Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Industry and Trade has recently announced the 2022 summer shopping stimulus programme and a plan to promote production and business activities in the city in the last months of this year.

The new feature of this year's programme is linking a variety of concentrated promotional activities and will create favourable conditions for consumers to shop more economically.

Specifically, the municipal industry and trade sector will cooperate with interdisciplinary units to organise the first phase of the Concentrated Promotion Programme in the city in 2022 from the June 15 to July 15; and the "Shopping Season" Promotion Fair from June 28 to July 3. Discounts will range from 30 percent to 100 percent.

The 15th International Exhibition on Electrical Technology & Equipment (VIETNAM ETE) and the 12th International Exhibition on Products, Technologies on Energy Saving & Green Power (ENERTEC EXPO) will be organised in the following months.

The sector also plans to hold the 2022 "Golden Brand” award, a programme to support business and product development in the fields of engineering - automation, rubber - plastic, and food - food stuff processing in the 2022-2025 period, a start-up development programme, and another supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Good signals for Vietnamese fruit exports

Many Vietnamese fruits are getting final negotiation steps done to enter new markets, with passion fruit approved by China and green-skin pomelo on the way to the US.

According to Le Van Thiet, deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Plant Protection Department, China has allowed piloting the import of Vietnamese passion fruit into Guangdong province via its border gates with Vietnam’s Lang Son and Quang Ninh provinces. The fruit must have growing area and packaging codes and meet food safety standards, among other criteria.

Vietnam’s negotiation for exporting durian to China also entered the final phase, with the sides working to complete a protocol regulating related plantations, codes of distributors, and diseases control.

Meanwhile, the US has already permitted the import of six Vietnamese fruits. The two sides are in their final step of negotiation for the fruit to enter the US market based on American consumers' demand.

For the Japanese market, which has accepted Vietnam’s dragon fruit, lychee, and mango, the Plant Protection Department is negotiating the export of local longan using a new cold processing method.

Large room for Vietnam to boost export of medicinal herbs to Japan

There remains large room for Vietnam to promote the export of medicinal herbs to Japan, especially when many Japanese pharmaceutical companies are planning to import these products from the Southeast Asian country, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan.

Data from Japan Customs, Vietnam raked in 8.6 million USD from exporting medicinal herbs to Japan in 2021.
 
The Vietnam Trade Office said that Japan has imported a lot of medicinal herbs from Vietnam. However, Vietnamese medicinal herbs account for a small share in the Japanese market, only 1.1 percent of the East Asian country's total import turnover of medicinal herbs.

According to Vietnam Trade Counsellor in Japan Ta Duc Minh, a number of Japanese pharmaceutical companies are interested in and highly valued Vietnamese medicinal herbs. China holds a large market share in most of the medicinal products that Vietnam are exporting to Japan.

However, Makoto Tamura, Director of Tochigi Factory of JPS Pharmaceutical Company, said his company plans to expand to its international projects so besides China, the firm intends to import medicinal materials from other countries, including Vietnam.

In order to boost the export of medicinal herbs to Japan, medicinal herb manufacturers and exporters of Vietnam need to pay special attention to planning planting areas, tending and harvesting medicinal herbs, and processing and post-harvest storage in order to meet Japan's strict regulations on food safety and hygiene, Minh said.

To fully tap opportunities in the Japanese market, Minh said that Vietnam needs to develop production chains associated with processing instead of just raw processing with low efficiency, especially focusing on attracting domestic and foreign investment into the sector towards developing large-scale pharmaceutical production and processing centres, he added.

Taruma said his firm attaches great importance to the traceability and understanding of the production of medicinal herbs by farmers to make sure that the quality of the raw materials for medicine production is good.

Vietnam finalises procedures to export longan to Japan

Vietnam is finalising procedures to get allowance to export longan to Japan – one of the world’s choosiest markets.

Japan has always been a market with strict standards in importing agricultural products. Meanwhile, more and more Vietnamese people are living and working in Japan, and Japanese consumers' tastes are also changing. Vietnamese food is gradually becoming more popular with great potential to gain a foothold in the market.

However, entering this choosy market is a process requiring efforts from many sides. Currently, Vietnam is allowed to export three kinds of fresh fruits to this market, namely dragon fruit, Cat Chu mango and lychee.

The Department of Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is conducting negotiations to open more doors for Vietnamese longan to penetrate this market.

In 2020, the Department of Plant Protection proposed applying the cold-pressure processing method for all varieties of longan and was accepted by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). The Japanese and Vietnamese sides spent many months developing a plan to carry out experiments applying this method.

If the cold-pressure processing technology is approved by the Japanese side, Vietnam will have a great opportunity to export this kind of fruit to this market.

VinFast to open over 50 stores in Europe

Automaker VinFast announced its plan to open more than 50 stores in Europe at the 35th International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition (EVS35) in Norway on June 14.

Accordingly, there will be at least 25 VinFast stores in Germany, 20 in France and five in the Netherlands.

The first stores will be built in Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, Oberhausen and Hamburg of Germany; Paris, Marseille, Nantes, Rennes, Nice, Montpellier, Aix en Provence and Metz of France; and Amsterdam of the Netherlands.

Vietnam's efforts in food safety control pay off: Ministry

Efforts in food safety control, including the establishment of a task force granting food safety certificates to noodles, have won recognition from the EU, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Vietnamese trade offices in Europe always have a role to play in this regard, the ministry further said.

The EU has recently excluded Vietnam’s vermicelli and other types of such products which cannot be classified as instant noodles from increased official controls. On June 13, it published a document amending another on the temporary increase of official controls and emergency measures governing the entry into the Union of certain goods from certain third countries.

For Vietnamese dragon fruit and instant noodles containing spices/seasonings or sauces still, it still requires food safety certificates by the ministry.

The decision takes effect from July 3, 2022.

Food exporters urged to evolve to tap into large markets

There remains untapped potential for Vietnam's exports of agricultural and food products to major markets in Asia, Europe and America, but it is important for Vietnamese enterprises to improve the quality of their products, sharpen their competitiveness, and better grasp current international consumption trends, experts have said. 

Vu Anh Son, a Vietnamese Trade Counselor in France, told vnbusiness that he failed to find any Vietnamese-branded cashew products in supermarket chains and hypermarkets in France, even though Vietnam's cashew now accounts for 50 percent of the French market. 

This unsatisfactory performance is attributable to the limited competitive capabilities of domestic enterprises and their focus on exporting or wholesaling agricultural and food products instead of developing brands to increase the added value of their food products. 

According to Son, increasing the added value of agricultural and food items will help strengthen the competitiveness of Vietnamese firms striving to export. They should also pay attention to current food consumption trends in imported markets, Son suggested. 

Despite good agricultural and food products the firms can offer for export, they still have insufficient research and understanding about approaching export markets and current food consumption trends in large markets such as Asia and Europe, Son added. 

Vietnam’s economic recovery remains strong despite global uncertainties: WB

The World Bank (WB) released the June edition of its monthly Vietnam Macro Monitoring on June 13, highlighting that the economic recovery remained strong despite heightened global uncertainties.

Industrial production continued a robust expansion of 10.4 percent year-on-year while retail sales rebounded with growth of 4.2 percent month-on-month and 22.6 percent year-on-year, suggesting strong recovery of private consumption.

About 173,000 international visitors arrived in May, about 70 percent higher than in April and the highest figure since April 2020, yet still less than 16 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Sales of consumer services, which were hit harder than the sales of goods last year, experienced a stronger rebound (41 percent year on year compared to 18.3 percent year on year, respectively).

The rebound was due to the booming accommodation and catering services, which increased by nearly 70 percent and were 12.4 percent higher its pre-pandemic level three years ago. Travelling also tripled compared to a year ago although it was about 60 percent lower than its pre-pandemic level.

Amid heightened global uncertainties, export growth slowed and imports growth plateaued.

FDI commitments were 879 million USD in May, the lowest level since September 2020, and nearly 50 percent lower than a year ago. This is the fourth consecutive month of decline, reflecting the heightened economic uncertainties caused by the protracted war in Ukraine and the health-related lockdowns in China.

On the other hand, FDI disbursement remained strong in May, up 8.5 percent year on year, marking a six-month expanding streak.

CPI inflation edged up from 2.6 percent in April to 2.9 percent in May driven by a rise in gasoline and diesel prices, which were 54.5 percent higher in May than a year ago. Producer price inflation showed signs of easing in May, with both input costs and output prices rising at the slowest rates in three months.

Credit growth remained strong at 16.9 percent year on year while overnight interbank interest rates dropped sharply from 1.73 percent in April to 0.33 percent as of the end of May.

Petrol prices rise sharply

The retail prices of oil and petrol continued to rise from June 13 following the latest adjustment by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Finance.

Accordingly, from 3pm, the price of RON95 bio-fuel was raised by 797 VND per litre to 32,375 VND (1.4 USD) per litre, while that of E5 RON92 rose by 882 VND per litre to 31,117 VND  per litre.

Meanwhile, the price of diesel oil was up by 2,626 VND per litre to 29,020 VND per litre. A rise of 2,493 VND per litre was also seen in the price of kerosene to 27,839 VND.

This is the sixth consecutive price hike in petrol prices since April 21 with total increases amounting to 5,060 VND and 4,640 VND per litre for RON95 and E5 RON 92, respectively.

VNPT wins five golds at IT World Awards 2022

The Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) has grabbed five gold, four silver, and three bronze awards at the Information Technology (IT) World Awards 2022.

The leading Vietnamese telecom firm won two gold awards for its social security management software (VNPT Social Security) and payment platform (Payment Platform), both of which have been integrated in many online public services.

These two special gold awards were honoured in the category of fighting and reducing the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

VNPT also bagged three gold awards for business support solutions, including its “Made in Vietnam” online meeting solution VNPT Gomeet, enterprise management software One Business, and the enrollment system vnEdu Enrollment.

Along with its five gold awards, VNPT’s other products have also received great praise and are highly appreciated by international experts.

Most notably, four silver awards went to its eContract in the CRM category, its Payment Platform in the SPDV category for government, as well as the VNPT Home & Clinic and vnCare in the category of SPDV for health care.

The three bronze awards went to vnEdu-ERMS Education Management Profile, VNPT Smart Voice smart voice solution, and vnFace face recognition application.

Australia launches anti-dumping probe into ammonium nitrate from Vietnam

Australia’s Anti-Dumping Commission (ADC) has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into ammonium nitrate products imported from Chile, Lithuania, and Vietnam, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (TRAV).

The items subject to investigation include ammonium nitrate, prilled, and granular, in solid forms which are either with or without additives or coatings and in packages which exceed 10 kg.

In Australia, ammonium nitrate is primarily used as a raw material in the preparation of explosives used in the mining and construction industries. At present, the dumping margin calculated by the ADC for ammonium nitrate products imported from Vietnam, Lithuania, and Chile stands at 34.8%, 36.6%, and 38.5%, respectively.

The dumping investigation period of the compound began from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 while the injury examination period was from April 1, 2018. Relevant businesses will be required to submit the questionnaire to the ADC before July 15.

The preliminary affirmative determination is set to be held on August 7, a total of 60 days from the initial date of the investigation.

The submission of the Statement of Essential Facts (SEF) is scheduled to be on September 26, 20 days after publication of the SEF.

The ADC will issue the final recommendation on November 10, following which the Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) will officially issue an expected decision within 30 days from the date of receiving the recommendation.

According to information provided by Trademap, Vietnam began exporting ammonium nitrate products to Australia in 2019, with 6,700 tonnes shipped. It raised the amount to roughly 38,600 tonnes in 2020 before cutting down to 16,200 tonnes in 2021.

Vietnamese rice noodles, glass noodles and pho noodles enter EU more easily
     
Vietnamese Trade Offices in Europe said on Monday that the EU has decided to exclude Vietnamese rice noodles, glass noodles and pho noodles from the category that requires additional food safety certificates when exported to the market.

At the same time, the EU continues to maintain the safety requirement on instant noodles originating from Viet Nam, whose ingredients contain spices and some other raw materials and food additives.

Likewise, Vietnamese dragon fruits is still on the list of imports that need additional food safety certificates since the fruits are still at high risk of food unsafety, and the frequency of batches being warned has not improved.

Notably, herbs continue to be subject to EU border inspections at a frequency of 50 per cent.

The decision will take effect from July 3, 2022. 

Animal husbandry must go high-tech for export expansion
     
Animal husbandry in Viet Nam must apply high-tech solutions to meet the quality requirements of foreign markets to expand exports, experts have said.

Although seeing significant developments in recent years as the industry has seen big companies step in, animal husbandry still failed to increase the export of meat products.

The export of processed meat remains modest compared to the scale of the husbandry industry.

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development statistics showed that the export of husbandry products was estimated at US$139 million in the first five months of this year, dropping by 16.2 per cent against the same period last year.

The country imported husbandry products worth $1.2 billion from January to May, meaning a trade deficit of nearly $1.2 billion in the period.

According to Nguyen Thanh Son, President of the Viet Nam Poultry Association, Singapore recently faced a shortage of chicken because Malaysia, which held a market share of 34 per cent in Singapore, banned the export of chicken from the end of May to ensure domestic consumption.

According to the agriculture ministry, the country's pig and poultry count developed stably in recent months as diseases did not occur on a large scale, but animal husbandry was hit by rising feed prices. The ministry said that high feed prices were eroding the competitiveness of meat products.

Southern firms face worker shortages

Many firms in southern industrial zones in HCM City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai are facing labour shortages despite offering higher salaries.

Ty Hung Footwear Company in HCM City's Binh Tan District has over 2,500 workers. The company's deputy director, Pham Thi Ut, said that they need to employ between 500-700 more workers but had not received any applicants.

Gilimex Garment Company in HCM City's Binh Thanh District is having orders from Europe and the US. After the Covid-19 pandemic was brought under control, the company built sites in some neighbouring provinces of Dong Thap and Dong Nai. The company is planning to employ more workers with a monthly salary of between VND8-13 million. However, they also have received few applications.

In Binh Duong Company, many firms in local industrial zones have also tried employing new staff.

Director of Binh Duong Production and Trade Company, Nguyen Lam, said that they have raised monthly salaries by 30-40 percent to between VND 10-12 million this year but still lack some 300 workers.

The Apparel Far Eastern Company has also found it difficult to attract 1,000 more workers to expand production.

According to the HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, some 37,000 local enterprises now need to employ over 83,000 workers. It is estimated that local firms would need between 135,000 - 150,000 new workers by the end of this year, yet there seems little interest.

The neighbouring province of Binh Duong would also face shortages of 70,000 new workers during the final months of this year according to the local Department of Labours, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Deputy director of Dong Nai Industrial Zones Management Board, Nguyen Van Danh, predicted that worker shortages would last until the end of this year.

Explaining the lack of workers, some firms in Binh Duong said that many workers left for their home towns during the Covid-19 outbreaks last year and had not returned.

To attract workers back, local authorities in Dong Nai Province are co-operating with some neighbouring provinces to implement housing and school projects for workers and their children so that they can have a more stable life when returning to work.

Hanoi pushes investment into industrial zones in 2022

Hanoi Industrial and Export Processing Zones Management Authority (HIZA) aims to complete one new industrial zone (IZ) and finalise investment procedures for two or three other industrial and hi-tech areas this year.

The message was delivered in a meeting held during the week of June 6 to sign cooperative minutes between HIZA and the the people’s committees of Hanoi’s different districts on bolstering state management efficiency for the zones’ operation.

At the meeting, Hanoi’s leaders demanded joint efforts to push the review of the zones’ development planning for the period from 2021 to 2030, with a vision toward 2050.

In light of the scheme to form two to five new IZs in Hanoi by 2025, Hanoi has committed to accomplishing the target of establishing the Soc Son green IZ over 302 hectares, the 300ha Dong Anh IZ, the 112ha Bac Thuong Tin IZ, the 389ha expanded Phu Nghia IZ in Chuong My district, and the 175ha Phung Hiep IZ in Thuong Tin district.

The city is also focused on accelerating the zones that already have developers like Quang Minh IZ in Me Linh district and Hanoi Bio Hi-Tech Zone in North Tu Liem district.

Hanoi also plans to remove hurdles to facilitate the implementation of the second phase of the Southern Hanoi Supporting Industrial Zone.

May auto sales soar by over 70%

Members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) sold over 43,800 autos in May, up 71% year-on-year, according to a VAMA report released on June 13.
Sales of locally assembled and imported completely built-up (CBU) vehicles saw a month-on-month increase of 1% and 7% in May, respectively.

Over 35,200 passenger cars were sold in May, while 7,930 commercial vehicles and 677 special-use vehicles found buyers last year.

Aside from the VAMA members, non-member automaker TC Motor sold 6,490 units last month, up over 430 cars year-on-year, while other non-member brands such as VinFast, Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Nissan, Subaru and Volkswagen have yet to publicize their sales.

The total sales of autos in the local market in May are estimated at over 60,000.

The country saw a sharp spike in auto sales in May, as this was the last month when locally assembled cars enjoyed a 50% cut in registration fees.

The June auto sales are forecast not to see a boom as strong as in May since the registration fee cut expired.

Between January and May, VAMA members sold nearly 176,700 cars, up 39% year-on-year. The sales of passenger cars and special-use vehicles soared by 57% at over 140,000 units and 21% at 2,900 units, respectively, while commercial vehicles saw a slight decline of 5% in sales at 33,700 in the first five months.

Due to the cut in registration fees, the sales of locally assembled cars during the five-month period climbed by 47% year-on-year to 105,000.

Over VND8.7 trillion proposed for Yen Bai-Lao Cai Expressway expansion

The Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has proposed expanding the Yen Bai-Lao Cai Expressway, part of the Noi Bai-Lao Cao Expressway, from two to four lanes. The project requires an estimated VND8.74 trillion (US$377.2 million).

In a proposal sent to the Ministry of Transport, VEC stated that having been put into operation for eight years, the Yen Bai-Lao Cai Expressway had showed problems. The actual average speed of vehicles is some 50 kilometers per hour, much lower than the designed speed of 80 kilometers per hour as vehicles found it hard to pass others in the mixed-purpose lane, posing a high risk of traffic accidents.

In addition, the road has failed to meet the scale and traffic safety requirements. Therefore, the expansion of the expressway is needed, according to the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam.

Moreover, in a decision approving the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway, the Ministry of Transport said the second phase of the project would be carried out after 2020.

VEC will mobilize capital to expand the 83-kilometer expressway from two to four lanes with a width of 24 meters. After being expanded, the expressway can allow a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

Of the total investment, nearly VND5.7 trillion will be used to expand the expressway and some VND3.1 trillion to build three bridges along the road.

HCMC Transport Dept proposes halving seaport fees

The HCMC Department of Transport has proposed the city government ask the People’s Council for approval to halve the seaport fees for goods transported on waterways.
The move was made after Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai asked the city to reconsider the seaport fee collection and the fees have been collected for two months, the local media reported.

The fees will be the same for enterprises in HCMC and other localities.

The proposal is aimed at encouraging enterprises to reduce the use of roads, contributing to easing road congestion and accidents. Meanwhile, the transport of cargo on waterways, currently accounts for only 20% of the market share, requires lower costs.

As 60% of the cargo passing through seaports in HCMC comes from other provinces, so the city has imposed higher fees on goods declared in other provinces to increase the volume of cargo passing through seaports in Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Long An. However, after two months of the fee collection, enterprises from other provinces have still chosen seaports in HCMC to file declarations for their goods.

HCMC officially began the seaport fee collection from April 1 with the lowest fee being VND15,000 per ton and the highest being VND4.4 million per ton.

JW Marriott Cam Ranh Bay Resort project fined for unlicensed constructions

The government of Khanh Hoa Province last week imposed an administrative fine of VND350 million on the Sao Phuong Nam Investment Corporation, the investor of the JW Marriott Cam Ranh Bay Resort & Spa project, due to the unlicensed construction of some facilities at the resort.

The investor’s management and spa facilities at the resort are not in compliance with its construction license. Moreover, the playground at the resort was built without a license, reported Phap Luat newspaper.

The JW Marriott Cam Ranh Bay Resort & Spa is located at the Northern Cam Ranh Peninsula Tourist Area in Cam Hai Dong Commune, Cam Lam District.

Earlier, the provincial government fined Cam Ranh Bayana Company VND440 million for unlicensed constructions at the Cam Ranh Bayana Resort.

DGC to pour VND57.3 trillion in two projects in Dak Nong

Duc Giang Chemicals Group JSC (DGC) will invest VND300 billion in a fertilizer factory and VND57 trillion in an aluminum complex in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong.

At a meeting with leaders of the province, DGC Chairman Dao Huu Huyen said the Duc Giang-Dak Nong fertilizer factory would produce NPK and potassium sulphate fertilizers with a respective capacity of 200,000 and 4,800 tons per year. The factory is expected to be built within 12 months.

As for the aluminum complex project, the Dak Nong government has allowed DGC to survey the location of bauxite mines in Tuy Duc and Dak Song districts and the location for aluminum factories in Thuan Ha and Thuan Hanh communes in Dak Song District.

Under the project, some 14.4 million bauxite ores is expected to be extracted per year and three ore processing factories with a combined annual capacity of 5.8 million tons of ores will be developed.

HCMC section of interprovincial beltway gets higher cost

The Transport Ministry has issued a decision approving the site clearance cost adjustment of the HCMC section of an interprovincial beltway from VND149 billion to nearly VND1.6 trillion.

The section connecting Tan Van in HCMC and Nhon Trach in neighboring Dong Nai Province is part of the Beltway No.3 project linking HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An.

The total investment cost of the Tan Van-Nhon Trach section was revised up to over VND6.955 trillion (US$300 million) from the initial original VND5.329 trillion (US$230 million).

The cost rise was attributed to the addition of VND1.626 trillion (US$70 million) to site clearance spending.

Of this, the site clearance cost in Dong Nai Province is up from some VND476 billion to over VND651 billion, and the cost in HCMC to nearly VND1.6 trillion from the previous VND149 billion.

The capital adjustment also led to changes in the percentage of capital pledged for the section. Official Development Assistance provided by South Korea is US$190.77 million, and the Vietnamese Government’s reciprocal capital is over VND2.779 trillion.

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