The northern province of Vinh Phuc will call for further Japanese investment at a conference to be held in Vinh Yen city on June 23, the provincial People's Committee has announced. 

The conference is expected to attract over 800 delegates, including leaders of relevant ministries and sectors and the Japanese and Vietnamese business communities, it said. 

With significant investment in building transport and industrial infrastructure, as well as favourable mechanisms and policies in support of investors, Vinh Phuc is emerging as an attractive destination for Japanese businessmen.

Currently, Japan is the province's second-largest foreign investor after the Republic of Korea with nearly 60 projects worth over 1.4 billion USD. These projects are mainly in the fields of automobiles, motorcycles, processing and manufacturing.

Aiming at markets with strengths in science and technology like Japan, local projects seeking investment are concentrated in sectors like support industry, tourism services, high-tech agriculture and socio-economic infrastructure development.

THACO plant to export more car boots to Malaysia

The car body component plant of THACO Industries, a member of Truong Hai Group, is planning to export more than 25,000 sets of KIA Carnival boots to Malaysia between 2022 and 2026.

Recently, it exported more than 700 similar sets to this market, marking a stride in the factory’s development as the KIA Carnival boot is its first product to be sold to a foreign market, THACO said.

The boots are manufactured on a modern line transferred from the Republic of Korea’s KIA Group - one of the world’s leading automakers.

Apart from the boots, the plant also produces and supplies many other car body parts like front doors, rear doors, and hoods for different series, including KIA Cerato, KIA Soluto, KIA Seltos, KIA Carnival, and MAZDA 3 All New, MAZDA CX-5 and MAZDA CX-8.

Consultation workshops aim to boost exports to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia

The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade will host a consultation workshop in the southern province of Tay Ninh on June 21 for exporters interested in the markets of Laos and Thailand.

The hybrid event will also be held virtually on Zoom and livestreamed on Vietrade’s Facebook Fanpage.

A similar event will be held the next day to support Vietnamese businesses to export agricultural and food products to Cambodia.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam’s trade with Laos reached 708.2 million USD in the first five months of 2022, with Vietnam’s exports to the neighbouring country declining 11.7 percent year-on-year to 247.2 million USD.

Vietnam mostly shipped to Laos iron and steel products, vehicles and parts, machinery and accessories, fertilisers, plastics, and vegetables.

Thailand has remained among Vietnam’s top 10 trade partners for years. Data from the International Trade Centre (ITC) showed that the bilateral trade between the two countries increased seven-fold to 16.58 billion USD in 2020 from 2.31 billion USD in 2004, with annual growth averaging over 11 percent.

Thai consumers are mostly in favour of aquatic products, vegetables, cashew nuts, coffee, pepper and fruits from Vietnam.

Vietnam and Cambodia enjoyed an annual average growth of 17 percent in bilateral trade from 2016 – 2020 to reach 5.32 billion USD in 2020.

Vietnam’s exports to Cambodia was worth 4.8 billion USD in 2021, a year-on-year rise of 15.7 percent from the previous year. The figure surged by 31.2 percent in the first five months of this year to 2.6 billion USD.

Hot weather forecast to become more extreme in northern, central regions

While the northern and central regions are experiencing scorching heat, the forecasting centre said the heat may become more extreme in the time ahead.

Extreme temperature could be recorded in the northern region as well as northern and central parts of the central region in July. There is a 70 - 80 percent possibility that heat with the highest temperature of over 37 degrees Celsius will appear, said Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Mai Van Khiem.

However, heat waves in the regions are unlikely to be as severe or long as in 2021, he noted, adding that temperature in the north this July will approximate the average of the previous years, but be around 0.5 degree higher than average in August - September and 0.5 degree below average during October - December.

The same forecast was issued for the central region.

Meanwhile, the temperature in the Central Highlands and southern regions will be about 0.5 degree higher than average during July - September and approximate the average in the last quarter of 2022.

Manufacturers urged to meet new consumption trends

The way people buy and consume goods has changed a great deal after the COVID-19 pandemic, and enterprises should understand this to develop suitable products, a seminar heard in Ho Chi Minh City this week.

Speaking at the seminar, Nguyen Cao Ngoc Dung, a senior manager at NielsenIQ Vietnam, said the pandemic has accelerated the ascendance of wellness as a dominant consumer value all around the world.

Consumers are increasingly aware that all aspects of their lives – where they live, how they work, what they eat, and how they exercise, socialise and travel – impact their health outcomes, mental influence and overall sense of well-being. They strive to protect themselves against immediate threats to their health and well-being, she said.

Be it daily hygiene habits or minimising exposure to disease and pollution, these fundamental health priorities are top of mind for them, she said.

A Nielsen IQ survey found 39 percent of consumers in the Asia-Pacific bought products with healthy elements in the last two years, 29 percent bought those with relaxation properties and 26 percent those with special nutritional properties.

Consumers were also willing to pay a premium for products that offer specific benefits such as nutrition, fewer or no preservatives, sustainability, hygiene, and protection, she said.

It is imperative for manufacturers to identify where their brands sit in the current hierarchy of needs of consumers and try to meet or exceed expectations, she added.

In Vietnam, home care, personal care and food products enjoyed good growth in the first quarter of this year.

Like in the rest of the region, Vietnamese consumers are sensitive to price changes and are willing to cut spending if prices rise.

So when deciding to raise prices, firms must have convincing reasons, she said.

Consumers tend to eat more at home, so manufacturers and retailers should have suitable and convenience products and delivery services to meet customers’ demand.

Some 59 percent of Vietnamese consumers said they have mainly bought domestically-made products because they know the origin of products and want to support local firms, and 63 percent of consumers said they will continue to shop online post pandemic.

The FMCG industry promotes the use of recycled plastics and packaging materials towards sustainability development

Vu Kim Hanh, Chairwoman of the High Quality Vietnamese Product Business Association, said consumers were obsessed with the pandemic and looked for foods that boost their health and immunity but are convenient.

Consumers are increasingly looking for natural and environment-friendly products and those with health benefits.

Demand for plant-based products and alternative protein products had grown significantly and will continue to rise in the future, she said.

Conference held next week to unlock Vietnam-UK trade potential

A conference will be co-held on June 23 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the British Embassy in Vietnam and the British Chamber of Commerce Vietnam (BritCham) to support Vietnamese enterprises to join the supply chain of British enterprises.

The conference "UK Market: Unlocking great potential by leveraging advantages of the UKVFTA" also aims to further promote trade relationships between the two countries, and support Vietnam enterprises to join the supply chain of British enterprises, taking advantage of the opportunities brought by the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA).

It will provide an opportunity for managers, experts and enterprises from both sides to discuss the benefits brought by the UKVFTA and share experience in how to capitalise on those benefits and boost bilateral trade and investment cooperation, according to the MoIT.

The British Embassy and BritCham will give attendees an overview of the UK market and potential for cooperation between Vietnam and British enterprises. They later talked about instructions and qualifications for exporting Vietnam’s agricultural products to the UK, potential for British enterprises to invest in Vietnam's industry and how Vietnam can be supported to develop basic and supporting industries.

There will be two sessions of discussion, one of which will provide insights into opportunities of British enterprises to invest in Vietnam and those of Vietnamese firms to join the UK’s industrial supply chain. The other will discuss experience in taking advantage of the UKVFTA to export Vietnamese agricultural products to the UK as well as required qualifications and procedures to do that.

Seminar explores potential of Khanh Hoa’s spiritual tourism cooperation with India

A seminar held on June 19 highlighted the potential for tapping into cultural and spiritual tourism values of central Khanh Hoa province in cooperation with India.

The event, organised in Nha Trang city, was an activity marking the 50th founding anniversary of Vietnam - India diplomatic ties and also meant to help intensify mutual cultural understanding, according to Standing Vice Chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee Le Huu Hoang.

Local officials highlighted the province’s cultural and spiritual tourism values in which partnerships with India can be promoted. They also proposed measures to step up the cooperative ties.

Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Pranay Verma said the two countries’ tourism is bouncing back after the COVID-19 pandemic was controlled with many tourism promotion programmes implemented.

Tourism is a key sector in both nations, and Vietnam is emerging as a country with numerous attractive destinations for international visitors, he said, noting that direct air routes between the two countries are a favourable prerequisite for boosting tourism connections.

India is inviting Vietnamese travellers to come to experience spiritual tourism as it is home to four famous places associated with the life of the Buddha. Meanwhile, the Champa culture in Vietnam also has its own identities attracting Indian people, according to the diplomat.

Vietnamese goods gain larger share on domestic market

Vietnamese goods are benefitting from better quality, diverse designs and competitive prices to establish their place on the domestic and global markets.

Textile and garment makers are among those succeeding in conquering the domestic market. Firms such as Garment 10, Viettien, Duc Giang, Nha Be, Hoa Tho, Hanosimex and TNG have gained a firm foothold, and each recorded annual domestic revenues in hundreds of billions of VND.

Cao Huu Hieu, General Director of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), said 10 years ago, Vietnamese consumers preferred foreign garment products due to their cheap prices, but now many people have selected domestically produced clothing with better quality.

Vinatex, apart from Hanoi, has opened more fashion shopping centres in other localities like Ho Chi Minh City in the south and Da Nang in the central region to give consumers easier access to quality domestic products, he noted.

A recent study by market research company Nielsen revealed that after the COVID-19 pandemic, 76 percent of Vietnamese consumers showed a preference for local products, especially branded, quality and healthy items.

This trend is partly attributed to the fact that Vietnamese goods now have higher competitiveness thanks to better quality and reasonable prices. As a result, they are enjoying increasing presence in different distribution channels.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnamese goods make up at least 90 percent of the products sold in supermarkets, for example 90-93 percent at Co.opmart, 90-95 percent at Satra, and 95 percent at Vissan. The rate stands at 60 percent and above at traditional markets and convenience stores.

Le Viet Nga, Deputy Director of the MoIT’s Domestic Market Department, said businesses are now aware that to win consumer trust, they have to improve product quality, boost sci-tech application, and use advanced management measures to reduce production costs, with better quality, designs, and after-sale services.

Many enterprises which have long focused on exports are now paying more attention to the domestic market and offer products that meet high standards for local buyers. They have also managed to develop their own domestic distribution networks in Vietnam.

Businesses are also aware of the need to build and protect their brands, and actively take part in major events promoting Vietnamese goods among domestic consumers and overseas Vietnamese, Nga said.

She noted that to help enterprises expand their domestic presence, relevant agencies will continue to effectively carry out different programmes and plans to promote trade, develop supporting industries, and assist firms to step up sci-tech application, thereby raising their productivity and competitiveness.

Large room for Vietnam’s dairy farming industry to flourish

Insiders are pinning high hopes on a faster growth rate of the dairy farming industry in the coming years given that both domestic and major foreign markets are witnessing growing demand for milk products.

Vietnam is now home to over 28,000 dairy farms and households with nearly 375,000 milk cows producing more than 1.2 million tonnes of fresh milk annually. The volume is able to meet over 42 percent of the domestic demand. The remainders relied on imports.

According to the Vietnam Dairy Association, the dairy industry generated more than 119.38 trillion VND (5.14 billion USD) in revenue last year, up around 5 percent from 2020.

Data from the General Statistics Office showed that the number of milk cows in Vietnam grew 3.77 percent on average annually from 2015 – 2021. Its liquid milk output exceeded 1.770 million litres in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent from the previous year. Milk powder production rose by 13.1 percent year-on-year to reach 151,500 tonnes last year.

The dairy cow farming industry is thriving with annual productivity averaging 5,300 kg of milk per cow.

Vietnam, RoK seek stronger investment, innovation partnership

Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) sought ways to improve the efficiency of their partnership in investment and innovation during a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on June 17.

According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong, despite complicated world situation, Vietnam still enjoyed good socio-economic outcomes in the first five months of this year.

Particularly, in the period, 7.7 billion USD of foreign investment was disbursed, up 7.8 percent year on year, showing foreign investors’ high demand of expanding business in Vietnam, he said. Meanwhile, bright signs were seen in business and production activities as well as industrial production, he added.

He attributed the results to the improved investment environment of Vietnam and the country’s advantages in many fields, as well as the stable socio-political and macro-economic situation, with average annual growth of 6-7 percent in the recent two decades.

Vietnam is calling for foreign-invested projects with high technology and innovation, which can help domestic firms engage deeper in value chains, contributing to promoting digital transformation and sustainable development of Vietnam, he stressed.

The official added that Vietnam also encourages foreign investors and financial institutions to conduct projects to develop the infrastructure system through the public-private partnership (PPP) format.

The RoK is currently the largest investor of Vietnam with 9,288 underway projects worth over 79 billion USD, accounting for 18.5 percent of total FDI in Vietnam. Korean investors have been present in 59 out of 63 Vietnamese localities, focusing on areas of processing, manufacturing, electronics, high technology, logistics and construction.

Deputy Minister Dong said that Vietnam is working hard to reform administrative procedures to make it easier for investment activities, while preparing itself for innovation investments from outside, especially from the RoK.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment will continue to accompany investors and localities during the process, he pledged.

Domestic shopping demand predicted to strongly rebound

The domestic shopping demand is forecast to recover and gradually increase as Vietnam has recorded a relatively high vaccine coverage which helps ensure safety for consumers in shopping activities.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the resumption of tourism will stimulate the demand for shopping and consumption, while the outlook for domestic consumption will be brighter thanks to the recovery of production, the return to work of workers, and increased income.

The ministry said it will continue to closely monitor the supply and demand, the prices of essential commodities to take timely regulatory measures; closely coordinate with ministries and sectors in price management to control prices and prevent hoarding, speculation and price manipulation activities.

It will coordinate with the industry and trade departments of localities in the work, making reasonable recommendations and proposals to stabilise the market.

The nation's total revenue from retail sales of goods and services in May reached 477.3 trillion VND (20.5 billion USD), up 4.2 percent month-on-month, and 22.6 percent higher than that of the same period last year.

The figure increased 9.7 percent year-on-year to 2,257 trillion VND in the first five months of the year.

Development of e-contracts in Vietnam crucial to digital economy

The development of e-contracts in Vietnam is crucial to the country’s digital economy, helping businesses to effectively manage and save costs and time while creating a professional working environment.

The comments were made at a conference on developing e-contracts in Vietnam and implementing Decree 85/2021/NĐ-CP amendments to the Government Decree 52/2013/NĐ-CP on e-commerce on June 16 in Hanoi.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan said that on September 25, 2021, the Government issued Decree 85, detailing and providing e-contract authentication services and conducting a legal framework for the conditions, obligations and registration process for the operation of organisations who provide e-contract certification services known as the CeCA-Certified eContract Authority.

The deputy minister said his ministry had assigned the Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency and other agencies to outline solutions to develop and widely apply e-contracts in the country, making it a key to developing its economy.

As Vietnamese businesses have long been signed with foreign partners in the form of e-contracts involved in cross-border transactions and import-export activities.

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2021 showed that at least 33 percent of surveyed businesses had applied e-contracts in their commercial activities.

In addition, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam has experienced four outbreaks leading to the rapid change in habits and behaviours of businesses and people.

One of the changes is that businesses are gradually switching from using ordinary printed contracts and documents to using electronic contracts and documents.

The application of e-contracts not only helps companies and their customers save time and costs but also helps reduce the impact of the pandemic and the gap in commercial transactions.

Co To, Bach Long Vy island districts target sea route

Leaders of Co To (Quang Ninh province) and Bach Long Vy (Hai Phong city) have agreed to propose competent agencies establish a sea route connecting the two island districts.

The move aims to boost their trade, tourism and services, and to spur their socio-economic development, as the sea route will help shorten travel time between the islands.

The districts will also closely coordinate in the information work, disease control, including COVID-19, healthcare services to their residents and fishermen, marine environmental protection, the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, natural disaster response, search and rescue operations, smuggling and trade fraud combat, as well as in national defence and security.

Co To and Bach Long Vy are the first two localities that have concretised Conclusion No. 160-KL/TUHP-TUQN dated October 20, 2021, issued by the Standing Boards of the Party Committees of Hai Phong and Quang Ninh on the cooperation programme between the two localities.

However, due to the geographical location, there is now only a passenger boat to Bach Long Vy that began operations since July 2020, offering three trips each month, with a capacity of 200 passengers.

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