The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho is boosting the development of agricultural and rural tourism to increase added value for agricultural products and improve the lives of rural people.

The city boasts natural advantages for developing agricultural and rural tourism, especially river-related tourism, as it is surrounded by rivers and canals and rural areas account for more than 60% of its total area.

It has 158 rivers and canals, including Hau river, a tributary of the Mekong river. The Hau river runs a total length of 65km through the city.

The city has many localities that offer tourism services in fruit orchards such as My Khanh tourism village in Phong Dien district, Son riverine island in Binh Thuy district and Tan Loc riverine island in Thot Not district.

Ly Van Bon of Son riverine island has successfully implemented a model of breeding fish in floating cages in the Hau river in combination with offering tourism services.  

He breeds various types of fish and decorates his floating cages with flower pots, coconut-leaf roofs and small boats made from plastic bottles to serve tourists taking photos.

With these, he receives about 7,000 tourists a year and provides jobs for 40 local workers.

Previously, many farmers on the island worried that tourists could make fish and fruit trees die, but they no longer think that now, he said.

After visiting, tourists buy fruit and fish, and farmers have additional income from selling these products directly to tourists and offering tourism services, he said.

Dao Thi Thanh Thuy, Deputy Director of the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said many farmers in Phong Dien, Cai Rang, Binh Thuy and Thot Not districts have offered tourism services in their fruit orchards.

The development of agricultural and rural tourism has improved incomes for farmers and the infrastructure in rural areas, she said.

In the first quarter of this year, the city received more than 1.5 million tourists, up 76% from the same period last year, and most of the tourists chose to visit ecotourism and agricultural tourism sites and floating markets, she said.

Agricultural tourism services have helped promote the city’s specialised products and products recognised under the country’s “One Commune-One Product” (OCOP) programmes to more consumers.

Tran Thai Nghiem, Deputy Director of the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the city has 92 OCOP products and is promoting their sales at tourism destinations.

Thuan Hoa Food in Ninh Kieu district produces a tea product made from roasted red bean, green bean, black bean, soy bean and brown rice, and it has been recognised as an OCOP product.

Ly Tien Nghia, a representative of Thuan Hoa Food, said the tea is showcased and sold at the Son Riverine Island Agricultural Tourism Cooperative in Binh Thuy district.

Tourists visiting Son riverine island are introduced to the methods and materials used for making the tea and then can taste it, he said.

Tourism destinations are effective channels for promoting sales of products, he said. 

He will take the tea to the My Khanh tourism village in Phong Dien district to introduce it to more tourists, he said.

Can Tho is targeting half of its agricultural and rural tourism services will meet the standards of serving tourists by 2025.

It also aims for 70% of people working in agricultural and rural tourism fields be provided professional skills to serve tourists by 2025.  

To meet the targets, the city will focus on developing tourism products that have high quality, are diversified, and meet the requirements of tourists.

It will assist the owners of tourism accommodations to improve their facilities to increase tourism quality and protect the environment.

Can Tho will preserve and develop food making villages and agricultural production, and assist craftmen to develop their production.

It will focus on training tour guides who have deep knowledge about the city’s culture and agriculture and can speak foreign languages.

The city will also provide training courses on professional skills for orchard owners to improve their capacity of managing and developing fruit orchards that offer tourism services.

It is expected to receive 1.3 million tourists visiting agricultural and rural tourism sites in 2025.

Phnom Penh forum connects Vietnamese and Cambodian businesses

More than 100 Vietnamese and Cambodian firms attended a joint trade forum in Phnom Penh on June 7 to support businesses of the two countries to learn about their markets, seek investment and trade cooperation opportunities, and distribute products.

Addressing the forum, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang noted economic cooperation is a major pillar of great interest and promotion by senior leaders of the two countries, especially following the 20th meeting of the Vietnam - Cambodia Joint Commission in March 2023 and the 12th Border Provinces Cooperation Conference in April 2023.

Amid global difficulties and challenges, such as supply chain disruptions, high inflation, reduced aggregate demand, and slow growth in some major economies, he said the two governments have introduced many solutions to restore and develop their post-pandemic economies, with a focus on promoting trade, investment attraction, and tourism services.

In this context, strengthening economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia is necessary in order to bring into full play the potential and advantages of the two neighboring countries, creating more opportunities to expand cooperation and increase trade exchanges between the two countries, he said.

Through the forum, the ambassador expressed hope that participating businesses would get up-to-date information about the two markets, share difficulties and obstacles they have faced, and propose solutions to solve the problems, aiming to ramp up bilateral trade and investment cooperation.

The forum gives businesses of the two countries the chance to exchange information, directly meet, connect, find potential partners and build long-term business and investment cooperation partnerships for the benefit of the two countries’ business communities and the development of the two economies, he stressed.

At the forum, Cambodian officials introduced trade and investment cooperation policies and opportunities in Cambodia. Vietnamese businesses also introduced major products to seek partners in future.

Banks advised to pay attention to liquidity when large savings mature

Banks will have to exercise caution to ensure stable liquidity when trillions of Vietnamese dong in savings deposits reach their maturity dates over the next few months, according to experts.

During the period of high interest rates from September to December last year, a large amount of savings was poured into the banking system. According to the statistics from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), by the end of December 2022, total deposits at credit institutions amounted to VND11.82 quadrillion. A significant portion of these deposits was in six-month terms and will begin to mature soon.

In addition, the banking system primarily mobilised short-term capital, with about 88 per cent of deposits being of a 12-month term or less. This means that in the near future, there will be more short-term deposits reaching their maturity periods.

Meanwhile, the interest rate for six-month deposits is currently only 5.5 per cent per year at large-sized banks and around 7 per cent per year at smaller-sized banks, which is much lower than last year. The lower interest rates could deter these maturing savings from returning to banks.

On the other hand, recent data from the SBV showed that credit growth is still higher than deposits. Specifically, by mid-May, capital raised by credit institutions exceeded VND12.4 quadrillion, an increase of 2.1 per cent compared to the end of 2022. Meanwhile, outstanding loans of the whole economy surpassed VND12.25 quadrillion, an increase of 2.72 per cent compared to the end of 2022. This data suggests that the liquidity situation of banks is still under pressure, while a large amount of savings from the end of 2022 is about to mature.

Hoang Cong Tuan, chief economist of Military Bank’s Securities Company (MBS), stated that deposit interest rates increased significantly from the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, causing banks' net profit margins to narrow. Consequently, banks have recently made numerous moves to lower deposit interest rates. The larger banks have begun to lower the deposit rate to below 7 per cent. In the future, banks will continue to reduce the rate.

Tuan said the SBV recently injected a large amount of money into the banking system through the purchase of US$6 billion, and at the same time it opened up the open market operation (OMO) channel.

Tran Ngoc Bau, general director of financial data provider Wi Group, said the liquidity of the banking system is slightly redundant as the SBV pumped out VND80 trillion through the OMO. It is forecast that the SBV can pump in an additional VND30 trillion.

However, Bau said, the liquidity is only redundant in the short term as total credit in the economy is still higher than deposits. In addition, banks’ bad debts inched up while the bad debt coverage ratio decreased rapidly. Although there have been policies to delay and restructure the debts, the rise of the debts is still putting considerable pressure on banks' liquidity.

Even if the SBV injects more liquidity, banks will tend to protect themselves first by hoarding money instead of boosting lending because the bad debts is increasing while the bad debt coverage ratio is plummeting. The SBV’s policy interest rates may decrease further, but lending rates or deposit rates of commercial banks will decrease more slowly, Bau forecast. 

VN businesses need to embrace green practices to export to EU

Vietnamese exporters must foster “sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour” throughout their global value chains to boost exports to the EU, experts have said.

Speaking at the Viet Nam ESG Investor Conference in HCM City last week, Daniël Stork, the Netherlands consul general, said the EU is adopting new rules and regulations to support its climate ambitions such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

The mechanism is a real game changer in the way companies operate throughout their global supply chain, experts noted.

It would impose environmental, social and governance rules for imports, they said.

For Vietnamese exporters to the EU, it means there would be strong incentives to invest in ESG to enjoy low tariffs and easy access to the market, they added.

Speaking at a recent meeting in Viet Nam, Sirpa Jarvenpaa, director of the Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership, said the CBAM is one of the key tools for the EU to move towards the net carbon emission goal by 2050.

It sets a price on carbon emissions associated with imports of certain goods into the EU, which would directly affect Vietnamese exporters since the bloc is one of Viet Nam’s key markets, she warned.

The mechanism aims to tackle “carbon leakage”, referring to firms moving their production from the EU to places with less stringent emissions regulations to avoid carbon pricing and gain a competitive advantage, she said.

CBAM is set to take effect in October with a three-year transitional phase before becoming fully operational in 2034.

It will initially apply to imports such as steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium, electricity, and hydrogen, sectors that account for 94 per cent of the EU’s industrial emissions and with a high risk of carbon leakage.

Viet Nam committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2021.

Experts have said the path to green growth is not easy considering the low awareness of environmental protection in the business community. 

Supporting businesses to promote online exports

Viet Nam could see its e-commerce export revenues rise to VND296.3 trillion (US$12.5 billion) by 2027, heard the 2023 Cross-Border E-Commerce Conference in Viet Nam in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

Amazon Global Selling and Viet Nam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA), Ministry of Industry and Trade kicked off their Cross-Border E-Commerce (CBEC) Conference in Viet Nam in response to growing demand from Vietnamese businesses and to empower them to capture the rising CBEC opportunity.

With the theme “Embrace Asian Experience, Vietnamese Brands Go Global”, held in Ha Noi on Wednesday and HCM City on Friday, the event will include a CBEC conference to share the most updated insights and information about the e-commerce export industry, a connecting day for 14 services providers in many services domains and presenting successful Amazon selling partners from South Korea, Singapore and Viet Nam.

According to the latest research by Access Partnership, Viet Nam could see its e-commerce export revenues rise to VND296.3 trillion ($12.5 billion) by 2027 if local businesses are fully enabled and accelerate the rate at which they adopt e-commerce to export their products and services.

The survey conducted among around 300 domestic micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Viet Nam found that 86 per cent of MSMEs believe that without e-commerce, they would be unable to export at all and they would lack the capacity to do exporting activities.

Moreover, local MSMEs are also looking towards expanding their footprint in more markets such as the United States, Japan, and European countries, over the next five years.

Seeing the potential of this industry, Amazon Global Selling is thus joining hands with Viet Nam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) to organise CBEC Conference 2023 in Viet Nam with an expectation of raising awareness of CBEC among local enterprises, bringing online export experience from other countries in the region and from industry experts from service providers to empower, encourage and support businesses to accelerate their international growth while introducing more Vietnamese products and brands to customers around the world through CBEC.

This event is regarded as the first large-scale independent CBEC Conference in Viet Nam, acknowledging the participation of government representatives, industry associations, 14 service providers and successful sellers from Asia, and expects to welcome more than 1,500 visitors.

With the participation of representatives from government agencies and Amazon Global Selling Viet Nam business leaders, visitors can get updates about CBEC opportunities, trends, the readiness of Viet Nam for this new trade format, some initiatives and priorities from government and Amazon Global Selling to companion and empower Vietnamese businesses to achieve long-term growth and pave the way for global brands.

Amazon Global Selling was committed to enhancing the growth of businesses in Viet Nam and equipping them to embrace changes and reach new heights in this new global environment, he added.

iDEA has diversified its programmes to promote digital transformation, round off online export policies, identify the barriers MSMEs face, provide educational resources and training programmes to help Vietnamese businesses expand internationally, and achieve success on a global scale, said Anh.

Since setting up a dedicated team in Viet Nam in 2019, Amazon Global Selling has enabled thousands of Vietnamese selling partners to bring millions of Made-in-Viet Nam products to worldwide customers every year.

Export plays an important role in Viet Nam’s economy, with cross-border e-commerce booming worldwide, Amazon Global Selling is committed to working with government agencies and industry partners to help more Vietnamese MSMEs and brand owners capture this opportunity. 

Vietnam a model in trade cooperation: EC official

Executive Vice President of the European Commission (EC) Valdis Dombrovskis, who is also Trade Commissioner, has affirmed that the European Union (EU) has regarded Vietnam as its important partner in the region, and called the Southeast Asian nation a model in impressive trade cooperation, especially after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into force in 2020.

Speaking at a meeting with the ASEAN Brussels Committee (ABC) in Brussels on June 6, Dombrovskis noted that the EU will increase its investment in Vietnam, particularly in significant such areas as just energy transition, and sustainable development.

Vietnam’s Vice Ambassador to Belgium Vu Thu Thuy emphasised that the EU is an important partner of Vietnam, and trade cooperation remains a bright spot and a pillar of the bilateral ties.

After the coming into force of the EVFTA, the two-way trade has grown more than 30% annually despite uncertainties in the regional and global situation, she said, suggesting the two sides continue their coordination to effectively materialise the existing agreements, while expanding their collaboration in other spheres like circular economy, green energy, smart agriculture and digital economy.

Thuy also called on the EU to increase its high-quality investment in Vietnam, and help the country in the transfer of cutting-edge technologies, and capacity improvement in the time ahead.

Regarding the ASEAN-EU relations, the official said Vietnam stands ready to cooperate and share experience, towards common goals of ASEAN.

She also suggested ASEAN and the EU further optimise cooperation channels, frameworks and forums to effectively coordinate in addressing challenges in the spirit of mutual benefits.

Dombrovskis also noted that the 10-member grouping is the EU’s third biggest trade partner, and vice versa, and the two sides boast substantial potential and advantages to expand their cooperation, especially in economy, trade and investment.

Apart from trade, the EU wishes to partner with ASEAN in other fields like green transition, digital transformation and sustainable supply chain, he added.

The ASEAN countries expressed their wish that the EU will step up cooperation with the bloc, and suggested the two sides enhance dialogues and hold all-level negotiations to improve their mutual trust and understanding, and narrow development gaps.

Oil companies see positive Q1, shares witness growth

In the context of the general market moving sideways, oil and gas stocks have gone against the trend to increase rapidly, which was supported by positive information from billion-dollar domestic oil and gas projects.

One of the stocks that gained the most was PVS of PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS). In the past month, the company's shares have increased by 21 per cent in market prices. Compared to the beginning of this year, this stock has increased by 35 per cent, currently trading at VND35,000 per share.

In Q1, net revenue of PVS decreased slightly by 1.7 per cent to VND3.7 trillion. However, gross profit went up by 5.8 per cent thanks to the gross margin of Mechanical & Construction (M&C) segment.

Although it is an enterprise operating in the oil and gas field, PVS still benefits from the National Power Development Plan VIII, which guides the development of power plants and power grids between 2021 and 2030, recently approved by the Government.

According to the plan, the Government has prioritised the development of gas power using domestic gas sources to reduce the dependence on imported LNG sources. This can promote Viet Nam’s long-stalled multi-billion dollar gas field development projects such as Block B and Blue Whale to ensure domestic gas resources.

PVS will also expand offshore wind power investment, besides providing traditional oil and gas services. Currently, PVS has won a Mechanical & Construction (M&C) contract to produce 33 stands for offshore wind farms of Orsted company from Taiwan. PVS is bidding for offshore renewable energy projects in the Japanese, South Korean, American, and European markets.

In addition to PVS, most oil and gas companies' stock prices witnessed double-digit growth compared to the beginning of this year. For example, Binh Son Refinery (BSR) increased by 20 per cent; PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Service Corporation (PVD) rose by 30 per cent; PVOil (OIL) gained by 23 per cent; Viet Nam’s National Petroleum Group (PLX) climbed by 14 per cent; and especially PV Coating (PVB) up by 67 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2023, the group of oil and gas companies all announced positive business results as the oil price remained at US$80 per barrel. Some enterprises have achieved about 50 per cent of the whole year’s target.

PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT) is the only unit in Viet Nam that transports domestically exploited crude oil to two refineries in the country. In Q1, PVTrans recorded net revenue that was almost flat compared to the same period last year. Profit after tax increased by 24 per cent to VND240 billion due to the increase in fleet efficiency and financial performance. Compared to the annual plan, the enterprise has achieved 45 per cent of the profit target.

Pham Viet Anh Chairman of PVTrans's Board of Directors, said that this year, the international shipping market is forecast to be still relatively positive, so this year's profit of PVTrans may exceed VND1 trillion.

Meanwhile, at PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Service Corporation (PVD)’s 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, the leader of this company said that the rental price of the company's drilling rigs increased by 30-35 per cent compared to last year, some rigs increased by 40 per cent, which foresees positive signs of the market. PV Drilling forecasts that after-tax profit can reach more than VND200 billion, double the initial plan. 

Dong Nai to export first durian batch to China

The southern province of Dong Nai has planned to export the first 400 tonnes of durian to China.

The information was given by the local Department of Agriculture of Rural Development at a press conference about the Long Khanh Fruit Festival and the week to introduce and honour One Commune, One Product products and fruits of Dong Nai Province in 2023.  

The event will take place in Long Khanh Victory Monument Park in Xuan An Ward, Long Khanh City from June 15-23. Around 40 stalls will display different kinds of fruit and farm produce. The products belong to farmers and enterprises across Dong Nai.

Many activities will be held at the event, including the introduction of community tourism models and processed products from local fruit and agricultural outputs.

Long Khanh City will also organise a ceremony marking the first export of 400 tonnes of durians to China on June 16.

Dong Nai is home to 24,000 hectares of already-granted planting area codes for export to China, the US, New Zealand, Australia and European countries.

Durian is among Long Khanh City’s main crops.

First litchi exports to China by rail

The Customs Department of Dong Dang International Railway Station in the northern border province of Lang Son has piloted the transportation of litchi to China by rail to cope with the huge backlog of goods along the border during the harvest season.

According to the department, some 20 containers have been exported on each train during the pilot period. It costs about VND 30 million to transport a refrigerated container and around VND 20 million for a normal container from Vietnam's Bac Giang Province to China's Pingxiang City by train. The transportation time is approximately 12 hours.

After the successful pilot, the department has informed local agriculture products export firms about the official operation of this service so that firms can have more choices for transportation.

As major fruits are entering the peak harvest season in Vietnam, some border gates with China in the northern provinces including Lang Son and Lao Cai have faced serious congestion due to high export volumes. The situation has caused heavy losses to businesses and farmers.

China remained the top buyer of Vietnamese agriculture produce. By the end of last May, China spent USD805 million buying Vietnamese vegetables and fruits, accounting for 59 percent of the market share.

The Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association forecast that the fruit and vegetable export to China will increase sharply in the coming time as some kinds of fruit are entering the peak harvest season. Litchi, jackfruit, mango, durian and dragon fruit are popular with Chinese consumers.

Rolling power blackouts hit Vietnamese businesses

Many companies in Vietnam have been affected by ongoing rotational power cuts.

Hung Long Garment and Service JS Company in the northern province faced a power cut from June 3 to midday of June 6. Ngo Minh Hoan, director of the firm, said he has never witnessed such power outages.

The garment and textile sector is currently struggling with many difficulties after the Covid-19 pandemic and repeated electricity cuts have worsened the situation. 

Workers at Hung Long Garment and Service JS Company

The company was not informed of electricity cuts on June 3, so 4,000 staff still turned up for work and had to then return home.

Hoan worried that if the situation did not improve, his company would fail to ensure orders for its partners.

Nguyen Van Tan, chairman of Hosiden Vietnam Ltd. Co.’s Trade Union in the northern province of Bac Giang, said that the firm had responded to the electricity saving campaign over the past two days, and operates for eight hours per day. This would be maintained for around 20 days to come.

Despite having power generators, they could not meet demand.

“Our orders in June have increased 1.5 fold compared to May. However, power shortages have hit our production capacity. We have had to halve capacity, prioritising major orders only,” Tan noted.

Tran Van Ha, deputy director of Bac Giang’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said local authorities held a meeting on power supply. Power would be prioritised for production activities during the daytime and for households in the evening.

Power will be ensured for enterprises from 7:45 am to 5 pm every day. Companies which have urgent orders need to register with the electricity sector and the management board of industrial parks and economic zones for the additional power supply from midnight to 5 am.

He did point out however that this was a temporary solution. He hoped that solutions to deal with the power shortage were found as soon as possible.

Deputy PM requests MoC to amend fire prevention regulations

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha has tasked the Ministry of Construction (MoC) with studying, reviewing, and amending the criteria on fire safety for buildings and constructions to correspond with the recent technological advances without wasting social capital.

This was one of the points included in the announcement of DPM Tran Hong Ha's conclusion at the conference to address obstacles associated with fire prevention and defence regulations in construction and investment activities.

According to experts, many of Vietnam's new fire prevention regulations exceed those of developed nations and do not account for their applicability. Several initiatives under the previous plan to assure compliance with Decree No.79/2014/ND-CP are now being evaluated and must comply with the new regulations issued in Decree No.136/2020/ND-CP.

Numerous recently issued standards and regulations fail to differentiate project scope, construction properties, use requirements, and unlicensed fireproof materials on the Vietnamese market. Due to their inability to meet the new law, a variety of firms, production facilities, and commercial enterprises will be forced to close.

According to data from the Science, Technology and Environment Department under the MoC, QCVN No.06:2022/BXD came into effect on January 16. Up to April 20, no new construction projects have been initiated since the regulation's implementation.

The DPM asked the MoC to oversee the drafting of the government's resolution to eradicate obstacles for construction investment activities based on each facility and establishment type.

MoIT extends deadline for steel cable antidumping ruling

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has extended the deadline for providing a decision following an investigation into how to apply anti-dumping measures to Malaysian, Thai, and Chinese prestressed steel cables.
 
According to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (TRAV), the MoIT issued Decision No. 1327/QD-BCT to extend the deadline for issuing a decision to investigate the case file and associated information on June 5.

The extension is for a further thirty days and should be sufficient for the submission of a ruling following an investigation into implementing anti-dumping regulations for imported prestressed steel cable products by July 5.

Article 70, clause 2, of the Law on Foreign Trade Management states, "Within 45 days of the date of notification of valid dossiers, based on the recommendations of the investigating bodies. The MoIT Minister decides whether to conduct an investigation or not. In exceptional circumstances, the decision-making period may be extended once for no more than 30 days."

TRAV obtained a dossier from an enterprise representing the domestic manufacturing industry on April 7 requesting an investigation into the application of anti-dumping measures on high-export-value prestressed steel cable products from Malaysia, Thailand, and China. On April 20, TRAV issued Official Letter No. 29/TB-PVTM, validating the dossier's completeness and legality in accordance with the Law on Foreign Trade Management.

Northern Vietnam lacks between 30 and 50 million kWh daily

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has warned that the northern power grid faces a shortfall of approximately 4,350MW. It has a median daily generation of approximately 30.9 million kWh; however, the largest daily output can reach 50.8 million kWh.
 
Tran Viet Hoa, director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam under the MoIT, stated on June 7 that power supply difficulties do exist.

He said that the total accessible capacity of the northern power system (including imported electricity) that can be mobilised to satisfy electricity demand is between 17,500 and 17,900MW (approximately 59.2 per cent of the installed capacity).

This capacity consists of approximately 2,500 to 2,700MW of transmission from the south and central regions to the north via the 500kV Nho Quan-Ha Tinh transmission line.

During the approaching sweltering days, electricity demand in the north may reach 23,500 to 24,000MW. Thus, the northern grid will fall short by approximately 4,350MW. According to Hoa, the system confronts the danger of capacity scarcity for the majority of the day.

Hoa confirmed that many provinces and cities in the North have intermittently shut off the power recently due to supply issues.

General director of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Tran Dinh Nhan stated, "From mid-April to the present, it has been problematic to supply enough electricity to customers."

According to EVN, the intense heat and the impact of the El Nino phenomenon in many regions of the country have driven up people's daily electricity demands. This, coupled with the extremely low water levels in hydroelectric reservoirs, has had a significant impact on the power supply during the dry season of 2023.

Manufacturing conditions weaken further in May

The Vietnamese manufacturing sector continued to contract in May due to weakening demand and declining business confidence.

The sector has experienced deteriorating conditions for the third consecutive month as the official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was 45.3 last month, down from 46.7 in April.

This marks the sector’s sharpest decline since September 2021, with new orders slipping rapidly and reaching the lowest level in 20 months. Difficulties in securing sales were also observed in export markets, with outbound shipments decreasing for the third straight month.

In response to falling orders, firms reduced their output in the second quarter of the year. Production has declined for three consecutive months, with the sharpest pace since January.

Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, expressed concern over the steep slide in new orders, suggesting a potentially prolonged downturn in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector. Businesses responded by reducing output, employment, and purchasing.

Waning demand also led to a decrease in supplier prices, resulting in the first drop in input costs in three years. This provided some flexibility for firms to lower their own prices in an attempt to stimulate demand.

The weakened demand also impacted business confidence, although some firms remained hopeful that a recovery would begin in the coming months.

Harker added that the upcoming data would be crucial in indicating any signs of improvement.

Only 30-40% of real estate brokerages stay afloat – VARS

The sluggish real estate market has left adverse impact on property brokers and developers nationwide, with operational real estate brokerages accounting for 30-40% of the total in late 2022.

A market report released on June 6 by the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) said 554 real estate companies exited the market in the first five months of the year, up 30.4% compared to the same period last year. The number of new entrants into the market also decreased by 61.4% compared to last year, totaling 1,744.

In the first quarter, real estate companies posted a 6.46% year-on-year decline in revenue, while their profit after tax plummeted by 38.6% compared to the same period last year.

The rising inventory buildup has compelled developers to suspend operations due to insufficient resources to complete half-done projects.

In its report, VARS describes the housing market as cash-starved, lackluster, and imbalanced.

In 2022, the housing market had about 48,500 housing units available for sale, representing over 20% of the number recorded in 2018, with the majority being luxury apartments. However, this figure dropped to 25,000 in the first quarter this year, primarily consisting of unsalable products from 2022, indicating a lack of new housing projects.

The abundance of high-end properties coupled with declining demand has resulted in a sharp decline in property transactions, reaching only 19,000 during this period, equivalent to 17% of the number of transactions in 2018.

A VARS survey found that over 90% of respondents reported lower revenue in the first quarter. Among them, 39% of respondents saw revenue falling 20% to 50%, while 61% reported a revenue drop of over 50% compared to the same period last year. Some companies with fewer than 100 employees saw revenue dipping 70-80%.

Unfavorable business conditions have forced companies to lay off workers. Data showed that over 95% of property firms nationwide had cut employment by the end of last year, with 50% of them terminating over 20% of their employees compared to the second quarter last year.

If the current situation persists, VARS predicted that 23% of the country’s real estate firms may pull out of the market by the end of the third quarter, and only 43% would be able to resume operations by the end of the year.

The woes faced by the real estate sector could have a domino effect on other industries and the overall economy due to the interconnected relationships between real estate, insurance, banking, and securities.

TikTok’s violations in Vietnam found, says official

The ongoing inspection into the operations of social media platform TikTok in Vietnam, set to conclude this month, has uncovered a number of regulatory violations, said Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam.

He said that the inspection found the global leading short-video platform had committed several violations of Vietnamese laws.

Still, as the inspection is still underway, the authorities would be unable to provide details about the breaches, added Lam.

The Ministry of Information and Communications, in collaboration with relevant agencies, has conducted a comprehensive inspection of TikTok’s activities in Vietnam since mid-May, focusing on how its algorithm distributes content that can create trends on social media.

The effort was expected to ensure TikTok operations comply with the Vietnamese legal framework, preventing fake news, superstition and disinformation from spreading on the platform owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.

According to the Authority of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information, six major violations of TikTok Vietnam include TikTok’s failure to handle content violations; its algorithm to spread content, even offensive ones for views; the lack of measures to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods; the mismanagement of TikTok idols’ activities; non-copyrighted content; and the mismanagement of personal data.

TikTok’s representatives said that the inspection would be an opportunity for the firm to listen to feedback from the Government and improve its operations in Vietnam.

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