Vietnam exported nearly 7.2 million tonnes of rice worth 3.49 billion USD last year, including many shipments navigating demanding markets such as Japan and the European Union (EU).

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said the sales signaled that Vietnamese rice has gained better quality, from choosing varieties for cultivation and standardisation to meet requirements of each market.

Aware of the need to build long-term business strategies, major rice exporters such as Trung An Hi-tech Farming JSC and Loc Troi Group have teamed up with farmers and cooperatives in material zones to generate stable and quality rice supply.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association Do Ha Nam said thanks to jasmine and high-quality rice, Vietnam won a number of markets and recorded fast growth in demanding markets such as the US and the EU. Many firms already received orders until April or even the third quarter of this year.

The VFA forecast that domestic rice exporters have a distinct advantage this year thanks to high rice prices and huge demand from China, the Philippines and Africa.

The Philippines, the biggest importer of Vietnamese rice, has decided to maintain import tax of 35% this year. Meanwhile, the second Vietnamese rice importer  - China - will lift its zero-COVID policy and reopen its borders with Vietnam, Nam said.

Mong Cai city ready to receive foreign visitors

Mong Cai city in the northern border province of Quang Ninh is preparing to welcome foreign visitors again as China will lift COVID-19 control measures and re-open its border with Vietnam from January 8.

As from that day, people and export goods going through border gates in Mong Cai city will no longer have to undergo COVID-19 RT-PCR testing, the city’s administration announced a few days ago. 

From December 31, 2022, staff and workers working at the border gate area were not required to work, stay and eat in specific concentrated areas anymore.

Nguyen Ngoc Thu, vice head of Mong Cai Border Gate Management Board said that the board and relevant agencies had checked infrastructure, facilities, and staff at the border gates to ensure smooth operation once they are re-opened.

Mong Cai International Border Gate Border Guard Station has been inspecting and reviewing equipment and arranging proper staff at immigration areas.

Residents in border areas and visitors will have separate lines when taking immigration procedures to prevent congestion and ensure smooth and safe immigration.

Hoang Ba Nam, Secretary of Mong Cai city Party Committee, said that the city authorities and China’s Dongxing city regularly keep in contact, exchange information, and agree on entry/exit times between the two sides and promote import and export activities at their border gates and markets.

The authorities of the two cities call for people to renew their passports, border passes and visas to facilitate entry and exit as well as strictly implement COVID-19 control measures to ensure the safety of people and visitors.

Mong Cai city continues to implement preventive measures to prevent the disease outbreak during the border reopening, especially when the Lunar New Year festival is approaching.

Personal financial planning crucial to economic development

GDP growth must be accompanied by personal financial development, economic experts said at a recent seminar.

The event, themed “Personal Financial Planning in Vietnam - Current Situation and Solutions” was held by the Vietnam Financial Consulting Association (VFCA).

At the seminar, Ngo Thanh Huan, Director of Personal Finance Division - FIDT Joint Stock Company, a member of the Expert Council - VFCA, said that by 2030-2040, Vietnam will have about 20 million people reach their retirement age. Meanwhile, Vietnam is in the group of countries with the highest pension payment rate in the world, with a maximum payout of 75%.

This makes the difference between income and expenditure of the pension fund until 2031 expected to be negative by nearly 36 trillion VND (1.5 million USD), according to a report by the State Audit.

According to Huan, in order to reduce the burden on the pension fund as well as society, the development of the microfinance system and personal finance plays an important role. Because if each individual and household can financially prepare for retirement, they will contribute to reducing the burden on the Government and society.

Phạm Anh Khoi, General Director of Tulip Real Estate Financial Services Joint Stock Company (FINA), said that focusing on GDP development will not make much sense if individuals and households are not financially secure. Because when these individuals reach retirement age, the financial burden will eventually fall on the Government.

Personal financial development plays an important role in reducing the social burden when the population aging process takes place. And the profession of personal financial planning also plays an important role in the development of this field.

Giving opinions at the seminar, economist Vu Dinh Anh said that personal finance is the final piece of microfinance, one of the goals of developing the National Comprehensive Financial Strategy of the Vietnamese government. However, this is a completely new field and industry in Vietnam, unlike other industries such as real estate, securities or insurance.

The expert said that in addition to general standards, personal financial planning also needs a set of standards, thereby serving as a measure for activities in the market.

However, Anh also said that the difficulty of the personal finance sector is that there is currently no State agency to manage this area.

Le Long Giang, Chairman of VFCA, said that at present, the field of personal financial planning has developed widely in the world, especially with the birth and development of the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB) and Financial Planning Standardisation Boards in 27 member countries.

In Vietnam, the sector of personal financial planning and consulting is just beginning to develop, but is also facing many problems and obstacles.

There has been a series of cases of financial fraud, including the creation of websites, trading platforms and applications to make money, as well as using decoys offering high profits to entice investment in virtual currency, foreign exchange or appropriation of assets in the fields of finance, securities, investment and corporate bond issuance.

Therefore, Giang said it is necessary to set standards for the field of personal financial planning and consulting in Vietnam, following international standards and practices.

Starbucks commits to expanding in Vietnam with 100th-store plan

Starbucks is committed to expanding further in Vietnam with its plan to open the 100th store by the end of the second quarter this year – a decade after the first shop opened in Ho Chi Minh City in February 2013.

Currently, the US coffee chain runs 87 outlets across seven cities and provinces nationwide with 50 in HCM City and 24 in Hanoi and 1,000 employees, including 200 coffee masters.

“So, as you can see, there’s plenty of opportunities to continue growing in the market,” CEO of Starbucks Vietnam, Patricia Marques told reporters in Hanoi on January 6.

According to the CEO, Starbucks will continue to open more stores, in addition to places that the chain has visited to better serve customers in their neighbourhoods.

Most recently, the US chain opened a new store in Ho An on December 9. It is also targeting new opportunities in Binh Duong and Binh Dinh provinces for this year’s plan.

A recent report of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the Asian region announced by Kantar World Panel showed Vietnam’s beverage industry has recovered after two years of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The third quarter of 2022 recorded an average growth rate of 5.2%, only 0.4% lower than the average growth rate of the whole of Asia.

Despite being a giant in the international markets, Starbucks must compete with rising local brands.

Vietnam’s tea and coffee market is dominated by local franchise brands, including Highlands Coffee (573 stores), The Coffee House (154) and Phuc Long (118), according to Statista data as of December 2022.

According to India-based market research company Mordor Intelligence, increasing busy lifestyle and longer working hours is likely to strengthen the consumption of coffee. Vietnam’s coffee market is projected to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.07% during 2022-2027.

To increase its competition in the “world coffee capital”, besides continuing expansion, Starbucks Vietnam CEO said the chain will strive to optimise costs by improving management capacity, human resource capacity and operational efficiency at each store.

In addition, to celebrate its 10-year journey in Vietnam, customers in Vietnam will have a chance to enjoy Starbucks Vietnam Da Lat coffee in September 2023.

Binh Duong Portal's Korean, Chinese, Japanese versions launched

The People's Committee of Binh Duong province on January 4 held a ceremony to launch Korean, Chinese and Japanese-language versions of the Binh Duong Portal.

Speaking at the event, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Vo Van Minh asked the Binh Duong Portal to continue to promote its achievements and reputation as the official information channel of the provincial government.

He also asked the portal’s staff to constantly renew and strongly apply advances in digital technology to improve its service quality.

He said he hopes the portal continues to be in the Top 10 of the best local portal system in Vietnam, and serves as a reliable bridge of people, businesses, and local and foreign investors with local authorities.

The Binh Duong Portal is one of the official communication channels of Binh Duong province on the Internet. The Vietnamese (binhduong.gov.vn) and English (eng.binhduong.gov.vn) versions of the portal have provided information for and promote images of the province to foreigners.

The southern province is now the second largest locality in the country in terms of attracting foreign investment with 4,063 projects worth more than 39.6 billion USD.

Currently, 65 countries and territories are running foreign direct investment projects in Binh Duong. Of which, Taiwan (China) tops the list with 861 projects with total investment capital of over 6.2 billion USD, followed by Japan with 337 projects worth more than 5.8 billion USD. The Republic of Korea ranked the fifth with 758 projects with total investment capital of over 3.2 billion USD.

Good start for HCM City's tourism sector

With roughly 35,000 foreign arrivals and 1.6 million vacationers during the recent 3-day New Year holiday, Ho Chi Minh City tourism sector hopes to attract more visitors to the locality during the New Year 2023.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism on January 3 announced that the locality welcomed roughly 35,000 foreign arrivals and 1.6 million vacationers during the recent 3-day New Year holiday, earning more than 250 million USD.

As the Lunar New Year - the longest and most important annual festival for Vietnamese - is just around the corner, the City’s tourism sector will continue to launch assorted programmes and events to attract more visitors.

The city will strengthen support activities for tourists via Information Portal hotline which helps intensify collaboration among provinces, cities and travel agents, meeting visitors' information demands, creating a professional and friendly tourism atmosphere for holiday-makers coming to the city.

The city aims to greet 5 million international arrivals and 35 million domestic visitors in 2023.

Vietnam Railway seen lacking train cars

Vietnam Railways now has over 160 locomotives and 500 train cars whose lifespans are set to expire in 2023, putting the sector at risk of failing to meet the travel demands.

Dang Sy Thanh, general director of Vietnam Railways (VNR), said at a recent year-end conference that the number of locomotives and train cars of VNR that expired this year accounted for 30% of the total equipment.

The elimination of expired locomotives and cars complies with the applicable railway regulations, under which the maximum service life of a locomotive and passenger train car would be 40 years and cargo car  would be 45 years.

The new investment in equipment will lead to financial pressure on VNR given the current hardships of the sector, as it will cost around VND8,000 billion for the project, according to Thanh. He added that if the current locomotives and train cars can no longer be used, VNR would not be able to satisfy the demand in the coming time.

According to the general director of the VNR, some neighboring countries have no regulations on the service life for locomotives and wagons, except for several spare parts of the train. Therefore, VNR is proposing the competent authorities allow it to continue using the current locomotives and wagons and committed to take responsibility for their safety until there is a revision to the Railway Law.

In 2022, Vietnam’s railway sector achieved a high growth rate with its consolidated revenue of over VND7,718 billion, a 14% increase over last year. Among these, revenue from cargo transport amounted to VND3,702 billion, rising 63% compared to last year.

Vietnamese real estate has mixed outcomes but positive outlook

The Vietnamese real estate market showed mixed results in 2022 with a boom in the first half of the year and a downturn in the second half, according to Nguyen Manh Ha, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Real Estate Association.

Ha was speaking at the seminar 'Vietnamese real estate: outcome and outlook' on January 3.

He said the tide of cheap money in late 2021 had lifted many boats in the early months of 2022, including real estate. Housing prices were soaring on the back of the post-pandemic economic recovery and the growing demand from homebuyers.

However, the industry began to go into reverse in the late months of the year as a result of a change in the governmental stance on bank credit and corporate bonds. The government's tightening up on the two capital channels has caused worries among investors and brought it to a halt.

Still, he has an optimistic outlook for the industry in the short term as the completion of some huge social housing projects this year is expected to encourage sales to low-income homebuyers.

Nguyen Manh Quynh, chief of staff of the Vietnam Association of Realtors, held that the supply of commercial real estate was tight in 2022 with around 48,500 products for sale, equaling just 28% of the figure in 2018.

By product types, land slots took up 44% of the pie and high-end housing followed with 37%. Middle-end housing came next with 15% whereas low-end apartments stayed at rock bottom with 4%.

The chief of staff forecast that real estate sales would remain low in Q1/2023 but begin to improve in Q2/2023 on the grounds of a better macroeconomic situation. Average prices, meanwhile, are expected to fall slightly until mid-Q2 and then level off towards the end of the year.

Pham Lam, chairman of the DKRA Group, revealed that 1,081 real estate enterprises were dissolved and 2,379 temporarily ceased their operation in the first 11 months of 2022.

The situation is not better now as real estate enterprises face many setbacks. One of the setbacks is the tight supply of land, which falls between 40 to 83% year-by-year across segments.

Lam urged the enterprises to cut costs and cut staff wisely to get through this tough time. He said digital transition is a solution to the cost-saving problem as it significantly reduces overheads.

Can Van Luc, chief economist at the JS Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, estimated total capital funneled to real estate in 2022 at 507 trillion VND (21.5 billion USD), of which 71.0% come from bank loans and 10.8% from corporate bonds.

The economist also revealed that he was urging the government to introduce a favourable mechanism to support the industry in its effort to repay 120 trillion VND worth of corporate bonds in 2023 and 110 trillion VND in 2024.

Wood industry makes most of each advantage to fulfil set targets

Global political and economic fluctuations in 2022 have affected import and export activities, especially those of enterprises operating in the wood manufacturing and processing industry, making them calculate each step in the year-end period to achieve the set targets.

The increasing global inflation, especially in the third quarter of 2022, had negative impact on the wood industry’s orders in the last months of the year, putting wood processing and exporting enterprises in a critical situation. However, with efforts of businesses, the sector gradually approached the target set from the beginning of 2022.

Statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs show that the country’s export turnover of wood and wood products is estimated at 15.8 billion USD in 2022, of which 10.92 billion USD came from timber products, up 6.7% year-on-year.

To achieve these figures, businesses had to make most use of each type of waste wood, and rotate orders to avoid a backlog of goods.

Nguyen Liem, Founder and Chairman of Lam Viet Limited Company, said that while the export of furniture and wood products decreased, that of wood chips and pellets increased sharply, with pellets mainly to the Republic of Korea, Japan and Europe, and wood chips to China.

President of the JCI Vietnam Vu Tuan Anh said Chinese merchants are looking for woodchips from Vietnam to serve paper production and provide them as materials for pellet factories in China.

With limited supply at home, China will continue relying on neighbouring countries for wood materials. This will create opportunities for Vietnamese wood exporters, he said.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Export-Import Department, not only the EU market, the demand for woodchips and pellets in Asia is surging, mostly in the Republic of Korea and Japan that are switching from coal-fired to clean electricity, including biomass power.

Chinese expert impressed by Vietnam’s economic growth

Executive Chairman of the China-ASEAN Business Council and Chairman of the RCEP Industry Cooperation Committee Xu Ningning has hailed Vietnam as one of the fastest growing economies in ASEAN in 2022.

In a recent interview granted to China Report ASEAN, Xu, who is also China’s expert on trade with ASEAN, said according to the Vietnamese Government, the Vietnamese economy growth was estimated at over 8% last year and projected at 6.5% in 2023. The Asian Development Bank recently also revised up Vietnam’s economic growth forecast.

In 11 months of last year, Vietnam’s total trade value surpassed 670 billion USD, with China and US being Vietnam’s largest import and export markets.

Commending Vietnam’s macroeconomic stability driven by food and housing prices last year, Xu said the Vietnamese digital economy recorded the fastest growth in ASEAN with a total transaction value growing by 28%.

In his view, Vietnam is one of the countries to join the most free trade agreements in the regional grouping, with 15 already signed deals which have created favourable conditions for Vietnam’s economic recovery.
 
About trade ties between China and Vietnam as well as between China and ASEAN, Xu said China’s statistics showed that two-way trade between China and Vietnam hit 213.94 billion USD in the first 11 months of last year. Vietnam remained China’s biggest trade partner in ASEAN, contributing to promoting economic cooperation within the framework of China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.

Xu expressed his hope that with progress in bilateral cooperative ties, China and ASEAN will strive to continue consolidating their comprehensive strategic partnership.

Vietnam affirms position in international integration

Since its World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership in 2007, Vietnam has engaged in more than 500 bilateral and multilateral agreements in various fields, including 7 free trade agreements (FTAs).

It has also set up economic ties with around 230 nations and territories and is now a strategic partner of 17 countries.

This position has created outstanding motivations helping the country realise its growth goals, continue comprehensive innovation, and steadily move forward in its development path with great achievements after 36 years of Doi Moi (Renewal) and the 16-year WTO membership.

With its increasing international position and reputation, Vietnam is entering a new phase of international economic integration with a completely new posture, and is confident in participating in global economic linkages.

Despite a lot of difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020-2022 period, Vietnam’s import-export turnover surpassed the 700-billion-USD mark for the first time last year to top 732.5 billion USD, up 9.5% year-on-year.

Notably, 2022 also marked the seventh consecutive year Vietnam has recorded a trade surplus, with a value of over 11 billion USD.

In addition, Vietnam has also become an attractive destination for foreign investors. As of late 2022, the country had attracted nearly 439 billion USD in 36,278 projects from more than 140 nations and territories.

Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, director of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Integration Centre at the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), attributed the achievements to the country’s bravery in opening its economy through the accession to the WTO and participation in FTAs.

FTAs have opened doors for Vietnamese exports, and created more opportunities for the country to join the global value chain and production network. In particular, in the context of COVID-19, new-generation FTAs such as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the UK-Vietnam FTA, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have become "medicine" for Vietnam's economy to recover post pandemic.

According to statistics of the General Department of Customs under the Ministry of Finance, in 2021, Vietnam’s trade with FTA partners hit 480 billion USD, up 22.5% year-on-year, accounting for nearly 72% of its total import-export turnover with the whole world.

FTAs to generate more benefits for Vietnam in 2023: minister

The implementation of free trade agreements (FTAs) will continue to prove fruitful for Vietnam in 2023, said Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, he noted the country has signed and implemented 15 FTAs, becoming an important link in global supply chains.

A special highlight last year was that amid the complex COVID-19 pandemic, the participation in FTAs, especially new-generation ones like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU - Vietnam FTA (EVFTA), and the UK - Vietnam FTA (UKVFTA), has helped the Southeast Asian nation secure impressive export growth and partly mitigate the pandemic’s adverse impacts on its economy.

Dien cited data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs that in the first eight months of 2022, exports to other CPTPP members reached some 41 billion USD, up 38.7% year on year. Shipments to the EU also increased 24.2% to over 32 billion USD.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s exports to other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement hit 108.48 billion USD in the first nine months of 2022, rising 16.4% from a year earlier.

With this upward trend, the implementation of FTAs will continue generating fruitful results for Vietnam in 2023, especially when it comes to potential markets, the official opined.

In particular, the RCEP will bring about long-term benefits as it will help form stable export markets for Vietnamese goods and facilitate the development of new regional supply chains so that the country can engage more deeply in regional and global supply chains, he added.

However, opportunities for capitalising on preferential treatment under the FTAs have yet to be truly balanced between domestic and FDI businesses. Many key exports of Vietnam haven’t solved their origin-related issues so as to benefit from preferential tariffs. The building of brands for “Made-in-Vietnam” products in demanding markets like the EU is also a matter needing more attention.

Minister Dien said that in 2023, the world is likely to continue witnessing changes in the goods, financial, and monetary markets. However, thanks to new-generation FTAs, it is hopeful that state agencies and enterprises will continue to work together in addressing difficulties. The idea is to maintain FTAs as a driver for exports and to help Vietnamese goods gain a foothold in global markets.

China’s FDI inflows to Vietnam to increase: Agriseco

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow from China to Vietnam is expected to rise as China is to reopen its doors and resume flights between the two countries, according to Agribank Securities Company (Agriseco).

Agriseco attributed the expected rise to the low labour cost in Vietnam and the close geographical proximity between China and Vietnam.

Although investment from China slowed down during the past three years due to border closure measures, many Chinese-invested projects continued to be expanded in Vietnam. In the first 11 months of 2022, China ranked fourth among the 97 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian country. 

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, FDI enterprises in China, Hong Kong (China) and Taiwan (China) have gradually moved  their factories to Vietnam such as Foxconn, Pegatron and Goertek, Agriseco said, but noted that if China opens up completely, the supply chain will be less disrupted and this will affects FDI registration in Vietnam in the near future.

Regarding garment and textile enterprises, China's reopening will help them access material sources more easily, Agriseco said.

Vietnam imports more than 30% of input materials for production from China, mainly machinery and electronic components, textile and garment materials. During China's shutdown, many businesses faced difficulties due to a shortage of raw materials, sharp increase in input costs, and congestion of goods.

High-quality human resources to help Vietnam draw more FDI

To attract more foreign direct investment (FDI), Vietnam needs to pay attention to training high-quality human resources, accelerating administrate reform and developing and upgrading infrastructure, according to the European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham).

The organisation said European businesses have planned to expand their investment in renewable energy, hi-tech manufacturing and processing, and research and development (R&D) centre next year.

In a recent report, Savills Vietnam also emphasised the attractiveness of investment in high value manufacturing industries in Southeast Asia and Vietnam.

Compared to China, India, and other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam is an attractive market for investment with relatively low risk. This creates an impetus for the capital flow of many technology companies, and businesses operating in other fields in the US to invest in Vietnam.

According HSBC Bank (Vietnam) Ltd, Vietnam has become a hi-tech production centre in the world. Large groups such as Samsung and LG of the Republic of Korea, and partners of Apple and Goertek, Foxconn and Pagatron have poured tens of billion USD into Vietnam.

Statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of December 20, 2022, the total newly-registered capital, adjusted capital, and capital contribution and share purchase hit nearly 27.72 billion USD, equivalent to 89% of the same period of 2021.

Foreign businesses invested in 54 localities nationwide in 2022.

Recently, Samsung officially launched an R&D centre worth 220 million USD in Vietnam. The firm intended to turn the country into a strategic R&D base.

Dirk Hartmann, General Director of Tesa Site Hai Phong Co., Ltd, said when it selected Vietnam for its plant, the firm saw an attractive destination for investment thanks to the country’s stable economic growth.

Vietjet to reopen HCM City-Hong Kong route next month

Vietjet will reopen the route connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong (China) with just three-hour long return flights on every Monday and Friday from February 10.

Passengers can book tickets on the direct route from now on. The ticket prices can be even better on every Monday from now until December 31, 2023 when Vietjet offers passengers 20% off, excluding taxes and fees, for international routes with the promotion code “HELLOVIETNAM” at website www.vietjetair.com or Vietjet Air mobile app.

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