Vietnamese businesses should continue to invest in deep processing to effectively penetrate Asian and African markets amid the rising trend to use deeply processed products in these outlets, the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has said.

Deep processing could also help domestic firms improve their export turnovers and keep up with market trends, the department said.

The department has also suggested localities continue to build brand names for their products, while developing a list of enterprises producing and trading agricultural products and fruits that are capable of exporting to Asian and African markets.

It said that these lists should be sent to the MoIT so that the ministry could facilitate the connection between local firms and foreign importers.

For the traditional Chinese market, localities should consider coordinating with relevant ministries, departments, associations and reputable firms to organise annual trade promotions with a special focus on potential provinces and cities in China such as Beijing, Hebei, Hunan, Shandong and Sichuan.

The department also advised local enterprises to cooperate with foreign businesses such as those in China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and ASEAN in product packaging, as product design is among the top concerns of consumers in these markets, in addition to product quality.

Over the past years, Vietnam's trade activities with Asian and African countries have shown a significant diversification. Besides traditional markets such as ASEAN, the Republic of Korea, Japan and China, Vietnamese exporters have concentrated on seeking new and niche outlets.

The department said Asian and African markets have high demands for products that Vietnam is strong in, such as farming produce, fruits and vegetables and seafood like shrimp, tra fish and crab.

In the past four months, Vietnam's rice exports to Asian and African nations hit 1.8 billion USD, marking a sharp increase of 34% year-on-year.

Notably, the Philippines was Vietnam's largest rice importer in the period, accounting for 46.4% of the total volume and 45.5% of the country's total rice export turnover.

Over the four months, the Asian and African outlets imported 1.5 billion USD worth of seafood from Vietnam, with China and Japan being the two largest import markets.

Many countries in Asia and Africa are the major importers of key products such as computer components, phones and parts, textiles and garments and wood and wood products, according to the department.

Last year, Vietnam’s merchandise trade with Asian and African nations reached 458 billion USD, down 6.7% year-on-year. Of this figure Vietnamese exports topped 183 billion USD, accounting for over 51% of the country's total export value.

Among items that posted a positive turnover were transport vehicles and spare parts with 6.5 billion USD, up 23%, electronic products and components (28.3 billion USD, up 6.4%), footwear (5.1 billion USD, up 3%), rice (3.8 billion USD, up 38%), fruits and vegetables (4.4 billion USD, up 86%), cashew nuts (1.7 billion USD, up 26%) and coffee (1.2 billion USD, up 19%)./.

Standard Chartered forecasts Q2 GDP to moderate amid higher inflation

In its most recent macro-economic updates about Vietnam, Standard Chartered Bank forecasts Vietnam’s Q2 GDP growth to moderate to a still-strong 5.3% year-on-year (from 5.7% in Q1).

According to Standard Chartered’s economists, the bank expects retail sales growth to ease to 8.2% year-on-year in June (from 9.5% in May), export growth to ease to 14.2% year-on-year in June (15.8% year-on-year), and electronics exports to continue their year-to-date improvement.

Imports and industrial production are likely to grow 26.0% year-on-year (29.9%) and 5.2% in June, respectively. Inflation may rise to 4.5% year-on-year in June (from 4.4% in May), marking a third straight month above 4%. Education, housing and construction materials, health care and food have driven inflation recently. This trend may continue in the coming months.

Tim Leelahaphan, Economist for Thailand and Vietnam, Standard Chartered Bank, said: “Despite the likely Q2 slowdown, we think Vietnam’s recovery remains intact. However, economic challenges could persist in Q3 amid rising price pressures, FX weakness and soft global demand.”

The bank expects the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to hike the refinancing rate by 50bps in Q4 in response to rising inflation. FX weakness supports the bank’s call for a hike in Q4, or possibly earlier./.

Vietnamese dragon fruit makes a splash at Spinneys debut in Saudi Arabia

Vietnamese exports received a sweet boost on June 24 with the presence of its red and yellow-fleshed dragon fruits at the grand opening of Spinneys, a high-end supermarket chain from the United Arab Emirates.

This marked the first time the Vietnamese dragon fruit has hit shelves in Saudi Arabia.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dang Xuan Dung highlighted the growing presence of Vietnamese agricultural goods, seafood, and canned beverages in Saudi Arabia. He expressed his hope that Spinneys would expand its offerings of Vietnamese products, and pledged the embassy's full support in connecting the supermarket chain with Vietnamese exporters to foster stronger bilateral trade ties.

Sunil Kumar, CEO of Spinneys, outlined plans for further expansion in Saudi Arabia. Three additional supermarkets are slated to open in Riyadh and Jeddah this year, followed by at least four new stores annually over the next 5-10 years.

She said Spinneys currently operates over 150 stores across the UAE and marks its presence in Oman as well. It is planning to establish a representative office in Vietnam, creating a direct channel for Vietnamese products to reach Spinneys shelves across the region.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Vietnam's exports to Saudi Arabia fetched 615.3 million USD in the first five months of this year, marking an annual 48.5% rise, mostly rice, seafood, cashew nuts, pepper, wooden furniture, beverages, apparel, footwear, machinery, auto parts, electronic components, computers and phones.

Meanwhile, Vietnam's imports from Saudi Arabia decreased by 16.1% to 549.7 million USD, primarily consisting of plastic materials, chemicals and petroleum. As a result, total bilateral trade turnover reached 1.16 billion USD, reflecting a 9.2% year-on-year growth./.

Vessel monitoring system should be inspected thoroughly

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the central province of Quang Tri province has proposed the Directorate of Fisheries (DoF) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development resolve some outstanding issues relating to vessel monitoring system (VMS) on fishing boats in an concerted effort to prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The VMS quality should be strictly inspected before providing it to fishermen to avoid problems, it said.

The unit in charge of installing the VMS has been requested to put in place a warning system when the VMS is broken and disconnected so that the boat’s captain can detect, fix it or report its location to the fisheries sub-department.

In mid-April, due to a satellite error, many fishing boats of Quang Tri that installed the VMS of Vietnam Telecom Services Company (Vinaphone) suffered loss of connection, affecting fishermen’s operation.

To deal with the problem, the department required units and localities to notify and guide owners and captains of such boats to implement temporary solutions.

It is necessary to issue a technical guidance for handling fishing vessels that do not maintain connection to VMS devices and those that infringe foreign waters, it said.

The department also suggested allowing the head of local fisheries management agency to impose administrative sanctions against violating fishing vessels in accordance with the 2017 Fisheries Law and its guiding documents./.

Public financial management reform achieves positive results: PEFA report

Vietnam has made a lot of efforts in public financial management reform over the past 10 years and enjoyed good and relatively comprehensive progress, Deputy Finance Minister Bui Van Khang affirmed at the launch of the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) report on June 24.

The PEFA programme provides a framework for assessing and reporting on the strengths and weaknesses of public financial management (PFM) using quantitative indicators to measure performance. It identifies 94 characteristics (dimensions) across 31 key components of public financial management (indicators) in seven broad areas of activity (pillars).

This is the second time the Ministry of Finance has presided over and coordinated with ministries, agencies and some localities to compile this report, with technical and financial support from the PEFA Secretariat, the Swiss and Canadian Governments and the World Bank, within the framework of the Vietnam Public Financial Management Analytical and Advisory Assistance (AAA) Programme.

This report was conducted in February 2021, and completed and reported to the Vietnamese Prime Minister in January 2024, based on the PEFA 2016 Framework.

Among the 31 indicators, Vietnam scores four As, eight B and B , eight C , and 11 D and D . Compared to other countries in the region participating in the assessment in accordance with the PEFA 2016 Framework, Vietnam gains a high number of A and B , for 11 out of the 31 indicators, following Mongolia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and ahead of Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Laos.

Alma Kanani, Practice Manager in the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank, said that the report shows that significant progress has been made in PFM institutions and systems that help the Vietnamese Government achieve sound fiscal discipline and its budget implementation be strictly controlled with most expenditures committed and verified before payment. In addition, the internal control system on salaries and non-salary expenditures is also very strong, helping Vietnam reduce outstanding spending debt and carefully manage public debt with a very low debt-to-GDP ratio.

However, the report also points out several weaknesses in the country’s current PFM sector. For example, revenues and expenditures outside the central budget remain high, and fiscal risk monitoring in the public sector is still weak.

Deputy Minister Khang said that the ministry will continue researching and proposing solutions to these weaknesses to better the efficiency of management and use of resources, ensure national financial security and safety, contribute to macroeconomic stability, raise the national credit rating, further improve the production, business and investment environment, and boost sustainable growth in Vietnam.

Vietnam conducted its first national PEFA assessment in 2011 and announced the report in July 2013. Basing on the recommendations in the first report, over the past decade, Vietnam's public financial management reform has achieved many important results, especially in institutional reform with the promulgation of PFM-related documents such as the 2015 State Budget Law, the Law on Accounting, the Law on State Audit, the Law on Bidding, the Law on Public Debt Management, the Law on Management and Use of State Capital Invested in Enterprises, and the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets./.

Banks are lifting deposit rates

Private commercial banks have been lifting their deposit rates this month to attract capital and notably, some of them have increased their rates more than twice.

Eximbank has increased rates for deposits of 6-9 months to 4.5% per year, 0.2 percentage points higher.

The bank also increased rates on June 7 and 17. Deposit rates at Eximbank are around 3.5-5.2% per year.

TPBank, NCB and OceanBank also hiked rates twice in June, with increases of 0.2-0.4 percentage points depending on terms.

From the beginning of this month, more than 20 commercial banks have increased deposit rates, of which nine raised rates more than once.

Banks started to raise rates at the end of March and the trend has continued in recent months. However, banks which raise rates are mainly private commercial banks, while the big four including Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank and Agribank are still keeping their deposit at record lows.

Statistics of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) showed that deposits at credit institutions rose by 2.2% to reach an estimated 6.7 quadrillion VND by the end of March, although at the time deposit rates were, for most terms, at record lows.

Experts said that deposits at banks increased in the context that other investment channels are considered to be unpredictable, unstable and have low profit prospects.

According to Vietcombank Securities Company, deposits are tending to increase gradually from the bottom. Deposit rates can increase by 0.5-1 percentage points per year, but it will be difficult to see any race for rate hikes in the market./.

VNG strives to invest in technology and emerging trends

The VNG Corporation will continue to innovate and invest in technology and emerging trends, including AI, fintech, and data centres, the company said at its 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Ho Chi Minh City.

VNG said it aims to become a global tech company of Vietnam, confident that these strategies will deliver impressive business results and long-term shareholder benefits.

“Over the past 20 years, VNG has continually adapted and thrived through the evolving waves of Internet technology, from PCs and mobile to the cloud and current trends like AI", Le Hong Minh, Founder and CEO of VNG.

With more than 300 AI engineers and experts, VNG now sees AI as the new growth engine for the coming years. VNG is currently at the forefront of adopting AI technology in Southeast Asia, leading in terms of investment, research, implementation and profitability from AI initiatives.

The company has utilised AI across three layers - infrastructure, platform and applications. In terms of infrastructure, VNG currently owns the largest AI Cloud infrastructure in Vietnam, serving both local and international clients.

According to the 2023 report presented at the meeting, the company maintained its growth trajectory in operational metrics and profitability across its core product segments. This achievement is particularly noteworthy considering its near-stagnant revenue in 2022.

The company's annual compound growth rate (CAGR) stood at 13% in 2019-23. In 2023, its net revenue reached over 7.59 trillion VND. Notably, the adjusted loss from operating activities improved significantly, narrowing by 30% to 657 billion VND.

Established in 2004, VNG is one of the leading digital ecosystems in Vietnam, offering a diverse portfolio of products and services across four main groups including online games, Zalo and AI, electronic payments and digital business./.

Vietnam sees robust growth and abundant opportunities await: insiders

Vietnam is expected to see robust growth in the next 5 -10 years, opening more investment opportunities for foreign investors, including ones from Singapore, in all sectors, said insiders.

The NTU Alumni Regional Conference 2024, an annual event organised by Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University, was held in Hanoi on June 22.

The event brought together distinguished speakers who are renowned leaders in business, public service and academia from Vietnam, Singapore and other ASEAN countries. This year’s conference centered around the theme "Economic Growth, AI and Innovation.”

Attending the event, Singapore Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratman highlighted the strong collaboration between the two countries across all sectors.

“We cooperate across almost every area, including trade, defence, security, culture, food and politics and of course have strong people-to-people relationships, so we are well represented here,” he said.

“There is so much more we can do together. As both countries have progressed over the past few decades, our needs and aspirations have evolved. Hence, our preoccupation in recent years with deepening and widening the scope of cooperation in the digital and green arenas.”

At the conference, speakers were all positive about the growth potential of Vietnam.

Nguyen Duc Hung Linh, co-founder and chief advisor of Think Future Consultancy, said that Vietnam is going to experience strong development over the next 5 - 10 years as it has established itself as a major manufacturing hub, particularly for electronics.

“Samsung, which accounts for nearly 25% of Vietnam’s exports, continues to expand its operations, while the shift of manufacturing bases from China to Vietnam due to trade tensions further bolsters this sector,” Linh said.

The participation of Vietnam in multiple free trade agreements (FTAs) is also a significant growth driver, as these agreements reduce tariffs and open new markets for Vietnamese goods, he added.

“The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are expected to boost Vietnam’s GDP by 1.32% and 4.9% by 2030, respectively. The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is projected to increase the country’s exports to the world’s largest trading bloc by 42.7% by 2025.”

Sharing the same thought, Pham Quoc Anh, CEO of Pacifico Energy Vietnam, said that Vietnam has a good foundation for growing businesses, such as a young population, the willingness to accept new ideas and a wide spread of the Internet.

Vietnam’s young population is a significant asset, with a median age of around 32 years and a labour force participation rate of 77%. A World Bank study suggests that Vietnam’s demographic transition could add 1.5% to annual GDP growth over the next decade.

These are also advantages for luring foreign investors into Vietnam in the future, Anh said, adding that green energy, manufacturing and logistics are industries attracting more interest as Vietnam is targeting the green growth.

Speaking to Viet Nam News, Linh from Think Future Consultancy said that huge opportunities are also seen in the tourism industry.

"The Government’s tourism strategy aims to make tourism a spearhead economic sector by 2030, contributing 12-14% of GDP. Efforts to develop sustainable tourism and diversify offerings will likely boost this sector."

Meanwhile, Chu Viet Cuong, Board Director of Vietjet Air, believed that the room in Vietnam’s aviation industry is still very large and investors can find opportunities through joint ventures.

However, he also pointed out some weaknesses that the country needs to improve on quickly.

“We are no longer in the era of cheap labour costs and large land funds. Now we need more skilled workers for the new industries. On the other hand, we also need to create a clear and transparent environment for enterprises,” he said./.

What will Vietnam expect from WEF Annual Meeting of New Champions 2024

The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions that is getting underway in Dalian, China, from June 25 to 27 is expected to open up new opportunities for Vietnam to meet many of the world’s leading investors operating in sectors of its needs.

Opening with the theme of “Next Frontiers for Growth”, the meeting will bring together 1,600 leaders from business, government, civil society, international organisations, and academia to collectively delve into innovative drivers and paths for global economic advancement.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony, take part in other sessions of the meeting, and meet with reputable investors.

The meeting therefore presents a prime opportunity for Vietnam to directly introduce its potential, strategies, and incentives for developing future economic industries. This represents a hugely important occasion in the context that many large economic corporations are urgently looking for venues to set up production and business bases in the near future.

Economist Le Duy Binh, CEO of Economica Vietnam - a private consulting and research firm specialising in development economics, told Tuoi Tre newswire that the outstanding economic growth the country has recorded in recent times shows its economy is more resilient to external shocks and is able to bring into full play endogenous strengths.

The fact is that despite global economic fluctuations, Vietnam has always maintained steady growth and it has even been among global economies with high growth.

The Government encourages investments into new fields such as a digital economy, the green economy, and energy transition. This shows that the country has better adapted to the shift in the global supply chain, by effectively exploiting fields which have high added value.

Most notably, the Vietnamese digital economy has in recent years achieved a fairly high growth rate of about 20% per year, three times the GDP growth rate. This has significantly contributed to the country’s overall economic transformation, improving competitiveness, as well as creating new room for more growth.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy director of the Vietnam Institute for Economics and Policy Research (VEPR), said the WEF highly appreciated Vietnam for reforming laws and administrative procedures, thereby creating a more conducive trade and business climate. This in turn helps international financial organisations such as the World Bank (WB) to upgrade the country’s business and investment environment indexes in terms of investment facilitation, business start-up, administrative procedures, and access to resources.

Currently Vietnam needs a large amount of capital for major projects on renewable energy in order to keep up with emissions reduction goals. Under the approved National Power Development Plan VIII, the country is expected to attract approximately US$135 billion in investment capital as it works to implement energy transition projects up to 2030.

Towards building a new global economy, it has developed a plan specifically to create fresh momentum for the semiconductor industry. However, local businesses do not have enough potential, while natural resources, human resources, facilities, and energy must be exploited and trained as soon as possible.

What the country needs is to secure agreements on technology transfer with global semiconductor chip manufacturers. Jose Fernandez, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment of the United States, recently told Nikkei Asia that Vietnam has attracted dozens of companies in the semiconductor industry, with many more US companies keen to enter if the country has enough renewable energy to meet their green goals.

Moreover, human resources play a vital role in all processes, meaning that investing in human resource training is a must. Indeed, there is no shortage of reputable global educators attending WEF meetings to seek investment markets.

Vietnam expects to learn valuable experiences from this meeting which can help to remove obstacles to improve the quality of investment capital flows and assist its businesses to engage deeply in the value chain and record more profound growth.

Tay Ninh increases trade exchanges with Svay Rieng and Prey Veng of Cambodia

The south-western province of Tay Ninh on June 24 signed a cooperation document with two Cambodian provinces of Svay Rieng and Prey Veng for the 2024-2029 period.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, chairman of the Tay Ninh provincial administration, affirmed that strengthening comprehensive cooperation with Cambodian localities is one of Tay Ninh’s top priorities, with a primary focus on major fields such as economics, trade, culture, sports, as well as ensuring security and order on the border.

Tay Ninh will do its best to contribute to tightening the relationship of ‘good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive, sustainable and long-term cooperation’ between Vietnam and Cambodia in general, and between Tay Ninh and Svay Rieng and Prey Veng in particular, said Ngoc.

For his part, Peng Posa, governor of Svay Rieng, said that the signed cooperation document affirms the three provinces’ resolve to promote economic growth and trade, and realise the vision of developing border areas of peace, friendship and stability.

He thanked Tay Ninh for close coordination in effectively implementing the 2018-2023 cooperation document, especially in solving pending issues, so as to bring practical benefits for the two sides.

Statistics show that two-way trade turnover between Tay Ninh and Svay Rieng hit US$2.655 billion between 2018-2023, including US$2.047 billion worth of exports from the Vietnamese locality. Tay Ninh’s main export items were raw materials for garment and shoe manufacturing, electric cables, ready-made clothes, fabrics and other goods, while its main imported goods were liquefied petroleum gas, shoes, diving costumes, bicycles, and packaging products.

Meanwhile, Tay Ninh and Pray Vieng increased the exchange of information related to the management and protection of border security. They coordinated in carrying out bilateral patrols, proactively preventing and promptly resolving incidents occurring on the border in the spirit of solidarity and friendship, contributing to maintaining border security and order.

Germany is largest importer of Vietnamese coffee

Vietnam raked in more than US$3 billion from exporting 862,400 tonnes of coffee between the beginning of the year and mid-June, with Germany emerging as the largest importer, according to data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Specifically, Germany, the host country of the Euro 2024, was the largest consumer of Vietnamese coffee, as it spent nearly US$350 million importing more than 104,000 tonnes, followed by markets such as Italy, Japan, Spain, and Russia.

A representative of a local export firm attributed the rise in consumption to the fact that Germans drink more coffee than beer. Statistics show a German drinks more than 169 litres of coffee a year compared to 90 litres of beer annually.

Vietnam is the second largest supplier of coffee to Germany after Brazil, as its coffee makes up 19% of Germany’s total coffee imports. In fact, Germany's coffee import turnover from the Vietnamese market has always remained stable, accounting for a market share of between 18% and 25% of the country’s total coffee imports.

Statistics indicate that Vietnam reduced coffee exports to Germany, Italy, the United States, and Russia in the first five months of the year; but increased exports to markets such as Spain, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and China.

Most notably, China imported more than 22,100 tonnes of Vietnamese coffee, worth US$84 million in the reviewed period, representing a sharp increase of more than 53% year on year.

The average export price of Vietnamese coffee surged by 41% to reach US$3,475 per tonne against the same period last year.

Czech ambassador explores cooperation opportunities in HCM City

Czech Ambassador to Vietnam Hynek Kmonicek on June 24 paid a working visit to Ho Chi Minh City, the largest financial hub in Vietnam, to sound out cooperation opportunities between Czech localities and the southern metropolis.

During his meeting with Nguyen Van Hoan, vice chairman of the municipal administration, the two sides reviewed the results of cooperation between Czech localities and Ho Chi Minh City and vowed to support their businesses in enhancing cooperation.

To this end, they agreed to promote cooperation between the Trade Promotion Center of the Czech Republic and the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Center. They also consented to organize a meeting of the Czech business community in Vietnam and Vietnamese businesspeople investing in the Czech Republic in October.

Hoan revealed that Ho Chi Minh City would send a business delegation to a trade promotion fair in the Czech Republic this August to introduce products and seek partners.

Coastal central province draws $248 million in first half year

The central province has granted new investment licences to 14 new domestic investment projects worth VNĐ4.2 trillion (US$168 million), and seven foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a proposed capital of $124.2 million, in the first five months, promising a surge in the second half of the year.

The provincial statistics agency said the number of FDI projects doubled in comparison to the same period last year.

Vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Hồ Quang Bửu said a series of investment promotion programmes have been sped up in calling more investors to seek investment opportunities in industrial parks and economic zones in Quảng Nam.

Bửu said the province aims to create the most favourable conditions for hi-tech industries projects or environment-friendly investors in 2024-25.

He said the province has kept in touch with KOTRA, KOCHAM, JETRO, JICA, EUROCHAM, AMCHAM in sharing investment information relating to key industries, and offering surveys and field trips for investors in exploring the investment environment.

The province had allocated top priority policy for 233 key projects that would help improve the sustainable economic growth and revenue for the province’s budget in 2024-25, he said.

The Authority of International Chu Lai Airport said it called for investment in building a new runway, a taxiway, and increasing aircraft parking lots from 32 to 40, as well as a new terminal.

A main dock on Chàm Islands, off the coast of Hội An ancient town. Quảng Nam province plans to build a series of cruise ports for tourism growth in 2024-25. VNS Photo Công Thành 
It said the new investment projects would help increase the airport's capacity to 10 million passengers per year.

The province also urges a key investment for a waterway at Lở Estuary for vessels up to 50,000 DWT.

It said a duty-free zone has been planned in Tam Hoà as a supportive project related to the development of ports and logistics area in Núi Thành district.

A series of ports for cruise services has been planned along the rivers of Cổ Cò,Thu Bồn and Tân Hiệp – a major dock on Chàm Islands, off the coast of Hội An – in 2024-25, allowing smooth traffic for 400-seat boats in serving tourism in central Việt Nam’s destinations.

Up-to-date, the central coastal province has 199 validated FDI projects with an accumulated $6.2 billion, and 1,148 domestic projects worth VNĐ230 trillion ($9.2 billion).

The central province has designed ambitious plans to make it an international destination, a national multi-sector hi-tech industries centre, a biodiversity-based green growth power and a centrally-run locality in the Master Plan 2021-30, with a vision toward 2050.

Quảng Nam -- the only locality in Việt Nam with two UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites – the Hội An Ancient Town, Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary – and the world Biosphere Reserve Chàm Islands-Hội An has been promoting a 'green tourism' brand. 

Business sours for Bến Tre farmers as shrimp prices plummet

Shrimp farmers in the coastal province of Bến Tre are struggling to expand their farming areas or invest in hi-tech farming methods since they are getting low prices.

Đặng Văn Bảy, owner of a 50-hectare hi-tech shrimp farm in Thạnh Phú District, said that he has harvested around 300 tonnes of shrimp so far this season but been struggling to sell it profitably.

He said prices are VNĐ40,000 (US$1.57) down from the last two months to just VNĐ70,000 (US$2.75) per kilogramme for small shrimp and VNĐ115,000 (US$4.53) for larger ones.

Trần Văn Tâm, a trader from Bình Đại District, said the problem is due to low demand.

But expenses remain high for farmers applying hi-tech farming models, especially those raising brackish water shrimp.

Hi-tech shrimp farming has allowed households in the province to be less dependent on the weather and become more proactive in planning breeding periods. 

Many farms have invested in hi-tech farming techniques and infrastructure since it allows them to easily monitor and control shrimp sizes, Nguyễn Văn Buội, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said.

Bến Tre also has high potential to develop brackish water hi-tech shrimp farming, said the Department.

Farms in Ba Tri, Bình Đại, and Thạnh Phú districts have switched from intensive and semi-intensive to two-, three-, and four-stage hi-tech brackish shrimp farming models.

These models can minimise diseases, yield higher output, enhance quality, and fetch an average profit of VNĐ700 to 800 million (US$27,606 to 31,550) per batch.

They also allow farmers to promptly identify diseases at an early stage, track expenses, and increase shrimp survival rate and size.

Bến Tre has a total of 3,430 hectares of hi-tech shrimp farming areas with a projected annual output of 160,188 tonnes.

Its shrimp farming areas are mostly in Bình Đại, Ba Tri and Thạnh Phú districts, and cooperatives have been established in these places to support farms and business in developing a high value chain and building farming models that are well-adapted to climate change. 

It has expanded around 320 hectares of hi-tech farming area since the beginning of this year and aims to reach 500 hectares by the end of 2024.

Bến Tre Province will focus more on encouraging farmers and business to expand hi-tech farming areas and facilitating investment to enhance shrimp and seafood production. 

HCM City eyes $25,500 agricultural output per hectare by 2025

Though HCM City’s farmlands continue to disappear due to rapid urbanisation, productivity has increased over the years, reaching VNĐ575 million (US$22,615) per hectare last year, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The city targets increasing the value to VNĐ650- 750 million ($25,564-$29,497) next year, it said.

To accomplish the target, the city encourages farmers to grow other crops on rice farms with low productivity such as vegetables, flowers, ornamental plants, fruits, and plants for making animal feed, or switch to aquaculture.

It aims to develop sustainable urban agriculture by using high technology on at least 70 per cent of lands by 2030.

Assessing the city's ability to develop urban agriculture, Dr Nguyễn Đăng Nghĩa, an agricultural expert, said it has a flower, ornamental plants and ornamental fish development programme, which could help switch from the tradition of rice to other items such as ornamental plants, dairy and safe vegetables that offer higher economic value.

But he pointed out that there are difficulties such as a shortage of resources, rapid decrease in farmlands, dwindling of human resources, and lack of concentrated agricultural areas.

Construction of facilities on agricultural lands has also proven difficult, he said.

Dr Vũ Thị Quyền of Văn Lang University’s applied technology faculty said the city has strengths in growing vegetables and flowers.

But with its available lands, it could only meet 28 per cent of the demand for vegetables, while its pig, cattle, poultry, and aquaculture output meet 11 per cent, 19.7 per cent, 1.2 per cent, and 14 per cent of local demand, she said.

The rest of the agricultural products and foods consumed in the city are supplied by other localities, she pointed out.

The lack of well-trained agricultural workforce, climate change and biodiversity loss have affected crop yields, she added.

Dr Nguyễn Văn Bộ, former director of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said urban agriculture is developing in an unplanned manner.

The Government has not issued any policy related to urban agriculture.

Of the country’s two major cities, HCM City only recently approved the "Urban Agriculture Development Programme" last December, he said.

Under the programme, in 2024 - 25 the city plans to develop into a high-tech agricultural hub and a modern industrial and agricultural service centre, ensuring connectivity between supply and demand of high-quality and safe agricultural, forestry and fishery products and services in the value chain.

It also wants high technology to account for 45 – 50 per cent of the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector’s total production. 

Market plunges as liquidity reaches a four-week high

The Vietnamese market opened the new week negatively as VN-Index decreased sharply, while market liquidity was at a four-week high.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) finished the day at 1,254.12 points, down 27.9 points, or 2.18 per cent.

On the southern bourse, the breadth was negative as 277 stocks ticked down, while 65 increased. Liquidity hovered above VNĐ31.8 trillion (US$1.25 billion), an increase of 48.2 per cent from the previous session.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE by market capitalisation, also dropped 30.08 points, or 2.28 per cent, down to 1,289.85 points. The number of decliners surpassed that ofgainers in the VN30 basket by 28 to one, with one stock ending flat.

Large-cap stocks in the technology, banking and manufacturing sectors led the market's downturn, with FPT Corporation (FPT) posting the biggest fall in market capitalisation of 2.94 per cent, contributing to a decrease of 1.72 points in the VN-Index.

It was followed by Vietnam Rubber Group - Joint Stock Company (GVR), Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN), Hòa Phát Group JSC (HPG) and PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (GAS). All the stocks fell in a range of  1.2-6.97 per cent.

Banking stocks also saw poor performance on Monday. Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPB) declined 3.83 per cent, Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (CTG) fell 1.17 per cent, and Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SSB) tumbled 4.84 per cent.

However, losses were capped by gains in several large-cap stocks, led by PetroVietnam Power Corporation (POW), which was up 2.04 per cent. It was followed by Tân Tạo Investment and Industry Corporation (ITA) posting an increase of 6.86 per cent and Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Agricultural JSC (HNG) which rose 6.97 per cent.

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) index also finished lower on Monday, declining 1.89 per cent to 239.74 points.

During the session, more than VNĐ2.4 trillion worth of shares were traded, equivalent to a trading volume of more than 117 million shares on the northern market.

Foreign investors extended their net selling spree as they net sold over VNĐ925 billion on HoSE.

Bắc Giang leads economic growth in Q1

The estimated Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) of the northern province of Bắc Giang reached 14.18 per cent in the first quarter of this year, continuing to lead the country, according to Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Mai Sơn.

All major economic sectors of the province saw strong growth, with agriculture, forestry and fisheries increasing by 2.14 per cent, industry and construction rising by 18 per cent, services expanding by 6.32 per cent and product taxes growing by 4.48 per cent.

In the first quarter of 2024, Bắc Giang was given approval from the Prime Minister to establish two new industrial parks, bringing the total number in the province to ten, spanning a total planned area of 2,252.3 hectares.

To March 15 the province has attracted around US$624.26 million in registered investment and has brought in nine new domestic projects, with a total registered capital of VNĐ7,668.4 billion, a 25.8-fold increase compared to the same period last year.

Three hundred and ten new companies were established in Bắc Giang during Q1 2024, representing an 18 per cent increase, with a total registered capital of VNĐ2,598 billion.

Contributing decisively and lending most weight to the economic figures, the Industrial Production Index (IIP) of the province in March increased by 20.6 per cent compared to the previous month and increased by 16.7 per cent compared to March 2023. In the first three months of this year, this index increased by 23.89 per cent compared to the same period.

The reason the IIP of Bắc Giang has increased quite so significantly is that several large enterprises in the province have expanded production levels and consolidated operations since the third quarter of 2023.

The electronics manufacturing sector has the highest share of the overall industrial pie, with the production index estimated to have increased by 41.13 per cent in Q1 2024 compared to the same period last year, thanks to the strong growth of large companies such as Luxshare ICT, Luxshare Vân Trung, Fukang and Hana Micron.

Key products that saw strong increases include smartwatches, which are estimated to have reached over 3,300 thousand units, doubling compared to the same period and headphones, estimated to have reached over 18,500 thousand units, up 52.5 per cent compared to the same period.

According to the Provincial People's Committee, the economic growth of the province in Q1 exceeded projections and indicates a strong local economic recovery.

In the early months of this year, cooperation between Bắc Giang and foreign provinces and localities has been strengthened and expanded, with many agreements signed.

The province's agricultural production is on schedule and experiencing comprehensive growth. Additionally, the service sector continue to recover and the value of imports and exports maintains a fairly good growth rate.

Vice Chairman of Bắc Giang Provincial People's Committee Mai Sơn said the locality would continue to focus on effectively implementing the key solutions in the second quarter of 2024.

Bắc Giang is preparing the necessary conditions, especially in terms of infrastructure, workers and land availability, to proactively capture the shifting flow of foreign investment, particularly high-quality capital with advanced technology, by ensuring that the province meets the specified requirements for projects financed by non-state budgetary sources.

The province is comprehensively reviewing and monitoring the business operations of local enterprises, proactively supporting and addressing their proposals and recommendations, especially regarding issues such as capital, sales markets, labour and raw material costs, in order to help stabilise production, accelerate the recovery of supply chains and enable the development of new production capacity.

The province is also working to enhance the effectiveness of its trade promotion activities, strengthening the connection and sales of lychee and other key agricultural products from the province.

Specifically, the province organised a 'National Branding Week' to commemorate Vietnam Branding Day on April 20 to promote and boost the consumption of its locally-grown products.

Bắc Giang is also intensifying the application of agricultural production processes aligned with standards such as VietGAP, GlobalGAP and high-quality organic certification, to improve the quality and value of its agricultural products.

Bắc Giang is making great efforts to accelerate the implementation progress of public investment projects across the province, particularly key ones in 2024, such as constructing the Hà Bắc 2 road and bridge to connect the branch 2 of Ring Road IV with the Yên Phong Industrial Park and National Highway 18 in Bắc Ninh province, upgrading and expanding the road connecting Provincial Road 293 to National Highway 17, building a bridge and connecting road from Mỹ An Port to National Highway 31 - National Highway 1 and the branch line from Suối Nứa Lake to Khuôn Thần area in Lục Nam and Lục Ngạn Districts.

The province is also accelerating investment and infrastructure construction for industrial parks and industrial clusters, to help attract further investment.

The province is completing land clearance and compensation for the remaining areas of the expanded Yên Lư and Hòa Phú industrial parks, as well as new industrial parks like the expanded Phúc Sơn and Việt Hàn industrial parks. 

Đồng Nai seeks investment for 36 top-priority projects

The southern Đồng Nai Province will seek investment for 36 projects across five key sectors of transportation infrastructure, industry, services, urban development and socio-cultural-political affairs. Among these, the transportation infrastructure sector has the highest number of projects, with 10 in total.

The Đồng Nai People’s Committee recently held a conference to introduce these high-priority investment projects as part of the provincial planning for the 2021-25 period, with a vision towards 2050.

Nguyễn Hữu Nguyên, director of the Department of Planning and Investment, said that the plan for the 2021-30 period, with a vision towards 2050, is being finalised to be submitted to the Prime Minister.

All projects have been approved by the Đồng Nai Province's Party Standing Committee and reported to the central authorities, ensuring high feasibility. The province organised the conference to inform investors about these projects and help identify early investment opportunities.

At the conference, businesses were particularly concerned about when Đồng Nai's provincial planning would be approved. To date, most provinces and cities across the country have had their plans approved by the Prime Minister.

Đồng Nai holds significant development potential for the future, and once the planning is approved, the province will hold an investment promotion conference to announce the plan.

Nguyễn Hồng Lĩnh, secretary of the Đồng Nai Province's Party Committee, emphasised that Đồng Nai’s provincial planning has been meticulously prepared, highlighting and leveraging the province’s full potential. Currently, the plan has been approved by the Đồng Nai Province People's Council and is in the final stages of completion before being submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

Lĩnh shared that Đồng Nai's approach is to transparently and publicly announce the planning so that all investors can equally access the information. This creates a foundation and opportunity for Đồng Nai to select the best investors for each project.

Võ Tấn Đức, acting chairman of the Đồng Nai People’s Committee, requested that provincial units closely coordinate with the Department of Planning and Investment and consulting units to complete the provincial plan as soon as possible. The goal is to ensure the plan is scientific, high-quality, and feasible, and to present it to the Prime Minister on schedule.

The Department of Planning and Investment and consulting units must fully incorporate feedback to refine the provincial plan and advise the People’s Committee on the necessary procedures to submit the plan to the Prime Minister for approval in accordance with the Planning Law. 

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