $6.6 million in the supportive industry for garment and textile firms.

The plant began operation at Hòa Khánh Industrial Zone in January after a year of construction, creating 140 jobs and an export turnover of $3.5 million per year.

Despite COVID-19, the DHPIZA granted investment licences to 16 new projects with a total of $95.6 million in 2020.

To date, DHPIZA has drawn 364 domestic projects worth VNĐ26 trillion ($1.1 billion) and 129 foreign direct investment projects worth $1.7 billion.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/SGGP/VOV/NDO/Dtinews/SGT/VIR