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The exporters should carefully study related regulations and procedures, and seriously and fully comply with the requirements made by US investigation agency as well as closely coordinate with the Vietnamese authority throughout the course of the case, it noted.
On June 6, US President Joe Biden also declared a state of emergency related to a shortage of domestic supply of solar cells and modules for solar power generation. He authorised the Secretary of Commerce to consider appropriate action allowing a 24-month tariff exemption for solar panels imported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. The move aimed to ensure the US has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up.
Earlier, in March, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) began an investigation to determine if solar cells and modules imported from the four Southeast Asian nations are circumventing existing antidumping and countervailing tariffs on those from China.
According to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam, the case is still underway, with no official conclusion issued yet. Therefore, the US’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures are not imposed on products imported from Vietnam at the moment.
Retail petrol prices likely to hit new record highs on June 11
The retail price of petrol RON95 in Vietnam is likely to surpass the VND32,000/litre mark when the government adjusts domestic petrol and oil prices periodically.
Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that the retail petrol and oil prices in the Singapore market rose US$3-6 per barrel in the past week to US$150.5/barrel for RON92, US$157.4/barrel for RON95, US$170.6/barrel for diesel, US$166.6/barrel for kerosene, and US$636/tonne for fuel oil.
Currently the retail prices of E5 ROK92 and RON95 are capped at VND30,235/litre and VND31,578/litre respectively.
To cool down the local fuel market, the State management agencies have no choice but to reduce taxes and fees, added the executive.
During a hearing at the ongoing National Assembly session on June 8, Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that the Ministry of Finance would review market trends and consider axing taxes to reduce fuel prices.
Legal framework for securities, corporate bond investment, business strengthened
Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong has submitted a report to National Assembly (NA) deputies on issues raised during the Question-and-Answer session, including credit management and control in potentially risky areas, especially securities lending, corporate bond issuance.
According to the report, by April 2022, credit for securities investment and trading accounted for about 0.5% of the total outstanding loans of the economy, mainly short-term loans (98%). By the end of April, the total outstanding debt of investment in corporate bonds of credit institutions was VND320.4 trillion (US$13.8 billion), accounting for 2.86% of the total outstanding credit balance, which demonstrates that investment activities in corporate bonds of credit institutions are still under control.
In order to control risks related to securities and corporate bonds, Hong said the SBV has gradually improved the legal framework with stricter regulations, and strengthen inspections and supervision over the supply of credit in the fields of securities and corporate bond investment.
The central bank will continue to study and revise regulations on buying and selling corporate bonds of credit institutions, improving their governance requirements and standards when participating in the corporate bond market to contribute to ensuring the safety of banking activities, and sustainably develop the market.
It will also maintain close coordination with ministries and sectors to accelerate the implementation of solutions to restructure and sustainably develop financial market segments, including the corporate bond market, to make the market become a major medium- and long-term capital mobilisation channel of the economy.
Can Tho injects life into the nigh-time economy
The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho has launched a project to boost the development of its night-time economy as part of its efforts to attract more tourists.
The city approved a project to pilot night-time services in Ninh Kieu district on April 22, under which tourism and entertainment services will be available from 6pm to 6am in a number of local tourism attractions. The area will house as pedestrian streets, night markets, tours, and entertainment-trade centres.
Currently, shopping and entertainment services are only allowed to operate from 6pm to 10pm at night markets in Ninh Kieu district.
After a two-year pilot programme, Can Tho will implement night-time services across many parts of the city in an effort to bolster its tourism sector and boost socio-economic development.
The project will be initially implemented in Ninh Kieu district in the 2022-2024 period.
At the same time, Can Tho is also calling for investment in other promising destinations. From 2025, the model is expected to be expanded to the remaining districts in the city.
Amazon initiative helps boost cross-border e-commerce in Vietnam
The Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Amazon Global Selling Vietnam on June 8 launched a cross-border e-commerce initiative in the breakthrough era.
The initiative is intended to help Vietnam develop workforce for this kind of commerce in the next five years, thus raising the capacity of local enterprises and opening up export opportunities for them.
E-commerce sales worldwide are expected to amount to 7.38 trillion USD by 2025, he said, noting that this form in Vietnam has also made big strides over the past years, significantly contributing to spurring domestic economic development and boosting the digital economy in the post-pandemic recovery.
Last year, Vietnam earned 13.7 billion USD from online retail sales, up 16 percent, and the value is expected to climb to 35 billion USD by 2025, with the annual growth rate of 25 percent between 2022 and 2025.
The initiative is expected to support local firms in digital transformation and equip them with knowledge about export-import and market, and gradually build Vietnamese brands in the global market.
Quang Ninh: Over 45,300 tonnes of cargo cleared after reopening of two border checkpoints
More than 45,300 tonnes of cargo had been customs-cleared through Mong Cai International Border Gate in the northern province of Quang Ninh as of June 2 following the reopening of its two checkpoints.
Over 2,300 tonnes had gone through a temporary checkpoint of Mong Cai International Border Gate, which borders China, after it was reopened on May 30.
According to customs data, some 1,916 tonnes of exports – mostly agricultural products and fresh seafood – and 392 tonnes of imports – mainly consumer goods – had passed the Km3 4 Hai Yen border checkpoint over the course of four days.
The Mong Cai Border Gate’s Bac Luan II checkpoint also resumed operation on June 26 after a two-month closure because of the same reason. By June 2, close to 43,000 tonnes of cargo had been cleared via the checkpoint.
The two checkpoints are open from 8:00am to 16:pm (Hanoi time) daily.
Finance Ministry to propose further fuel duty cut
The Ministry of Finance is considering to put forward another proposal for further fuel duty cut, Minister Ho Duc Phoc told the 15th National Assembly during its third sitting in Hanoi on June 8 amid concerns over soaring fuel prices.
Fuel prices in Vietnam are relatively higher than those of neighbouring countries, Phoc said, and it is up to the NA and its Standing Committee to decide whether fuel tariffs should be reduced. The NA agreed to lower the environment tax on fuel earlier this year, he noted.
A further tax cut must come along with a comprehensive course of actions to prevent smuggling, the minister said, adding that fuel prices are not only driven by taxes but also the supply-demand law.
Gas platform’s output reaches 5 billion cu.m
As of late May, the Dragon Gas Compression Platform (DGCP) of the PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (PV GAS) saw an output of 5 billion cu.m of gas, according to the company.
The figure is a hallmark in the operation of the DGCP as well as in cooperation and coordination between PV Gas and Vietnam-Russia oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro, it said.
The DGCP project has a total initial investment of 150 million USD, with the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and PV Gas as the investors and Vietsovpetro, the constructor.
It was designed and constructed with two high-pressure compressor packages with a capacity of 900,000-cubic meter of gas per day, collecting all the associated gas of the Dragon field area to compress back into the general gaslift system of Vietsovpetro.
Large Japanese-funded project launched to strengthen safe agricultural value chains in the north
A project to strengthen the safe agricultural value chains in northern localities has been jointly launched by the National Agricultural Extension Centre (NAEC) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The project, at total cost of 3 million USD funded by Japan's non-refundable official development assistance (ODA), will be implemented from 2022 to 2026, covering seven northern provinces of Hanoi, Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh and Son La.
This is the third project on strengthening safe farming value chains in the northern region of Vietnam that the NAEC and the JICA have worked together on. Earlier, the two sides successfully cooperated in building fundamental GAP and make it a technical procedure for safe vegetable farming in 2014 as well as developing selling channels for safe farm produce.
Solutions proposed to improve int’l railway transport service
The Ministry of Transport has been tasked with coordinating with relevant ministries, sectors and localities in considering and handling recommendations of the Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) on how to better the capacity of international railway transport serving import and export activities.
Previously, the VNR had submitted a written proposal to the Prime Minister suggesting solutions to improve the railway system's capacity and output of international transport service.
According to the VNR, investment for infrastructure development and solutions in terms of mechanisms and policies are the key and decisive factors to improve international railway transport capacity to support import-export activities of the country.
The VNR has surveyed and selected cargo terminals and storage facilities in strategic locations to serve international transportation activities. The company underlined the need to develop storage facilities qualified to handle containers as well as warehouses meeting standards to store import and export goods.
An investment plan using both State budget capital and private capital has also been suggested by the VNR.
Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh assigned the Ministry of Transport to consider and handle the proposal, and report to the Prime Minister in June 2022.
Business forum to seek cooperation opportunities with Australia
A Viet Nam-Australia business forum is to take place next week to support enterprises of the two countries to seek cooperation opportunities and technology transfer in clean energy, hi-tech agriculture, and digital transformation applications.
The “Viet Nam-Australia Business Cooperation Forum: Technology Transfer and Business Opportunities between Innovation Ecosystems in Australia and Viet Nam” will be organised by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Saigon Innovation Hub (SIHUB), and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology on June 16.
The forum, held both in-person in HCM City and on virtual platforms, expects to see the presence of leaders of Viet Nam and Australia as well as experts and business representatives from both sides.
Discussions will focus on the application of digital transformation in search and rescue, climate change response, health care, benefit-sharing scheme in energy projects, preservation of agricultural and aquatic products using solar power, agricultural product traceability using Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT)-based smart farming solutions, biomethane production from agricultural residues, energy efficiency, and others.
Monetary policies to be managed flexibly to rein in inflation: Deputy PM
Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai clarified a number of issues raised by National Assembly (NA) deputies regarding banking activities on June 9 as part of the ongoing NA third meeting's question-and-answer session.
The Deputy PM cited the State Bank of Vietnam (SVB) Governor’s affirmation as saying that the increasing inflation does not come from recent monetary policies, especially in the first five months of this year, but from the rise in prices of commodities.
He said that the Government will continue to stick to NA resolutions and keep a close watch on the domestic situation to manage monetary tools and policies in an active, flexible and synchronous manner, aiming to curb inflation, stabilise the monetary and foreign exchange markets, while drastically implementing monetary policy solutions to support the implementation of the socio-economic recovery and development programme.
The Government will also make sure that interest rate management will match macro balances as well as inflation and monetary policy targets, and continue to remove difficulties for and support COVID-19-hit businesses and ensure safety for banking activities, he stated.
Vietnam expects to export durian to China via official channels this year
Negotiations on the export of durian to China are in the final steps and expected to finish soon so that this type of fruit can be shipped to China via official channels this year, heard an online forum held on June 8.
Le Thanh Tung, deputy director of the MARD's Department of Crop Production, said the output of key fruits in the southern region is expected to reach more than 7.3 million tonnes this year. It is estimated that China spends 4.2 billion USD on importing durian per year, of which imports from Thailand account for 60 percent.
According to Le Van Thiet, deputy director of the Plant Protection Department, Vietnam exported dragon fruit, mango, lychee, longan, rambutan and star apple to the US. The export of grapefruit to the US is under final negotiation. It is expected that the US will open its door for Vietnamese grapefruit in the the next several months.
Vietnam has also exported dragon fruit, mango and lychee to Japan, Thiet said, adding that the country is negotiating with the Japanese agriculture ministry to ship longan to this market. Meanwhile, China has licensed the import of Vietnamese passion fruit.
Seafood export turnover expected to surpass $10 billion
Based on the positive results in the first five months, seafood export turnover is expected to surpass $10 billion this year for the first time.
In the first five months of 2022, seafood exports achieved impressive results in both scale and growth rate.
According to the General Statistics Office, in the first five months of the year, seafood exports reached over $4.6 billion, up 42 per cent on-year, many times higher than the growth rate of the total export turnover of the whole country (16.3 per cent).
In 2022, the seafood industry plans to achieve an export turnover of $9 billion, but with the positive results achieved in the first five months of the year, could mean that the industry surpasses $10 billion for the first time.
However, to achieve this result, in the remaining months of the year, the fisheries sector must have many positive solutions, say experts. It would be necessary to increase the number of offshore fishing vessels and their fishing capacity from the figures of the last few years.
Besides this, experts say it would be necessary to maintain and develop the water surface area for aquaculture, which has also decreased recently, as well as focusing on high-value seafood, improving food hygiene and safety, and complying with the mandatory regulations of the export market.
ACV and Società Esercizi Aeroportuali ink sister airport agreement
The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) and Italy’s Società Esercizi Aeroportuali (SEA) have signed a sister airport agreement to support future development.
The signing was part of Routes Asia 2022 which is being held in Vietnam’s central city of Danang from June 6-9.
This marks an important milestone in the relationship between ACV and airport operators in the European aviation market. The agreement is expected to bring more European passengers to Vietnam.
Under the pact, the two sides will strengthen the exchange of experience, expand cooperation, and create favourable conditions for the development of the international flight network to and from the airports under ACV and SEA, thus contributing to boosting air transport, trade, tourism, and investment between Vietnam and Italy.
Hanoi's Grade-A offices bounce back post-COVID
Every worker wants an office that inspires productivity, but the past two years have made many aware that they deserve more in terms of an avenue for creative pursuits, meaningful collaborations, and a space to breathe amidst the constant action.
As the demand rises for premium office spaces that meet evolving business needs and worker preferences, property developers are now more focused on creating state-of-the-art office buildings for hybrid working arrangements.
The Savills Office Fit report found that while the office itself is essential, its configuration, how it’s designed, and how all the elements in it are arranged are key attraction points for employees.
Additional work settings, collaborative spaces, and virtual communications must all be taken into account with appropriate space allocation.
Some tenants are now exploring their options for flexible and add-on space throughout their buildings and landlords are beginning to incorporate more plug-and-play space within their schemes.
Banks seek further capital injections to boost strength
The State Bank of Vietnam has recently greenlit capital hike plans for a raft of banks, including Viet Capital Bank (BVB), Orient Commercial Bank (OCB), and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), among others.
Along with this, BVB was allowed to add at most $70.3 million to its charter capital. After the move, the bank’s charter capital would reach nearly $230 million which would serve development requirements in the medium and long-term such as technology and material base improvement and network expansion.
Similarly, OCB was approved to raise its charter capital by an additional $2.56 million, of which $2.17 million would be raised through selling stocks to the labourers under the employee stock ownership plan and $383,400 to be sourced through private placement to Japan’s Aozora Bank.
For ACB, after receiving the central bank’s approval for the capital hike plan, on June 6, the bank closed the shareholder list for stock dividend payments to its existing shareholders.
Particularly, ACB would distribute nearly 675.5 million stocks for dividend payments at a ratio of 25 per cent, meaning a shareholder owning 100 stocks will receive 25 new shares.
After finalising stock issuance, ACB’s charter capital would be injected at $293.6 million to reach $1.46 billion.
This year, the SBV continues guiding credit institutions not to pay cash dividends and save on costs to maximise business support.
Banks are keen on making stock dividend payments to raise charter capital in order to scale up capital safety and boost credit growth.
A string of banks, such as MSB, VIB, and SHB have embraced raising their capital sources by 25-35 per cent through stock dividend payments and bonus shares.
MSB has made a 2021 dividend payment to shareholders at a 30 per cent ratio to bolster its charter capital to more than $869 million this year.
VIB approved a plan to raise its charter capital to $913 million by making stock dividend payments and giving bonus shares to shareholders at a 35 per cent ratio. It also envisages distributing 0.7 per cent of equity capital to the employees.
Among state lenders, Vietcombank, VietinBank, and BIDV all have plans to replenish their capital sources.
Accordingly, BIDV would raise its charter capital by 21 per cent to reach $2.66 billion. Vietcombank wants to add $372 million to raise its charter capital to $2.43 billion, whereas VietinBank wants to add $247 million to boost its charter capital to $2.33 billion.
Vietnam Cooperative Trade Fair 2022 opens in Hanoi
The Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) opened the 2022 Cooperative Trade and Investment Promotion Fair (Coop Expo 2022) in the capital of Hanoi on June 8, with the participation of cooperative alliances from 50 provinces and cities.
The event has attracted over 100 enterprises whose value chains are linked with cooperatives and features more than 250 exhibition booths.
At the trade fair, which will run until June 13, cooperatives and enterprises are showcasing thousands of agricultural, food, medicinal and handicraft products as well as materials and equipment to support agricultural production.
ETC systems ready on HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expy next month
Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) on June 7 signed an agreement for a 64-month toll collection service package with the VETC Electronic Toll Collection Company, the local media reported.
Under the VND694 billion deal, VETC will complete installing ETC systems by July 31 for the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway and three others managed by VEC – Cau Gie-Ninh Binh, Noi Bai-Lao Cai and Danang-Quang Ngai.
The four expressways have a total of 155 lanes for toll collection, and 140 of them will have ETC systems installed. The remaining 15 lanes on the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh expressway, which already have ETC systems, will be handed over to VETC for operation. Five years after the deal expires, VETC will hand over these systems to VEC.
It is necessary and urgent to replace manual collection with automatic collection on expressways, said VEC chairman Truong Viet Dong.
ETC is expected to facilitate vehicular traffic and prevent traffic congestion at toll collection stations during rush hours or holidays.
Until now, the expressways under VEC’s management have served over 297 million vehicles.
Gov’t promotes M&A in banking sector for higher competitiveness
The Government would continue to encourage banks to pursue M&A deals in the sector to enhance competitiveness and sizes of operation.
The move was part of the Government’s project for restructuring credit institutions and addressing bad debts during the 2021-2025 period that was signed off by Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai.
The main objective of the project is to ensure all banks adopting the Basel II standards have a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of at least 10-11% by 2023, and eventually to 11-12% by 2025.
To reach these targets, the Government called for banks to take measures to increase charter capital and CAR, along with higher corporate governance capability of international standards.
Based on supervision data and assessment from independent auditing firms, banks, and financial companies would be divided into three groups, including banks with high financial muscles; mid-size banks; and weak banks with high risks.
By 2025, those of large scale should have their respective charter capital of at least VND15 trillion ($647 million), mid-size of VND5 trillion ($215.6 million), and financial companies of VND750 billion ($32.3 million).
Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes
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