An export processing zone in HCMC. HEPZA has set this year’s investment attraction target US$200 million lower than last year - PHOTO: LE HOANG

With concerns over land shortage and the unpredictable Covid-19 situation, the HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zone Authority (HEPZA) has set this year’s investment attraction target US$200 million lower than last year.

According to a HEPZA representative, fresh and additional capital registered at the city's industrial parks and export processing zones exceeded US$760 million last year, up 52% against the 2020 target and 17% against 2019.

Commenting on the result, the HEPZA representative said that available land for investors is limited. HCMC's industrial parks now have only some 120 hectares ready to be leased but at different locations.

Meanwhile, a large-scale project normally requires a large land site. “Accordingly, to attract large-scale investments, the land sites need to be large, whereas the biggest site currently available is smaller than five hectares,” said Tran Viet Ha, head of investment at HEPZA.

Besides the fact that many investors are cautious due to Covid-19, investors renting already built workshops are mostly small-scale ones. As a result, ready-built, multi-level workshops for big projects are unable to find tenants.

According to Hua Quoc Hung, head of HEPZA, many foreign businesses and diplomatic missions in HCMC have spoken highly of HCMC’s and Vietnam’s coronavirus prevention efforts and investment environment.

“Therefore, many businesses have shown interest and sought investment opportunities in HCMC this year. However, one of the difficulties faced by HCMC is that it has less industrial land and, thus, it is essential to choose investment projects carefully,” said Hung.

The slow implementation of new industrial parks as a result of site clearance and compensation problems is another hindrance, which is likely to greatly affect HEPZA's investment attraction efforts in the coming time.

HEPZA will work toward the operation of the Pham Van Hai industrial park as a hi-tech one and the Hiep Phuoc industrial park’s phase three with a focus on port services and logistics.

In addition, 20,000 square meters of multi-level workshops will be built and administrative reforms are to be promoted in the future.

According to Hung, this year, HEPZA will shift to scientific-technological areas and ones with high added value such as engineering with automation and Artificial Intelligence applications. Besides, supporting services will be encouraged, with a focus on building standard and multi-level workshops amid the current decline of industrial land.

Hepza will also enhance coordination with relevant authorities to assist businesses in applying new technologies, reducing labor-intensive practices and engaging in local and foreign supply chains, Hung added.

Efforts to have available industrial land, support businesses, protect the environment and build green industrial parks and export processing zones will also be stepped up.

Of the total fresh and additional investments at industrial parks in HCMC recorded at US$760 million last year, foreign investments accounted for some US$370 million (down 7.26% against 2019) due to restricted travels and the global economic decline caused by Covid-19. There were more than 20 new foreign investment projects, mostly to build workshops and warehouses for lease.

However, domestic investments in HCMC picked up 57% with over VND9 trillion. Of these, the 67 new projects were worth a combined VND7.3 trillion.

Truong Sa, Hoang Sa beer to be exported

The Seefahrer Premium Beer Company is working with traders overseas to export the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa special craft beer to foreign markets such as Japan, France, the United States and Hong Kong.

Tran Song Hai, director of the company, said although the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa special craft beer is newly launched products, they have won the hearts of many local and overseas consumers as tgey bear the names of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

“Many overseas Vietnamese businessmen have contacted us saying they want to be distributors of the beer overseas. The products are expected to enter foreign markets over the next two months,” Hai said.

Some of the materials for the products such as barley and hops are imported from Bavaria, Germany. The brewery is trying to increase the local content to 50% to reduce the prices and expand production to meet the local and international demand.

“The great support for the produce shows the Vietnamese people’s concern over the country’s sovereignty. We want to spread that spirit to the international market,” Hai said.

Consumers in Vietnam can buy the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa special craft beer at the store at 10B Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1, HCMC, or by calling Seefahrer Premium Beer’s hotline. The products are also available at some Chinese restaurants in Vietnam, according to Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The company said supermarkets, restaurants and companies have already ordered nearly 3,000 crates of the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa special craft beer for the upcoming Lunar New Year. However, it is capable of producing only 2,500 crates for the holiday.

Smaller investment proposed for HCMC-Can Tho railway project

The Southern Institute of Science and Technology has submitted a new plan for the HCMC-Can Tho railway project to the Ministry of Transport, proposing reducing the investment in the project by US$200 million as the length of the route has been cut by five kilometers.

The ministry has asked the Railway Project Management Unit to carry out the pre-feasibility study for the project, which was designed to pass link HCMC and localities in the Mekong Delta, including Can Tho City, Long An, Tien Giang and Vinh Long, the local media reported.

Under the new plan, the railway will be 135 kilometers long, down five kilometers and a station compared with the previous plan, as the railway will run parallel to the right of the HCMC-Trung Luong-My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway.

The route will start at the Tan Kien Station in HCMC’s Binh Chanh District and end at Can Tho’s Cai Rang District. The project will include a 44-kilometer branch from Thanh Phu Station to Long An Port in Long An Province and Hiep Phuoc Port in HCMC.

The main route will include nine urban stations—Tan Kien in HCMC; Thanh Phu and Tan An in Long An; Tan Phuoc, Cai Lay and Cai Be in Tien Giang; Vinh Long and Binh Minh in Vinh Long and Can Tho in Can Tho city. The branch will have two stations—Long Dinh and Can Giuoc in Long An.

Public traffic facilities, houses, schools, hospitals and supermarkets will be developed near the urban stations. The railway will have a depot in Tan Kien Commune, Binh Chanh District.

The project was proposed to be a double-track line, allowing a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour for passenger trains and 150 kilometers per hour for cargo trains.

The total investment in the project was estimated at some US$10 billion. The investor will operate it for 25 years to recover capital and then hand it over to the Ministry of Transport.

Once the railway is completed, it will take 45 minutes to travel from HCMC to Can Tho instead of the current five to six hours and the capacity to transport cargo from HCMC and the Mekong Delta will be enhanced.

In 2018, the project was proposed to have a length of over 139 kilometers, down one kilometer from the initial plan. This solution would also help take advantage of the cleared site for the HCMC-Trung Luong and Trung Luong-My Thuan expressways. However, the line remained long, required a huge investment and caused difficulties while adjusting the planning of the urban stations.

A representative of the Southern Institute of Science and Technology said the HCMC-Can Tho railway project had attracted more than 20 sources of investment from many countries and international financial funds.

The HCMC government has approved a plan to develop the logistics sector by 2025 with a vision to 2030, asking for the development of five high-speed railways, including the HCMC-Can Tho route.

Danang receives MICE tour group of 700 guests

The Danang City Department of Tourism on January 22 welcomed a group of 700 employees from R&B Vietnam Co. (Hanoi), who will join the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tour organized by the Danasea Tourism Joint Stock Company and Pho Viet Tourist and Service Co.

According to Danasea, R&B Vietnam decided to organize its year-end trip to Danang City to create new energy among its staff members. The party will take place at the Sheraton Grand Danang Resort.

For three days in Danang, they will visit some famous destinations such as the Ba Na Hills, the Marble Mounts, the Son Tra Peninsula and the ancient town of Hoi An.

Le Thi Hong Suong, General Director of Danasea, believes that Danang is a good choice for MICE tours. Her company will bring more guests to the central city.

Danang has become the right destination for large MICE groups as it offers high quality services and is home to large convention centers that can serve up to 2,000 guests.

Moreover, cultural tourist sites such as the Marble Mount, the Danang Museum of Fine Arts, the Danang Museum and the Museum of Cham Sculpture will offer free entrance tickets from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, aimed at attracting guests.

Currently, travel companies in Danang are launching preferential packages for MICE guests.

Reportedly, in 2021, Danang will have the policy to attract MICE tourists to the city in an effort to improve tourism.

PM orders consideration of proposal to launch Covid-19 travel insurance

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked some relevant ministries and agencies to weigh a proposal to allow the introduction of Covid-19 travel insurance to prepare for the resumption of the international tourism segment.

Earlier, Vo Anh Tai, deputy general director of Saigontourist Group, said that international flights might resume after the Lunar New Year holiday and it was important to make predictions about the markets, resume visa-waiver programs as well as other policies to ensure benefits for foreign tourists and develop cooperation policies.

Of these, policies to ensure benefits for visitors should be considered at the earliest. All international tourists to Vietnam and Vietnamese tourists travelling abroad should be covered under Covid-19 travel insurance.

Therefore, the Government leader asked the Ministry of Transport to coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and other relevant ministries and agencies to work on the proposal.

To prevent and control Covid-19, Vietnam has suspended the international tourism segment since March last year.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, as of December last year, the pandemic had sent the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam down nearly 80% to 3.7 million. Most of them came to the country in the first quarter of 2021. In addition, the number of domestic visitors fell 34.1% to 56 million.

The country’s tourism revenue plummeted 58.7% to some VND312.2 trillion. This year, the tourism sector will focus on the local market and prepare for the resumption of international travels.

Bamboo Airways launches air service on Tuy Hoa-Hanoi/HCMC route

Local carrier Bamboo Airways launched two new air routes linking Hanoi and HCMC with the central province of Phu Yen on January 22, reported VietnamPlus.

The carrier will operate one roundtrip flight on the HCMC-Tuy Hoa route on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and one daily roundtrip flight on the Hanoi-Tuy Hoa route.

Nguyen Ngoc Trong, deputy general director of Bamboo Airways, said the carrier will consider increasing the number of flights to/from Tuy Hoa as well as launch more new routes to meet the travel demand from passengers at home and abroad and promote regional socioeconomic growth.

After nearly two years of operations, Bamboo Airways has transported over six million passengers safely, with its on-time performance scores reportedly ranking first in the local aviation sector in 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, the number of visitors to Phu Yen totaled 1.85 million and the province’s tourism revenue exceeded VND2.2 trillion, up twofold against the 2015 figure. The two busy routes of Tuy Hoa-HCMC and Tuy Hoa-Hanoi served 420,000 passenger arrivals, soaring over fourfold compared to that of 2015.

The authorities of Phu Yen have created optimal conditions to call on carriers to launch their air services in the province.

China tightens pandemic control measures for container goods

The Department of Asia-Africa Markets, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, has informed local traders that the Chinese authorities have started to inspect and disinfect goods transported in containers to prevent the cross-border spread of Covid-19 when the temperature decreases in the winter and spring.

The inspection measures include taking samples of imported goods in containers for Covid-19 testing, disinfecting the process of unloading imported cargo from containers and disinfecting empty containers after the goods inside are unloaded.

Trucks transporting the containers and goods packaging in the vehicles are also entitled to these inspection and disinfection measures.

However, these measures will not be applied to dangerous substances, food, animal feed, feed additives, unpackaged goods or packaged items that could be contaminated by disinfectants.

The pandemic control measures for containers transporting frozen goods remain in place in accordance with the regulations previously set by the Chinese customs.

The authority of Guangxi (China), which shares its border with Vietnam’s four northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang and Ha Giang, also issued a number of requirements over the import of frozen food.

Specifically, frozen food must have four certificates—the certificate of quarantine for imported goods, the Covid-19 disinfection certificate, the certificate of origin traceability and the certificate of negative nucleic acid test result. Frozen food imported into Guangxi must undergo inspection and disinfection procedures even though it has completed such procedures in the other localities of China.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade advised local businesses that export agro and seafood products to China to step up monitoring the quality of goods and compliance with China’s regulations on quality standards, quarantine and food safety aimed at facilitating customs clearance procedures.

The ministry added that along with the relevant agencies, it is working with their Chinese counterparts to create optimal conditions for trading activities between the two nations.

HCMC removes obstacles facing Thu Thiem 2 bridge project

The HCMC Department of Transport has submitted to the municipal government some solutions to remove obstacles facing the Thu Thiem 2 bridge project, which spans the Saigon River and connects HCMC’s District 1 with Thu Thiem Peninsula in Thu Duc City, so that work on the project can resume.

The project has been suspended for two months.

According to the department, the city should assign the HCMC Management Board of Investment and Construction of Traffic Projects to review and determine the workload of the project in the first stage as required by the Dai Quang Minh Real Estate Investment Company, the investor of the project.

In addition, the municipal Departments of Finance and Natural Resources and Environment should review regulations and make proposals to the municipal government relating to the issuance of the land use right certificate for the investor as the investor has paid some VND800 billion to the city’s budget.

The Department of Transport will have to coordinate with other relevant departments and the investor to work out a payment plan and submit it to the municipal government for approval.

On January 20, a representative of the investor said that the city should issue the land use right certificate so that banks would continue funding the project as committed to earlier.

Moreover, the competent agencies should hand over the cleared site in District 1 for the project to the contractor of the project. The District 1 government had earlier pledged to hand over the site in mid-October last year.

Work on the project, which was designed to have six lanes, be nearly 1,500 meters long and require an estimated investment of some VND3.1 trillion, started in 2015. The project is 70% complete.

Kien Giang’s January export turnover hits 55 mln USD

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang earned an estimated 55 million USD from exports in January, an 18.5 percent increase against December and 37 percent year-on-year.

Items posting high growth included rice with over 11 million USD (up 36.3 percent), aquatic products with 27 million USD (up 70 percent), and footwear with 11 million USD.

Local authorities are implementing a wide range of measures to provide support to and remove the difficulties facing local enterprises’ production and businesses.

Attention has been paid to enhancing trade promotions to help local businesses expand markets and bolster exports, especially to markets with which Vietnam has signed free trade agreements.

It is also accelerating administrative reform through applying online public services, while updating local enterprises on market information.

The province’s agricultural sector is focusing on producing rice and farming high-yield brackish water shrimp to actively provide clean and quality raw materials for export processing./.

Vingroup to mobilise $302 million to pump capital into VinFast and VinSmart

Viet Nam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup plans to issue three tranches of bonds with a total volume of 6.97 million bonds to raise capital for its subsidiaries VinFast and VinSmart.

The bonds have a correspondent value of VND6.97 trillion (US$302 million). The first issuance is expected to take place on February 18.

Vingroup's bonds are not convertible, having a par value of VND100,000, three-year term, not accompanied by warrants and are unsecured.

Individual investors who want to buy Vingroup bonds must register for a minimum value of VND100 billion. The figure for institutional investors is VND500 billion.

The entire mobilised capital from the issuance will be used to supplement capital for VinFast and VinSmart. VinFast will increase its capital by VND5.1 trillion and VinSmart by 1.86 trillion.

Automaker VinFast expects to break even in the next five years as it ramps up production and cuts costs.

The subsidiary also plans to start operating VinBus, a public transport network, this year and launch five new models, including three electric cars, by 2022, according to a recent report by stock brokerage KB Securities Vietnam.

It eyes a 30 per cent share of the Vietnamese auto market. VinFast sold 29,485 cars last year, 61 per cent of them being the small hatchback, Fadil.

VinFast estimated it sold a total of 29,485 vehicles in 2020, including 18,016 Fadil cars, 6,013 Lux A2.0 cars and 5,456 Lux SA2.0 models. From 2022, VinFast plans to introduce two more gasoline-powered cars and three electric models, expected to account for 30 per cent of the car market share in Viet Nam.

Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup, said last year that VinFast and Vinsmart want to export their products within the next few years, with the US the first major target market.

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