Vietnam's aquaculture output was estimated at 1.18 million tonnes in the first two months of 2023, rising by 1.3% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

In February alone, the output stood at an estimated 593,400 tonnes, up 2.5% compared to the same period last year.

The ministry suggested localities nationwide to link the restructuring of the fisheries sector with the re-organisation of production in accordance with the value chain in order to reduce production costs, and improve productivity, quality, efficiency and competitiveness of Vietnamese aquatic products.

It is also necessary to modernise management, step up the application of science and technology in aquaculture, and restructure the fishery industry in association with protecting aquatic resources and the environment, the ministry said.

Citizens warned of fake bank websites with similar interface to formal ones

Many mobile phone users have lately received messages with a link to a fake bank or e-payment website. This is one popular trick to steal sensitive information of bank customers to appropriate the money in their bank accounts.

Accordingly, when clicking the links to fake websites, people can see an interface extremely similar to official bank websites of. Therefore, they do not hesitate to enter their username and password as well as OPT code, and thus unintentionally have their confidential information stolen.

To avoid being a victim of this trick, bank customers are warned not to click any strange links. Before conducting any online transaction, they should verify whether the website is a formal one provided by their bank or not.

Until now, functional agencies have detected 15 such fake websites of renowned banks in Vietnam such as Vietcombank, VPBank, TPBank, VIB, HDBank.

Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC) is developing a tool to search for domain names for Vietnamese Internet users to actively verify strange domains in various fields. This is expected to significantly reduce online fraudulence.

Vietnam's seafood trading center to be established in China

The Executive Team of the Forum on Connecting Agricultural Products 970 under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a forum to promote trade in agricultural and fishery products between Vietnam and China in Hanoi yesterday.

This forum was held to discuss the import and export situation of agricultural products, seafood, food and trade needs between Vietnam and China. Moreover, forum participants talked about solutions for obstacles in the export of agricultural products, seafood and food to the Chinese market in the near future.

Mr. To Van Quang, who is also Vice Chairman of the Vietnam - China Business Association in China’s Guangxi, said that the company will buy up to 35,000 tons of durian including 15,000 tons from Vietnam and about 120,000 tons of purple sweet potatoes, basa fish, cobia and other seafood in 2023.

Therefore, Mr. Quang wanted to know more about Vietnamese suppliers of agricultural products and connect with Vietnamese suppliers.

Meanwhile, a representative from Dong Thai Import-Export Company in China’s Dong Hung City suggested that the authorities of the two countries should soon complete the legal customs formalities and procedures for the official import of Vietnamese jellyfish products into China.

Mr. To Van Quang disclosed that the company’s promoting the establishment of the Vietnam seafood trading center in Fangchenggang City with help from large state-owned enterprises in China and Vietnam’s competent authorities.

Moreover, the city government of Fangchenggang City has started the first phase of construction of seafood cold storage with an area of 600 acres, the capacity to store 200,000 tons of seafood. Later, the cold storage will be expanded to an area of 1,000 acres in the second phase, which can store 600,000 tons of seafood.

In the near future, Vietnamese seafood can be sold in the Chinese market in large quantities. It is expected that buyers and sellers can directly meet and transact at the Vietnam seafood trading center in Fangchenggang City.

At the forum, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Nguyen Hoai Nam said that China has lately risen to become the second largest seafood import market of Vietnam after the United States.

In particular, Guangxi is the third locality in China in terms of import volume of Vietnamese seafood, after Guangdong and Zhanjiang. In 2022, Vietnam's seafood imports into Guangxi will reach 28,400 tons. Vietnam is the number one source of seafood for Guangxi, accounting for 69 percent of the province's volume and 75 percent of its value.

Seeing the enormous potential of the two countries' trade, the representative of VASEP suggested that Vietnam and China need to strengthen trade promotion to connect businesses promoting seafood import and export.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam asked leaders of the Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee and relevant Chinese agencies to create favorable conditions for businesses in the two countries.

Along with that, Quang Ninh province needs to direct Mong Cai City to coordinate with responsible agencies of Guangxi Province to organize another trade promotion forum as soon as possible so that businesses of the two countries can meet directly with each other.

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development also suggested that exporters voiced their opinions of bottlenecks to the Department of Quality, Processing and Market for Agricultural Products. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will work with authorities in Guangxi Province to remove bottlenecks in the coming time.

Binh Thuan petitions for license extension to exploit 6 land mines

The Chairman of the Southcentral Province of Binh Thuan petitioned for a license extension to exploit 6 land mines for the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet expressway construction project.

Today, the office of the People's Committee of Binh Thuan Province said that Mr. Doan Anh Dung, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, had signed a letter to the Prime Minister proposing to remove difficulties and obstacles in solving material mines for an embankment for the construction project of Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet section, part of the project to build several expressway sections on the North-South expressway project to the east.

Because six land mines for the construction of the Vinh Hao - Phan Thiet expressway have expired but have not been extended, which greatly affects the construction progress of the project.

Accordingly, the People's Committee of Binh Thuan Province sent its official document to ask for the Prime Minister's approval to allow the province to extend the license to exploit 6 embankment mines to supply construction materials for the project on December 26, 2022.

Later, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant agencies to study the Ministry of Transport and the Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee’s reports and then instruct the People's Committee of Binh Thuan Province how to do as per the present regulations.

In its official reply on February 23, 2023, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said these mines that have been granted the above mining licenses no longer have the rights under the Mineral Law. Therefore, the extension for these permits is impossible and the Ministry requested the People's Committee of Binh Thuan Province not to re-grant licenses to organizations and individuals.

Nearly 100 Vietnamese, Singaporean businesses establish trade connection

Over 100 Vietnamese and Singaporean enterprises have connected to seek opportunities to expand export markets and investment opportunities for production in Ho Chi Minh City on March 9.

The program was jointly organized by the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC), the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, and the Singapore-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI).

Speaking at the conference, Ms. Cao Thi Phi Van, Deputy Director of the ITPC, said that this is an important activity within the framework of the working trip of the SCCCI in Vietnam from March 6 to 10 to understand the market, seek investment opportunities and the sources of Vietnamese goods, connect trade, promote industrial, commercial, and service investment in localities in Vietnam.

The SCCCI is a large, reputable organization in Singapore, with about 5,000 member companies and over 160 members being trade associations, representing more than 40,000 companies, including large businesses in finance, multinational companies, and SMEs, operating in both the industrial and commercial sectors. SCCCI's activities have attracted the participation of many members and businesses from Singapore.

It is reported that currently, Singapore is the second largest investor among 140 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of US$71.85 billion. Especially, Singapore is the country with the largest FDI investment capital among 117 countries and territories registered to invest in HCMC, with over 1,677 activated projects and a total investment capital of nearly $14.02 billion. 

Commenting on the investment environment in Vietnam, Mr. Kho Choon Keng, Chairman of SCCCI, said that Vietnam has the advantage of political stability, a transparent and attractive investment environment, positive economic growth, as well as a skilled and hardworking workforce. These conditions help Vietnam maintain its advantage in attracting foreign investors, especially those from Singapore.

HCMC is considered to possess the most attractive factors to foreign investors compared to the rest of the country. It is the economic, cultural, scientific, and technological center, the hub of international exchange, and has an important political position in the country. It has a highly skilled and qualified workforce of over 4.6 million people and an infrastructure system with standard roads, railways, waterways, and airways conveniently connecting areas domestically and internationally.

More importantly, by investing in HCMC, businesses will have the opportunity to access not only a market with a population of over 10 million people living here but also seven adjacent provinces. At the same time, this will be the gateway to accessing the 500-million-people ASEAN community.

This event was attended by more than 70 HCMC-based businesses operating in industrial production, electronics, information technology, agricultural products and food, textile and garment, banking, finance, real estate, logistics, and pharmaceuticals, corresponding to the industries of the Singaporean business delegation consisting of 28 large corporations and businesses.

DXCenter effectively promoting digital transformation in HCMC

The Support and Consultation Center for Digital Transformation (DXCenter), formed in HCMC, aims at introducing useful solutions, applications for digital transformation to businesses and organizations, greatly boosting this process in the city.

In November 2022, DXCenter helped District 1 Public Service One-member Co. Ltd. to install an online payment system for household waste collection service. After 3 months launching, this system receives several positive comments from local residents thanks to its convenience and time-saving, labor-saving ability.

Also in November last year, the HCMC Department of Education and Training piloted the smart classroom model in the two primary schools of Thanh An (sited in Can Gio District) and Trung Lap Thuong (in Cu Chi District).

The two schools regularly face trouble hiring teachers, especially for English language subject. This smart model came as a saver to both school leaders and 4th-grade and 5th-grade pupils.

English language teachers livestream their lesson in a sound-proof room in Quang Trung Software City (located in District 12), and learners from the two schools can participate in that fully interactive lesson, along with interesting online games to consolidate the knowledge.

Head of the Education Unit of DXCenter Ha Duy Binh shared that since HCMC is the place that needs the most teachers in the country, particularly IT and English language ones, a digital class is considered a promising solution.

In 2022, DXCenter held tens of events and seminars with such themes as ‘Blockchain Technology and Digital Identification Solutions’, ‘Digital Transformation Trends and Application in Labor Monitoring’, ‘Master the Future Together’ in order to raise the awareness of the public about digital transformation and introduce new solutions to businesses and communities.

The Center also hosted several training sessions to support 30 small and micro enterprises in HCMC to carry out this essential process successfully. Besides, it welcomed and served nearly ten national and international visitor groups from World Bank, MDEC Group (Malaysia), Enterprise Singapore, Google Asia Pacific – Singapore for cooperation opportunities.

After one year of operation, DXCenter now offers 350 solutions (digital signature, smart camera controlling system, face recognition via AI technology) in many fields of digital office, infrastructure, retail, production.

Director of DXCenter Phan Phuong Tung admitted that although his center owns a large number of solutions, their application among small and medium enterprises is not high since it is necessary to prove to them the clear benefits of these solutions.

This year, DXCenter is going to organize 10-15 training classes for small and micro enterprises on digital transformation activities. There will also be an expansion in the consultation team for small-scaled public organizations, which are encountering many obstacles in this transformation process. DXCenter sets a goal of having 1,000 products and solutions for digital transformation in all fields by 2025.

For potential digital transformation solutions to quickly and effectively be implemented, the Center has proposed that HCMC deliver financial aid worth 50 percent of the process expense to needy businesses, impose tax preferential policies to both suppliers and receivers of digital transformation solutions.

Chairman Lam Nguyen Hai Long of HCMC Computer Association shared results of a recent survey by the Planning and Investment Ministry on 1,000 businesses that 40 percent of them allocate budget for digital transformation.

The sad news is about 50 percent of surveyed enterprises had implemented digital transformation solutions in their manufacturing and trading activities but then stopped due to inadequacies to the reality.

Therefore, in the upcoming time, his Association is going to cooperate with the HCMC Association of Businesses to hold training sessions for small and micro enterprises in the city in hope of boosting this process.

Viet Nam Tourism Marketing Strategy for 2030 launched

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recently launched the Viet Nam Tourism Marketing Strategy for 2030.

Viet Nam continues to promote tourism brand under the “Viet Nam – Timeless charm” slogan
The strategy aims to promote Viet Nam as a leading and attractive destination that meets the demand of high-spending and long-stay vacationers.

The sector targets to serve 18 million international visitors and 130 million domestic tourists, maintain annual growth rate of 8-9 percent by 2025.

By 2030, the sector expects to handle 35 million foreign travelers, 160 million local holidaymakers with yearly growth rate of 4-5 percent.

In pursuance of the above targets, national tourist destinations are urged to promote the core value of Viet Nam's tourism brand associated with potentials, national advantages, cultural identities, signature cuisine, ancient heritages, friendly people and beautiful natural landscapes in a bid to bring unique travel experiences to visitors.

The strategy reads that the sector will continue to promote tourism brand under the “Viet Nam – Timeless charm” slogan, diversify types of marine tourism products. 

The Southeast Asian country will also boost night-time economy and new types of medical tourism, agritourism, industrial tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism.

The nation looks to reach out to emerging markets like India and countries in the Middle East in the 2022-2025 period.

LG Electronics scales up R&D in Vietnam

LG Electronics Inc. said on March 9 that it is scaling up its research and development operations in Vietnam to respond to a rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) parts business.

The Korean tech company held a ceremony on March 8 to celebrate the opening of a new entity in Hanoi, in a bid to further nurture the existing auto parts-focused R&D centre which LG has been running since 2016.

LG's Hanoi R&D centre focuses on software development and inspection of in-vehicle products, including telematics, and audio, video and navigation devices.

The company expects the new entity to strengthen LG's R&D infrastructure and competitiveness in Vietnam, and said it will increase the number of developers there by more than 30% to 1,000 by next year.

In 2020, LG also opened an R&D office for auto parts in the central city of Da Nang to enhance its EV-related business and nurture talent. The giant considers the EV parts business one of its most promising growth sectors.

During the fourth quarter, the company reported a significant drop in operating profit due to slowing demand for home appliances, but its EV parts business made a turnaround 10 years after its launch.

In early January, Eun Seok-hyun, President of LG's vehicle component solutions division, said he expects its EV parts business to grow sharply this year to top 10 trillion won (over 7.5 billion USD) in sales.

Weak bank revival to necessitate patience

Reorganising distressed credit institutions is to be a major focus in Vietnam in 2023, but it could take 8-10 years to transform troubled lenders into financially sound ones.

After the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) called for restructuring credit institutions in association with bad debt settlement over the next few years through an assistance programme, Vietcombank, MB, VPBank, and HDBank have either publicly stated their intention to help weak banks as part of the forced transfer, or given strong hints that they would.

Viet Capital Securities (VCSC) identified four banks, stating that Vietcombank would support CB Bank, MB will support Ocean Bank, VPBank will support GP Bank, and HDBank will support Dong A Bank.

Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) was one of the four troubled banks named by the SBV last year to be placed under special management.

According to research conducted by VCSC on the assistance initiative, the SBV may lend to weak banks at interest rates as low as zero as a low-cost source of capital. Deposit Insurance Vietnam (DIV) will also offer troubled banks with low-cost financing via the acquisition of these banks’ bonds. Additionally, the sponsoring bank will also issue long-term bonds for weak banks, allowing them to access to low-cost funding sources.

The supporting bank will locate quality loans using DIV’s low-cost funding and offer them to weak banks. These banks will purchase quality loans from supporting banks with capital from the government at a cheap cost, hence generating a high net interest margin to offset cumulative losses, according to VCSC.

Aside from the privileges and advantages, the beneficiary of restructured troubled lenders will confront other problems and pressures. It will take between 8-10 years for weak banks to become solvent financial organisations. Nevertheless, supporting banks may take longer to fulfill their plan to support weak credit institutions, hence raising their anticipating expenses, VCSC concluded.

According to VNDirect Securities, the SBV will consider carefully when allocating credit quota to each bank.

Tran Kieu Oanh, head of financial institution analysis at FiinGroup, highlighted the three greatest difficulties confronting the banking sector in 2023.

Faced with shocks from the difficult economic climate, the CAR of Vietnamese banks (9 per cent for state-owned banks and 12 per cent for private banks) remains relatively low in comparison to other regional peers (around 15 per cent for the ASEAN+5 region), according to Oanh.

She also believes that the overall health of Vietnamese banks has improved significantly over the past decade. Furthermore, interest income will accelerate in the second half of 2023, which can help banks to entice depositors and relieve the strain on the bank’s capital expenses.

Social housing needs easier legal processes to flourish: experts

Legal challenges are impeding progress on social housing and complex projects in HCM City, according to a recent report submitted by the city's construction department to the municipal People's Committee.

One project affected is the Tanimex Apartment Building in Bình Tân District, whose head investor is Tân Bình Import-Export JSC.

Despite having sufficient capital and land resources since 2010, the project remains on paper due to complicated processes to change its usage purpose from a workers' boarding house to a social housing unit.

The city People's Committee chairman Phan Văn Mãi has directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to address the issue.

The construction department held a meeting in November last year intending to realise the chairman's decision. However, no progress has been made so far.

The resettlement unit for households affected by the Xuyên Tâm Canal renovation project is in the same situation.

The plan has over 12,000 sq.m of land provided by the Bình Thạnh District People's Committee with the State budget and a complete infrastructure plan.

However, construction remains on hold as the city has not assigned a head investor.

A recommendation has been made for the city's management board of civil and industrial construction investment projects, but the decision is not yet approved.

Numerous social housing and workers' complex projects in the city are also making no progress due to bottlenecks in law compliance.

A real estate business owner said that the legal process for social housing is as slow as that of commercial housing projects.

He hoped that authorities and the government would address the core of the problem, which is having specific policies to remove the obstacles in legal procedures for social housing projects.

This way, businesses could access preferential credit packages and build affordable houses for people.

Nguyễn Duy Thành, chairman of Global Home Management JSC told Thanh Niên (Youth) newspaper that social housing was a major demand. However, the supply was very limited.

Apart from difficulties in legal procedures that might take years to complete, investors also had to deal with the fluctuating prices of construction materials, which lead to a significant difference between the selling price at the point of purchase and handover.

Thành believed that the government, as the market regulator, should create favourable conditions for legal processes to be completed in the shortest time possible.

More importantly, the state must have a land fund that could be offered or put up for public bidding between competent contractors.

If these conditions are met, social housing units will enter the market at a quick rate and low prices, as they only include construction costs, a few other expenses, and a 10 per cent profit margin, according to Thành.

According to the vice-chairman of HCM City Real Estate Association Lê Hữu Nghĩa, the government is focusing on developing social housing and workers' complex.

However, administrative procedures and working processes are an enormous obstacle, even if the VNĐ110 trillion (US$4.2 billion) credit package is approved.

HCM City has tens of thousands of apartments and land for resettlement projects abandoned, especially in Vĩnh Lộc B and Thủ Thiêm resettlement areas.

Nguyễn Hoàng, a real estate expert, suggested that these abandoned resettlement projects should be converted into social housing to take advantage of the VNĐ110 trillion stimulus package when it is approved.

He said that as the regulations stated that households under land clearance plans if having no other accommodation and not enough money for a resettlement place, can purchase or rent social housing units. 

Scientific researches oriented to needs of community

Ho Chi Minh City authorities expected that scientific researches are oriented to the needs of the community.

The southern largest city always encourages scientists at universities and institutes to link more with businesses, especially in tasks related to four key industries of the city, forming practical researches. Thanks to the city’s support, many scientists in Ho Chi Minh City have had remarkable scientific research works which are oriented to the needs of the community.

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City's dedicated broadband network (identified as MetroNet network) has made connections between the municipal People's Committee to localities and units. However, the MetroNet network still has some limitations such as difficulty in expanding bandwidth, difficulty in adjusting bandwidth between units, and uncertain security when many groups of customers simultaneously run other data on the same cable.

Therefore, experts from the Ho Chi Minh City-based Academy of Post and Telecommunications Technology have decided to re-designing a broadband network for a smart city. Broadband network for smart city basically has a three-layer structure, including the Core layer, the Aggregation layer and the Access layer which are designed to ensure wide-scale deployment as well as the fast development of services.

Mr. Tan Hanh from the Institute of Post and Telecommunications Technology said this is the infrastructure to ensure connectivity, meet the needs of flexible development, and at the same time can take advantage of the existing network infrastructure of current telecommunications service providers.

Elsewhere in the city, in order to have a scientific basis for assessing the current status of self-cleaning and forecasting the water quality of the main canal and canal system in the inner city, a group of scientists from the Southern Regional Hydro-meteorological Station has conducted a survey to assess water quality and self-cleaning ability and build an automatic water quality forecasting system. Since then, the research team has completed building a set of hydrological and hydraulic models, serving the construction of water quality zoning maps, and building an IT platform to process the database to deliver a timely warning about water quality.

According to Ms. Le Thi Phuong Truc, the IT platform ensures complete automation of the operation of the water quality forecasting system with the goal of meeting the requirements of smart environmental management in smart cities.

Another group of scientists worked on a project as they realized the need to deploy electronic medical records at medical facilities. A team of expert medicals at the University of Science and Technology has worked on a project 'Building and testing a data standard set based on international standards HL7 FHIR and DICOM for electronic medical records and data communication between hospitals'

This application has well served the needs of hospitals.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, the city has encouraged scientists at schools and institutes to link more with businesses. Prior, the Department has advised the municipal People's Committee to issue a program of scientific research - technology development and improve the city’s potential of science and technology for the period of 2021-2025.

Out of 212 registered tasks, up to now, 91 tasks have been successfully evaluated by the Council and proposed to be implemented. The Department of Science and Technology signed a contract to implement 64 new tasks with a total budget of VND113,567 billion.

Between 2021 to 2025, Ho Chi Minh City will improve the operational efficiency of public science and technology groups. The city also promotes the development of an innovative start-up ecosystem, improving labor productivity, quality and competitiveness of enterprises.

In addition to the linkage between enterprise, schools and government, the city will promote the implementation of science and technology tasks for international cooperation as well as transfer key technologies to support enterprises to apply in production and business activities.

Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented six scientific and technological research programs, including a program of research and development of technology applications for smart cities and digital transformation; an Industrial technology application research and development program; a research program and technology application for health care and protection; program of research and development of high-tech agricultural applications; applied research program for urban management and development and young science and technology incubator program.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City, said that science and technology tasks ordered or supported by Ho Chi Minh City need to directly solve the city’s existing problems; support enterprises to improve productivity, quality and competitiveness; and improve the city’s science and technology potential. All will be oriented toward the city's innovation ecosystem.

Extra 200 pharma products approved for circulation

The Drug Administration of Vietnam, under the Ministry of Health, has given the circulation registration numbers for roughly 200 pharmaceutical products in response to the rising demand nationwide.

Authorized drugs will be used for mild illnesses and specialized treatments, such as digestive, diabetic, cardiovascular, skeletal and respiratory disorders.

Around one-third of the medicines are manufactured domestically, with six approved for a three-year circulation. The circulation period of the rest is five years.

As for imported drugs, nearly 100 items were granted a circulation period of five years.

Vietnam has recently faced a severe lack of drugs and medical equipment, particularly in major public hospitals in Hanoi and HCMC.

The shortfall is partly due to the expiry of certain medicines’ registration numbers and a personnel shortage in management agencies, in addition to obstacles in the dossier process for specialized equipment purchases, the media reported.

In 2021, the country’s pharmaceutical business was valued at US$6.92 billion, with locally produced medicines making up 46% of the total.

Vietnam currently has 228 medicine manufacturing facilities meeting GMP-WHO standards, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Door wide open for processed, manufactured products to enter UAE
     
Products of the processing and manufacturing industry of Viet Nam now have great chances to enjoy stronger export to the UAE, which has high demand for imports.

Dubai is stepping up urbanisation and infrastructure development, leading to higher demand for electricity and energy in industrial and trade sectors. The development of smart grids and upgrade of transmission lines will also boost the UAE’s electrical cable market.

The UAE’s electrical cable market was valued at US$192.48 billion in 2021 and is forecast to grow by some 4.2 per cent on average between 2022 and 2030. Therefore, electrical cables are a highly potential product for Vietnamese enterprises to invest in and export to the middle eastern country, said Truong Xuan Trung, an official of Viet Nam’s Trade Office in the UAE, as cited by the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper.

Among other processed and manufactured products, Viet Nam can also boost the shipment of handbags, suitcases, and wallets, he suggested.

In 2022, footwear exports to the UAE brought home $185 million, rising nearly 50 per cent from a year earlier; textiles and garments $132 million; timber and wood products $27 million, statistics show.

The Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City has registered to take part in a woodworking fair in the UAE in 2023. This event, which will gather many international exporters and importers, will be a good chance for Vietnamese firms to seek partners, Trung said.

In addition, some agricultural and fishery products of Viet Nam are holding a big market share in the UAE and can be exported more to this market.

Data in 2022 show that fishery exports to the UAE increased by over 18 per cent year on year. Viet Nam is currently the biggest exporter of frozen tra fish fillet there, with an over 50 per cent market share. Such fruits as dragon fruit, watermelon, and seedless lime from the Southeast Asian country are also dominating this market.

However, the UAE is a market with fierce competition in terms of prices and quality, the official noted, adding that the Islamic country requires food and beverage imports to have Halal certificates, and also imposes high import tariffs, up to 50 per cent, on sugar-sweetened beverages.

Despite considerable challenges, Trung held that the UAE is attractive enough for Vietnamese firms to capitalise on since it is a highly open market, has few tariff barriers, and serves as a point of transit for goods to reach the Middle East, Africa, and Southern Europe.

Besides, the UAE is a party to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), whose members share a common customs law system, so when Vietnamese goods are exported to this market, they can enter other GCC members without having to pay more taxes.

The UAE has asked Viet Nam to consider the early signing of a bilateral comprehensive economic partnership agreement so as to further facilitate Vietnamese products’ entry into the Middle Eastern country, according to Trung.

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