The Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) has announced that its smart farm sector is gaining momentum in penetrating the Vietnamese market, leveraging advanced technologies to expand into the Southeast Asian region.

At a press conference in Sejong city on July 18, MAFRA revealed that 15 Korean companies specialising in smart farming is participating in the ongoing 2024 Vietnam-Korea Plus Partnership Week held in Ho Chi Minh City. With the firms conducting 105 business matching with Vietnamese partners, the two sides signed eight memoranda of understanding worth 2.69 million USD. Through this event, Vietnamese agriculture officials and entrepreneurs expressed significant interest in the RoK’s smart farms and related technologies.

AVALVE, a RoK smart farm enterprise, attracted particular attention with its presentation on achievements in Vietnam and prospects for enhancing the Vietnam-RoK cooperation in smart agriculture. In November 2022, AVALVE signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam's National Fertiliser Testing Center (NCFT) to pilot a vertical farming project for ginseng seedlings in the Southeast Asian nation starting February 2023.

Taking Vietnam as a key export hub in Southeast Asia to promote and export Korean smart farm products and technologies, MAFRA has been running a pilot smart farm in Hanoi since 2022. This model features steel-frame greenhouse farms equipped with environment control systems.

Lee Sang Min, the head of the Agri-food Innovation Policy Bureau at MAFRA, said the ministry will continue to develop policies supporting Korean enterprises’ market entry and smart farm exports to Southeast Asia.

The Vietnam-Korea Plus Partnership Week aims to bolster cooperation between the countries in smart industry, environmental sustainability, clean energy, and smart agriculture, laying the groundwork for their future economic collaboration./.

US cancels tax evasion probe into Vietnamese wooden cabinets

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has ended in its entirety the probe into trade remedy tax evasion on wooden cabinets imported from Việt Nam, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (TRAV).

Following an investigation into the scope of products, the US side has maintained that the preliminary conclusion had been adjusted in September 2023, the TRAV cited the conclusion issued recently by the DOC.

Three cases of wooden cabinets imported from Việt Nam, with components produced in China, were within the scope of duty orders on wooden cabinets from China.

The TRAV said that the DOC will send a notice to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to instruct the application of the Certificate Regime to Vietnamese wooden cabinets.

The mechanism will allow local firms that do not fall into the above three cases to be exempted from anti-dumping or countervailing duties, when exporting items to the US market.

The TRAV suggested that Vietnamese exporters complete the self-certification declaration form for exporters and provide a copy and supporting documents including invoices, orders and production records to the US importer. At the same time, the importers need to complete the self-certification declaration form for importers before the shipment date.

In addition to having a self-certification application, Vietnamese firms are advised to retain records and documents as a basis to prove that confirmation within five years from the time the shipment is exported so that the US authorities can verify if necessary.

To protect the legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese enterprises, the TRAV also has recommended that local businesses fully comply with the regulations set by the Certificate Regime and closely coordinate with the agency to receive timely support.

Since April 2020, the US has imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on wooden cabinets originating from China, with anti-dumping tax rates ranging from 4.37 per cent to 262.18 per cent, as well as anti-subsidy tax rates ranging from 13.33 per cent to 293.45 per cent. 

Pepper prices continue to decrease, but expect recovery by year end

The pepper prices on July 18 in some key pepper producers of Việt Nam continue to be under downward pressure, reaching the lowest price of VNĐ147,000 (US$5.79) per kilo.

In the Central Highlands region, the pepper price in Đắk Lắk is VNĐ149,000 per kilo, while the pepper price in Gia Lai decreased by VNĐ1,000 per kilo to VNĐ147,000.

In the Southeast region, the price in Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu and Đồng Nai continues to decrease by VNĐ1,000 to VNĐ148,000 per kilo. Meanwhile, the pepper price is stable at VNĐ148,000 per kilo in Bình Phước.

As Công thương (Industry and Trade) Magazine reported, some industry experts believe that the market does not have new motivation to push pepper prices up. However, the domestic pepper price has formed a new rate, which is difficult to decrease further compared to the current price.

In the short term, the pepper market is less energised, mainly because domestic coffee prices are rising again, causing capital flows to shift to coffee trading.

Hoàng Phước Bình, standing vice chairman of Chư Sê Pepper Association (Gia Lai Province), said the average production cost of pepper is currently fluctuating VNĐ60,000 - VNĐ70,000 per kilo due to higher material costs and other costs. Thus, the current selling price is more than double the production cost, helping pepper growers make a large profit. Therefore, many pepper growers are not in a hurry to sell their goods, unless they need the capital.

Currently, many pepper growers expect that the low supply at present will push pepper prices back up soon.

Many industry experts have predicted that pepper prices in the future may break the peak of VNĐ250,000 per kilo - the highest level of the pepper price cycle ten years ago.

According to the Vietnam Pepper Association, the current price level of Vietnamese pepper is still quite low compared to the price of pepper in other major producing countries. Therefore, the increase in Vietnamese pepper prices is still relatively large.

In addition, Việt Nam's pepper export to China in the second quarter of 2024 was lower than expectations. So, some businesses predict purchasing demand from China to gradually increase again from the third quarter of 2024 for the needs of the year-end festivals. This is expected to push pepper prices up in the last months of the year.

On the world market, the International Pepper Association (IPC) updated pepper prices on July 17 (local time). The prices of Vietnamese black pepper were arranged between US$6,000-$6,500 per tonne. Vietnamese white pepper price was kept stable at $8,800 per tonne.

Indonesia's pepper prices increased again by 0.46 per cent to $7,223 per tonne of Lampung black pepper and $9,196 per tonne of Muntok white pepper.

Brazilian ASTA 570 black pepper price was kept stable at $7,125 per tonne.

Malaysia's ASTA black pepper price was also unchanged at $7,500 per tonne, while the price of ASTA white pepper stood at $8,800 per tonne. 

Providing safe good food into modern distribution channels is promoted

Consumption of safe food products at modern retail channels is being promoted as more and more Vietnamese customers choose products sold within malls and supermarkets.

At present, modern retail systems in Việt Nam account for about 25 per cent of total retail sales, with a strong growth rate at 11.8 per cent each year. 

Most goods in these modern distribution channels are controlled in terms of quality, design and price. They have more professional distribution and logistics systems than traditional markets, so the quality of goods is guaranteed.

Nguyễn Tiến Cường, deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Công Thương (Industry and Trade) newspaper, released this information at a workshop on connecting safe food products to modern distribution channels held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Hà Nội on July 17.

According to Cường, the connection between supply and demand of safe agricultural and food products continues to be supported by authorities, localities and businesses.

As one of the key food enterprises, a representative of CP Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company said with many years of experience in the field of agriculture and food, the company has modern livestock farms, a closed production system from breed to table and animal feed factories with advanced technology, ensuring quality and safety of products. 

In addition, the company has also had an advanced quality management system, international certifications such as ISO 22000 and HACCP and a reputable brand.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Việt Nam has over 1,167 supermarkets, 254 shopping centres and many systems of modern convenience stores in large cities, such as Big C & Go System, Co.op mart and Mega Market.

This is a positive factor for incorporating safe food products of CP Việt Nam to the modern distribution channels, according to the representative. 

However, the representative said, in the future, MoIT needs to improve the effectiveness of inspection and supervision on food safety and support the food businesses in building a safe food production environment, meeting increasing demand for safe food for customers.

Park Chang Lyul, chief operating officer of LOTTE Mart Vietnam said in the past years, LOTTE Mart has participated in many programmes on connection with domestic manufacturers to increase Vietnamese goods at its system of 16 supermarkets in Việt Nam. Fresh products sold at the LOTTE Mart must meet VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards and must undergo a strict quality inspection process at all stages. 

All items supplied to LOTTE Mart meet the quality standards and undergo a control process of product quality before reaching customers.

According to Park Chang Lyul, Việt Nam is an important market of Korean LOTTE Group. One of LOTTE's important strategies is development of domestic products at the distribution system to bring high quality goods at reasonable prices to the consumers. 

Therefore, the group will constantly look for domestic eligible suppliers to diversify quality and safe food products.

He also emphasised that the domestic suppliers should pay attention to documents relating to product quality certification and operating certification, as well as learn about the retail system's goods delivery process.

Small and medium-sized suppliers are often lacking or do not comply with standards, making the review of any legal documents difficult and time consuming. Therefore, they need to have legal documents such as certificate on meeting food hygiene and safety conditions and product testing results, and comply with regulations on safe products, such as labeling regulations, he said.

In addition, LOTTE Mart representative said that the domestic suppliers' product packaging design has been improved in recent years, but it has not really kept pace with changes in the market. 

Finally, to attract consumers, they need to ensure uniformity of products in terms of quality, appearance or other features, have enough supply and keep fresh of products during transporting to LOTTE Mart supermarket.

Many suppliers have difficulty in ensuring delivery time and enough goods, or have goods not meeting delivery conditions. He believes that if the domestic suppliers can improve the above issues, the path to the domestic products to modern supermarket systems like LOTTE Mart will open.

Lê Thị Hà, head of the E-commerce Activities Management Division, Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, MoIT, said that e-commerce along with the strong development of technology has changed shopping methods of Vietnamese consumers.

To manage food safety in e-commerce, Hà proposed the Ministry of Health complete a national database system on food safety and allow State management agencies overseeing the food safety field to connect and use the database, aiming at enhancing food safety management in cyberspace.

In addition, according to Hà, it is necessary to strengthen coordination in exchanging information between the department and relevant units such as the General Department of Market Management, the Police Department and the Food Safety Department, to fight against trading counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin and goods infringing upon  intellectual property rights in the food industry on the e-commerce platforms.

At the workshop, Lê Việt Nga, deputy director of MoIT's Domestic Market Department said the national action plan on a transparent, responsible and sustainable food systems, including sustainable development, food safety and green consumption, needs to be continued.

Nga said that MoIT's will focus on building a green distribution system and transform and develop wholesale markets into logistics centres to meet a transparent and sustainable food distribution system.

The ministry will also have development of e-commerce towards transparency and sustainability and focus on improving businesses' awareness on tracing origins, ensuring food safety and applying new technology in food production. 

Petrol distributors not allowed to buy from each other: Draft

A new draft to amend the decree on trading petroleum, compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), stipulates that gasoline distributors are not allowed to trade petrol with each other.

The distributors are permitted to buy petrol and gas from wholesalers.

This regulation is not new and it has been specified in Article 15, Section 3, Decree No 83/2014/NĐ-CP on petroleum trading, effective since 2014.

As of June 2024, Việt Nam had 298 petrol distributors and over 30 petrol wholesalers.

With a large number of 298 petrol distributors, if the distributors are allowed to buy from each other, controlling the origin, quality and quantity of petroleum will be very difficult for the State management agencies.

At present, the situation of producing and trading fake petrol, oil and gas is still complex and there have been many recent cases of hundreds of millions of litres of fake petrol.

Experts believe there are many more undiscovered cases, posing potential risks to Việt Nam's petroleum distribution system and the domestic energy security.

Therefore, the MoIT has proposed that the distributors only buy petrol from wholesalers to strictly control the quality of supply, protect consumers and traders.

In addition, this regulation aims to make the petroleum trading market more transparent, eliminating trading among the distributors which increases costs and retail prices.

Petroleum is a special industry that affects the national energy security. Many economic experts said that in the current multi-level petroleum trading system, each level has its own functions, tasks and business conditions. The businesses need to meet all conditions and requirements, and must properly perform their functions and tasks, avoiding virtual supply.

According to the draft decree on trading petroleum, one of the conditions on becoming wholesalers is to have data connection with the MoIT's data system on petroleum storage, total petroleum supply, petrol import - export - inventory.

They must have distributed petrol for at least 36 consecutive months, before they are even considered for certification.

If they meet the requirements to become wholesalers, they will be permitted to be allocated a minimum total annual supply of petrol and oil, to import petroleum and raw materials for petroleum preparation and to import and export crude oil.

They are allowed to trade crude oil, petrol and raw materials for mixing petrol and oil with domestic petrol and oil producers and other wholesalers.

The wholesalers need to ensure the petrol supply to be not lower than the minimum total supply assigned by the MoIT.

The Ministry will take wholesalers' information relating to the quantity and origin of goods to set plans on petrol supply to meet demand of the people and the economy.

The role of petrol wholesalers is to ensure enough petrol supply for the domestic market, which is critical in ensuring national energy security.

Petrol and oil distributors are not subject to these regulations. 

Ca Mau province revives nearly 1,000ha of mangrove forests

The southernmost province of Ca Mau has restored nearly 1,000ha of protective forests thanks to embankment projects, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The province has completed the construction of 55.7km of coastal embankment, with a total investment of about 1.7 trillion VND (67.2 million USD).

Director of the provincial irrigation sub-department Nguyen Thanh Tung said that such projects have brought about good results, contributing to protecting people's lives and their production as well as restoring the coastal ecological environment.

The province has successfully put in place the embankment solution which has proven effective and been appreciated by experts, scientists and locals, he noted, adding that apart from low cost, the solution helps revive eroded mangrove forests.

About 91km of the province’s coast is suffering from severe erosion, local competent agencies reported.

It is predicted that if no solution is taken, coastal erosion will continue to occur, causing serious losses of land and protective forests in the near future.

Thus, the province has proactively earmarked its budget, optimised the support from central agencies, and mobilised resources from the private sector, businesses and people who benefit for the work.

Up to 31.2 trillion VND will be needed for anti-erosion projects in Ca Mau for the 2021-2025 period, with orientations to 2030./.

Economic linkage belts throughout southern region necessary: insiders

An urban industrial, service, and logistics belt system along the corridors of Ring Roads 3 and 4 and inter-regional highways, if developed cohesively, will constitute a significant breakthrough for linking key economic zones in the southern region, according to insiders.

The Ho Chi Minh City Planning – Architecture Department has just sent a document to the municipal People's Committee proposing a project to form the belt system.

According to the department’s assessment, the ring roads and inter-regional highways are critical and strategic transport axes that connect urban areas, and industrial and service centres in the Southeast region. They play an important role in enhancing multimodal regional connectivity and leveraging Ho Chi Minh City's role as a nucleus in its relationship with the entire region.

Investments in constructing Ring Roads 3 and 4, and forming expressways in the coming time will help expand development opportunities, catalyse new growth dynamics, and foster the establishment of key industrial, service, and logistics belts in the region.

In addition, Ho Chi Minh City, as a centrally-run city, holds a special status with the largest population and economic scale in Vietnam. Situated strategically at the heart of the Southeast region, it boasts robust multi-modal transportation connections. Therefore, the effective exploitation of the city's development potentials, particularly in high-tech industrial sectors, services, and logistics, is expected to hold significance in boosting socio-economic development in the region and nationwide.

Architect Ngo Viet Nam Son, an urban planning expert, said that in the regional connectivity between Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring provinces within the key southern economic zone, the economic hub’s connectivity with such provinces as Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau is crucial and deserves priority. These localities contribute significantly to the national budget; however, their development has been localised, with each pursuing its own strengths independently. As a result, interconnectivity and linkages among them remain relatively weak.

Therefore, the formation of a corridor system connecting logistics, services, and industrial sectors among these four localities will create a breakthrough to boost gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of each locality and contribute to the overall national economic growth, Son stressed./.

Stronger “medicine” needed to help businesses overcome difficulties

Businesses have suggested the Government maintain its support to help them overcome difficulties, recover production and business activities, and promote growth, given the fact that many of them still face difficulties despite the country’s GDP growth rate of 6.42% in the first half of this year.

A survey of 30,000 enterprises, recently conducted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, revealed that 53.8% of the respondents said they have been challenged by low domestic market demand.

Specifically, 43.6% of the enterprises said the competition for sales of goods and services in the domestic market is increasingly fierce, posing great difficulties in seeking outlets for their products.

Meanwhile, 46.9% of those operating in the construction sector have faced difficulties due to a lack of new construction contracts.

Some 27.4% of the businesses surveyed said they have met with challenges due to the hikes in prices of raw materials, fuel, and other input materials, as well as in charges for transportation, warehousing, and other services.

In addition, 21.2% found it hard to access loans for business operations, and 19.7% lamented that lending interests, despite recent cuts, remained high.

About 18.1% said they have struggled with shortages of raw materials and fuel for production, while 14.7% said that administrative procedures, business conditions, and bidding processes remain complicated and overlapping, considerably affecting their production and business activities.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy director of the Institute of Economic and Policy Research at the Vietnam National University-Hanoi, identified two factors directly impacting the consumption of goods by domestic enterprises.

Firstly, businesses and individuals have tightened their consumption and investment on account of concerns about economic growth prospects, which is reflected in the low credit growth index but a high amount of bank deposits in the first six months of the year.

Secondly, the strong development of e-commerce has allowed cheap goods from abroad, not just from China, to crowd out domestic products.

In June, the National Assembly decided to continue reducing value added tax (VAT) by two percentage points for some groups of goods and services until December 31, 2024, in an effort to help stimulate consumption and support businesses in sales of products for the rest of this year.

However, many experts thought that the VAT reduction policy should be extended until the end of 2025 to effectively stimulate demand and promote sales.

Nguyen Bich Lam, former general director of the GSO, recommended that the reduction rate should be higher than two percentage points, if conditions permit, to make it more significant and stimulating for consumers to spend more on goods and services.

According to Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Nguyen Quang Vinh, to drive economic recovery and growth, it is crucial to focus on traditional growth drivers and explore new ones. The government should review and adjust its policies to effectively support enterprises’ development based on practical needs, thus helping them enhance their quality and operation efficiency, enabling them to rebuild their production and business and seize opportunities for post-pandemic recovery and development.

Vinh also proposed ministries, sectors, and localities continue implementing tax reduction policies, accelerating the disbursement of public investment, and introducing measures to reduce costs for businesses, and increase their access to state support packages./.

Argentina, Vietnam should expand economic cooperation: Argentine FM

Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino told Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Ngo Minh Nguyet on July 19 that the two countries should strengthen exchanges to expand bilateral economic cooperation.

Mondino said that her country is working to speed up the reform of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) towards opening up the market and negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with other countries, including Vietnam.

Argentina will also strive to promote the negotiations and signing of a double taxation avoidance agreement with Vietnam, she stated.

The Argentine FM underlined that her country will continue to share experience and strengthen technology sharing with Vietnam in the field of high-tech agriculture, especially rice production and the farming of some kinds of plants.

Argentina hopes to promote satellite cooperation projects for farming and expand defence cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation with Vietnam, which covers the area of bomb and mine clearance, she said.

For her part, Ambassador Nguyet welcomed recent new economic policies of Argentina, holding that economic expansion will benefit both countries.

She said that in order to expand and deepen bilateral relations, Vietnam will continue to increase visits at high and all levels across all fields in the future.

The diplomat revealed that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh plans to pay an official visit to Argentina this year, adding the two countries will exchange many visits and meetings through the Party, parliament, and locality-to-locality channels in 2024.

Ambassador Nguyet thanked FM Mondino for making many positive statements supporting Vietnam and Indonesia in negotiations with the MERCOSUR for an FTA at the bloc's summit in Paraguay.

She said she hopes the two countries will negotiate for and sign the bilateral double taxation avoidance agreement, and organise the 8th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on bilateral cooperation and the deputy foreign minister-level Political Consultation this year.

Vietnam and Argentina have enjoyed traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation in all fields, with regular high-level visits.

The two sides have agreed to maintain close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums and international organisations in the future.

Vietnam is a strategic trade partner of Argentina with two-way trade reaching 3.5 billion USD last year, with Vietnam's exports of 1.4 billion USD./.

Vietnam’s fishery products standing firm in Singapore

Statistics in the first half of this year show that for the first time, Vietnam’s fishery products maintained its position as the fifth largest partner in Singapore for the second consecutive quarter

The Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore said Vietnam’s fishery exports to Singapore in the period under review rose by 0.81% to reach 51.7 million USD, occupying a market share of 9.46%. A sharp export revenue rise was seen in fresh fish (25.42%).

Trade Counsellor in Singapore Cao Xuan Thang advised Vietnamese businesses to further improve the quality of the exports and take an active part in the office’s efforts in connecting with the host country’s peers so as to broaden their presence there.

Singaporean statistics show that in the first six months of this year, the country spent about 546.14 million SGD (over 406 million USD) to import fishery products from nearly 100 countries and territories. Imports from Vietnam included frozen fillet (28.69%) and processed fish (19.24%).

It is implementing a policy of continuously diversifying the sources of supply to ensure food security, and this is intensifying the competition among the exporters of fishery products to Singapore./.

Programme seeking to take Vietnam’s goods into Thai retail system opens in HCM City

The Week for Business Matching and Introduction of Vietnamese Products at Central Retail Vietnam in 2024 opened at GO! supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7 on July 19.

The Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City (ITPC) and Central Retail Vietnam, a member of Thailand’s Central Group, are organising the programme for the first time to assist Vietnamese businesses in promoting and taking their products into the supermarket’s supply chain.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, ITPC Deputy Director Ho Thi Quyen said all products seeking to join the programme have to pass Central’s quality standards, with a focus on safety and innovation, and feature regional or traditional characteristics.

She said the organising committee had received applications from nearly 100 businesses, and 40 were selected to exhibit packaged and processed foods, tea, coffee, spices, confectionery, and agricultural products like rice, fruits, vegetables, and organic items.

The programme would enable Vietnamese businesses to promote their products and brands to domestic and international consumers via Central Retail, grasp the latest consumer trends by working with its sourcing executives and improve product quality and competitiveness for exporting to its stores in Thailand and other countries, she said.

A B2B matching conference was organised on July 19 with the participation of over 100 Vietnamese firms to help them take their products into Central’s supply chain.

Central’s heads of sourcing in Vietnam directly met with participating businesses to discuss and assess the latter’s products and identify products they could buy.

Products, besides meeting food safety and hygiene standards, also need to have various quality certificates and documents required by Central.

Suppliers must also meet other requirements in terms of production processes and labour conditions, Quyen added.

The event runs until July 22./.

Vietnamese companies seek to bring goods to modern distribution systems

Boosting consumption and export of goods through modern distribution systems is an effective way helping producers increase sale and broaden market share, heard an event in Ho Chi Minh City on July 19.

This view was shared by experts at the week for connecting and exhibiting Vietnamese products in the modern distribution system Central Retail Vietnam in 2024, jointly hosted by the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC) and Central Retail Vietnam Group in HCM City.

Displaying products from 40 businesses, the event is expected to introduce Vietnamese branded products to both domestic and international consumers through the supermarket chains of Central Retail.

Through this programme, the ITPC hopes to create opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to continue growing, improve product quality, and expand their markets, not only domestically but also internationally, thus increasing competitiveness and the position of Vietnamese products globally.

In the framework of the four-day event, a business-matching programme to promote the sale of goods in Central Retail’s market chains will be held with the participation of over 100 enterprises.

A representative of Central Retail said that as a member of Central Group - multi-sector retail conglomerate with a retail network spanning all major provinces and cities, and key areas in Thailand, Vietnam, and Italy, Central Retail operates in three main business segments of fashion, home appliances, and food.

In Vietnam, Central Retail operates in food, home appliances, furniture, entertainment, and developing shopping centres.

Connecting with category managers from Central Retail will help businesses assess the quality of products, follow consumer trends to guide production, and gradually improve the quality and competitiveness of products, towards promoting exports to the Thai market and other countries in Central Retail Group's network./.

Craft villages contribute tens of trillions of dong to Hanoi’s economy

Craft villages play a crucial role in Hanoi’s socio-economic development, particularly in rural economic growth, and their products deliver messages about the culture, history and people of the capital city to domestic and international consumers. Over the past years, the capital city has focused on tapping advantages and strength of craft villages, particularly the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme to elevate the locality’s cultural values.

Currently, Hanoi boasts 1,350 craft villages, among which 331 are officially recognised for their traditional crafts by the municipal's People's Committee. The locality houses 47 out of the nation's total 52 traditional crafts. The annual production value of the city's craft villages now exceeds 24 trillion VND (948 million USD at current exchange rate).

After nearly six years of implementing the OCOP programme, Hanoi has accredited 2,711 products, including six five-star products, 12 potential five-star products, 1,473 four-star products, and 1,220 three-star products.

Hanoi’s traditional craft villages attract both domestic and international tourists due to their longstanding cultural values and creativity of artisans and craftsmen through their products such as Phu Vinh, Chuong My bamboo and rattan weaving products, Chuong village’s conical hat, Ha Thai’s lacquerware, Quat Dong’s embroidery, Tay Tu’s flowers, Van Phuc silk, and Bat Trang ceramics, among others.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said Hanoi is on the right track in leveraging its cultural values and local strengths to develop OCOP products. The promotion and branding of OCOP products through events and festivals are becoming increasingly professional and intriguing.

The minister highlighted that OCOP products have contributed to stimulating rural economic development while creating high-value-added products.

Artisan Ta Thu Huong from the Chuong conical hat craft village in Thanh Oai district shared that Chuong conical hats not only embody traditional beauty but also provide a vital source of income for over 4,000 local households. With the craft's growth, Chuong village has become a major supplier of various traditional hats.

Notably, Chuong village has established a collective trademark for Chuong conical hats registered by the Intellectual Property Office. The village has set up links with businesses for distribution, export, and market expansion, including markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, China’s Taiwan, Thailand, France, the USA and Australia, among others. Chuong conical hats are highly regarded for their quality, design, price, and service by international customers.

The unique "lotus silk fabric," crafted by artisan Phan Thi Thuan in Phung Xa commune, My Duc district, has been recognised as a potential 5-star product. This product has been used as official gifts by the Government Office for foreign diplomats.

Hanoi is also proud of its Bat Trang ceramics which have been successfully marketed internationally due to their excellent quality and high artistic values. Bat Trang ceramics have conquered demanding markets such as Japan, the US, Germany, the UK, France, and Spain, among others.

However, alongside these achievements, craft villages still face numerous challenges and obstacles as many craft villages operate on a small scale with outdated production equipment and limited management capacities. Some craft products lack of competitiveness, and their growth does not always correspond to the city's potential and advantages.

Most production activities in craft villages are seasonal, heavily relying on raw materials sourced from various provinces and cities, leading to high costs in securing inputs, meanwhile, policies supporting the development of raw material supply chains across provinces and cities are insufficient, directly affecting production and business plans, especially in export-oriented crafts.

Moreover, certain policies do not align with practical needs, posing limitations during implementation while accessing preferential funding and loans from commercial banks remains difficult, hindering the improvement of product packaging and branding in craft villages.

To elevate the value of indigenous cultural heritage through OCOP products, it is necessary for the capital city to issue policies to foster craft village development, particularly focusing on vocational training, skills transmission, technology innovation, and infrastructure improvements in craft villages. These efforts are crucial in transforming craft villages into attractive tourist destinations, aligning with the city's current and future directions in experiential tourism, ecotourism, and agricultural tourism./.

Vietnam, Cambodia boost forestry cooperation

The 27th ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF 27) Meeting is taking place in Indonesia from July 18-19, according to the Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

On the sidelines of the event, the Vietnamese delegation had a meeting with the Cambodian counterpart and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation in forestry for the 2024 – 2029 period.

The key areas of collaboration include information and experience sharing; promoting investment in forestry, timber trade; scientific research, training, and capacity building; forest protection including fire prevention and control; ecosystem restoration, and transboundary biodiversity conservation.

The two sides also pledged to collaborate in combating illegal logging and timber smuggling, illegal poaching of wildlife and plants, and adaptation to and mitigation of climate change impacts.

At the ASOF 27 Meeting, the Vietnamese delegation updated on the current status of forest resources, Vietnam's new policies and regulations on forestry, particularly on sustainable forest management, forest certification, and international commitments in the forestry sector. They also highlighted opportunities, challenges, and recommendations to enhance sustainable forest management in the ASEAN region.

The Vietnamese delegation also engaged in discussions and exchanges with partner countries and international organisations to promote cooperative activities and mobilise resources for Vietnam's forestry sector.

Participants in ASOF 27 included representatives from nine ASEAN countries, excluding Singapore, the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN's international partners such as China, Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation (AFoCO), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), European Union's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (EU-FLEGT) Programme, UN-REDD Asia Programme, while Timor-Leste attended the event as an observer.

The conference focused on discussions and agreements on several important topics like ASEAN Forestry Cooperation Strategy (2016-2025); Sustainable forest management in ASEAN region; Development of forestry products in ASEAN region; Issues on forests and climate change in ASEAN region; ASEAN cooperation on CITES implementation and enhancing law enforcement on wildlife (ASEAN-CITES and WE); New programmes, projects, and cooperative initiatives in ASEAN region; Cooperation plans with ASEAN's partner countries and organisations./.

Cultural industries to contribute significantly to economic growth

Cultural industries, still having much room to develop and contribute more to the national economy, are being considered an important resource to be maximised to boost the GDP growth.

In a resolution on the outcomes of the Government’s June meeting and its teleconference with localities on July 10, the Government called on ministries, sectors, localities, businesses, and the entire society to further strive in the remaining months of this year to achieve the yearly GDP growth rate of 6.5-7% and to maintain development momentum for 2025.

In challenging objective and subjective conditions, promoting GDP growth is not easy, so all available resources must be brought into full play, the Government stressed.

It defines cultural industries as encompassing 12 sectors: advertising; architecture; software and entertainment games; handicrafts; design; cinema; publishing; fashion; performing arts; fine arts, photography, and exhibition; television and radio broadcasting; and cultural tourism.

The National Target Programme for Cultural Development for the 2025-2035 period aims to develop culture into an intrinsic strength of the economy. By 2035, the cultural industries are expected to contribute 8% to the national GDP.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the production value of Vietnam's cultural industries in the 2018 - 2022 period neared 1.1 quadrillion VND (43.4 billion USD). Their added value to the economy reached 6.02% in 2019. However, the figure decreased to 4.32% and 3.92% in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022 and 2023, they began to recover, contributing more than 4% to the country's GDP annually.

Over the recent years, the cultural industries in the country have gained certain achievements, with their products increasingly diverse, many of which have high values, creating a reputation domestically and internationally.

The country has also seen increases in the numbers of businesses and workers involved in the cultural industries. In the 2018-2022 period, the number of economic establishments operating in these industries increased by 7.2% annually, while the workforce grew by 7.4% annually, attracting approximately 2.3 million workers, accounting for 4.42% of the total labour force.

Currently, six out of the 12 cultural industry sectors are experiencing significant growth.

The film industry, in particular, is showing a rapid development with an average annual production value increase of 8.03%. Young people constitute 80% of the cinema audience, indicating substantial potential for the sector to grow further. In 2023, the total revenue from the more than 25 Vietnamese films released reached 1.56 trillion VND. marking the first year when domestic films held over 42% of the market share in Vietnam's film industry.

Last year, revenue from cultural tourism was nearly 38 trillion VND out of the total tourism revenue of 672 trillion VND.

In the performing arts sector, creative, arts, and entertainment activities in the 2018-2022 period saw an average production value increase of 5.59%. There are currently 130 theaters and professional art troupes nationwide.

Meanwhile, the fine arts, photography, and exhibition sector has experienced an average production value increase of 6.5%.

In 2022, advertising revenue approximated 2.19 billion USD. The growth rate of the domestic advertising market was 12.7%, ranking fifth among the ASEAN countries.

Resources for developing cultural industries are diverse and rich, as Vietnam has both material resources such as natural landscapes, historical landmarks, festivals, and traditional handicrafts; and non-material ones such as cultural identity of the Vietnamese people, their creativity and characters, and intangible cultural heritage./.

Quang Ninh promotes local agricultural products’ value

The position and values of Quang Ninh traditional products have been solidified thanks to innovation in production, business practices, and quality improvement.

For the 2021-2025 period, Quang Ninh has identified the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme as a pivotal economic development initiative, integrated with the New Rural Development Programme and agricultural restructuring efforts, placing local residents at the forefront of implementation. The province has been focusing on developing key agricultural products linked to processing and consumption to enhance product values.

The OCOP programme has introduced a new direction for the profitable production and business of traditional products within the province. This has contributed to higher incomes for locals while fostering a shift in production mindset towards sustainability.

Currently, Quang Ninh boasts 417 OCOP products from 13 districts, townships, and cities, achieving ratings of 3-5 stars, an increase of 181 products since late 2020. Specifically, 315 products have attained three stars (up by 153), 98 four stars (up by 24), and four five stars (up by 4).

There are 212 production entities with products rated from three to five stars, marking an increase of 37 entities since late 2020. These include 55 enterprises, 83 cooperatives, and 74 household producers.

Key local products under the OCOP programme such as Tien Yen chicken, Ha Long squid paste, Ba Che yellow flower tea, Van Don fish sauce, and medicinal herbs are experiencing continuous growth, solidifying their reputation and trust among consumers while generating substantial income for locals.

According to Ninh Van Trang, Director of Dap Thanh Forestry Business Company Limited, Ba Che yellow flower tea is one of the products slated to achieve a 5-star OCOP rating. The company has been guided through all necessary procedures and is submitting its dossier to the central council for evaluation and selection. To meet the stringent 5-star standards, the company continuously enhances cultivation sources, machinery, production lines, design, packaging, and other aspects of the product. Currently, the product is further refining conditions to meet all OCOP 5-star criteria.

To expand its market, Quang Ninh has intensified trade promotion activities and connections for OCOP product consumption. Recently, the OCOP Quang Ninh Fair - Summer 2024 attracted nearly 56,000 visitors in six days, generating 17.9 billion VND (more than 700,000 USD).

The OCOP programme has fundamentally altered the local community's perception and approach towards agricultural production, fostering trust and creativity, and empowering residents to boldly enhance agricultural product values.

To assert their brands and market positions, many OCOP entities continue to invest in machinery to modernise their products by applying scientific and technological advancements in production, processing, and preservation.

The initiative to introduce agricultural products via e-commerce platforms is seen as a crucial strategy to help farmers, producers, and processing enterprises expand market access and enhance product value.

In addition to proactive efforts by production entities, Quang Ninh province has implemented numerous initiatives to encourage enterprises, cooperatives, and residents to leverage scientific advancements in OCOP product production, particularly through supportive policies and mechanisms such as brand building, trade promotion, product marketing, community, management, and scientific collaboration, and financial support for workshop construction and technology investment./.

Dung Quat refinery continues to receive crude oil from Dai Hung field

The Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP), the Petrovietnam Oil Corporation (PVOIL), and the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR) have signed a contract to supply crude oil from the Dai Hung field to the Dung Quat refinery.

In particular, the three reached consensus on the principle contract for the long-term supply of crude oil from Dai Hung to the Dung Quat refinery, based in the central province of Quang Ngai, in the 2024 - 2027 period.

The latest move is also a condition for expanding cooperation among the parties and enhancing the efficiency of the value chain in the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam).

During 2021 - 2024, the three have carried out a similar contract for the long-term supply of Dai Hung crude oil for the plant.

The work accords with the Government and Petrovietnam’s direction on maximising domestic crude oil supply for Vietnamese refineries to help ensure energy security and respond to adverse changes in the global crude oil market in a timely manner, according to PVEP.

The sides have successfully handed over and received about 6.44 million oil barrels, and recorded some 614.4 million USD in revenue.

At the signing ceremony in Hanoi on July 14, PVEP and the Petrovietnam Gas Corporation (PVGAS) also inked a memorandum of understanding on the supply and consumption of gas from the Ky Lan field.

The MoU is expected to create an important prerequisite for the development of oil and gas activities in the Red River basin in the Gulf of Tonkin./.

Korean Energy Agency seeks investment opportunities in Can Tho

Ha Vu Son, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, on July 18 received a delegation of the Korean Energy Agency (KEA) led by its President Lee Sang-hoon who came to seek investment opportunities in the city.

The KEA President said that the Republic of Korea (RoK) is making continuous efforts to support the establishment of a sustainable energy system in the international community and contribute to achieving global carbon neutrality. As part of those efforts, the KEA has implemented many projects abroad over the past 10 years to support climate change response and economic growth in other countries including Vietnam.

He wished that the RoK and Vietnam including Can Tho city will cooperate in the field of carbon neutrality.

He informed that KEA staff in Hanoi are performing energy audit work to help save energy and improve efficiency for factories, adding that the KEA is trying to expand the work to industrial parks.

Informing the delegation about the city and the projects that it is calling for investment, Son said that the city hopes the Korean agency will help it connect with Korean businesses to attract investment to its key projects. He cited as examples an airport-city project worth 5 billion USD and two seaports to facilitate the exports of goods from the Mekong Delta region.

He added that the city will assist and share experience with other Mekong Delta localities in the field of carbon neutrality and energy efficiency in industrial parks./.

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