A forum on opportunities for Vietnamese handicraft products has taken place as part of the MIDA – Florence International Crafts Fair 2023, which runs in Italy from April 25 to May 1.

Co-organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Centre for Agriculture (AGRITRADE), the event gathered leaders of European and Italian craft associations, as well as Italian experts and businesses in the field.

Addressing the forum, Duong Phuong Thao, Trade Counselor at the embassy, informed participants that diverse handicraft products from across Vietnam, which are produced from natural materials that are sustainably exploited locally, have so far made their presences in 163 countries and territories around the world, with the EU named their second largest market after the US. In Italy, the goods are increasingly popular, with the turnover of several products, such as bamboo-rattan products and carpets, have grown by double digits.

Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen, deputy head of the Vietnamese Department of Cooperatives and Rural Development, said the sector is not only a production area with important contributions to creating incomes and jobs for rural people, but also an industry imbued with the national cultural identity.

President of the World Crafts Council Europe Elisa Guidi said Europe's green development trend is a great opportunity for handicraft products.

She recommended the Vietnamese handicraft sector come up with communication measures to help consumers understand the art story behind each product and encourage young people to choose handicrafts as a career direction in the future.

Participating Italian experts held that Vietnam's handicraft has all the key factors serving its further success. They suggested the industry be developed based on three core values of ensuring contemporarity, sustainability and originality, meeting specific tastes of their target markets.

The annual fair attracted more than 500 exhibitors from over 50 countries worldwide, including Vietnam.

Vietjet increases frequency of flights on routes to Australia

Vietjet will increase the frequency of flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne and Sydney (Australia) to respond to the big demand for visiting relatives, traveling and studying abroad of people and tourists.

Accordingly, the frequency of direct flights connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne will increase to four return flights per week from September 17. The flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne on every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday will take off at 10:55 am and land at 10:35 pm (local time). Meanwhile, the flights from Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday will take off at 12:30 am and land at 6:30 am (local time).

The direct flights connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney will also increase to four return flights per week from September 18. The flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday will take off at 07:30 pm and land at 07:20 am (local time). The flights from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City on every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday will take off at 11:15 am and land at 04:30 pm (local time).

HCM City unlocks resources for development

The year 2023 is considered a pivotal year to drive growth of Ho Chi Minh City for upcoming years under its economic recovery and development strategy for 2022-2025, after achieving impressive recovery last year.

However, adverse developments such as conflicts, inflation, and global financial issues leading to a widespread decrease in demand have had a significant impact on the economy of Vietnam in general, and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.

In such context, since early this year, Ho Chi Minh City has actively adopted a series of measures to unlock resources, fulfill economic growth targets, and ensure social welfare both in the short and long run.

The latest survey by the municipal Union of Business Associations in February showed that businesses continue facing difficulties due to the prolonged decline in orders since late 2022. Specifically, orders for apparel, wood products and construction materials to key markets decreased by 30-60%. The increase in inventory has resulted in the lack of cash flow while firms without orders had to cut workforce or suspend operations.

In face of the downturn, the municipal authorities implemented many credit programmes to assist businesses, enhanced trade promotion to stimulate demand, renewed promotional activities to market products and images of businesses in the community.

Since the beginning of this year, dozens of trade and investment promotion programmes have been held at home and abroad via seminars and business-to-business (B2B) networking. 

In the first quarter this year, nearly 500 million USD in foreign direct investment poured into the city. The total value of foreign-invested projects rose by 22.4% year-on-year. 

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Phan Van Mai said the city is building mechanisms to unlock resources, especially foreign and private investment for the city’s technical, socio-cultural, sport and tourism infrastructure. 

He added that the city attaches importance to regional and sectoral connectivity, considering it one of the important resources for its development. 

Ho Chi Minh City has taken initiative in collaborating with localities in the Central Highlands, southeastern and Mekong Delta regions to build transport infrastructure and production and marketing chains. 

The city benefits the most from the expansion of development space, accessing many innovative and creative ideas as well as various development models, he said.

New regulations to boost OCOP goods between now and 2025

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has introduced regulations for the sales of products under the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme.

The new criteria will be in place for the next three years, from 2023 to 2025.

Under the new regulations, OCOP goods showcased in showrooms must achieve a minimum of three stars or higher based on the criteria for evaluating and classifying OCOP products promulgated by the Prime Minister.

Additionally, products must be the province's key, typical agricultural or industrial products or specialties that characterise the region's advantages, as determined by the MoIT.

The OCOP showrooms will be located in areas with dense traffic, such as airports, stations, highway rest areas, commercial centres, supermarkets, markets, tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels, craft villages, industrial zones, clusters, exhibition and product introduction centres and postal offices.

The new regulations aim to ensure that OCOP products meet market demands, satisfy customers' preferences, comply with legal requirements, and protect environmental and consumer health safety.

In March, the Government introduced a new set of criteria to rate OCOP products, replacing the old criteria that had been in place since 2019, which had started to show shortcomings after four years.

By the end of 2022, Vietnam had 8,689 OCOP products, with 65.5% of the products rated three-star, 33.6% rated four-star, and a small percentage rated five-star potential or five-star.

OCOP products are known for their diverse and environmentally friendly designs and packaging, which meet the market's demands and promote sustainable development.

The programme has also helped to increase production scale and revenue for local communities, as well as promote the development of specialty raw material areas, rural industries and the preservation of traditional craft villages.

Moreover, the OCOP programme has significantly promoted livelihood development in remote and ethnic minority areas, especially for women.

Green growth - inevitable choice towards prosperity

Vietnam is determined to pursue rapid and sustainable economic growth combined with environmental protection to progress to prosperity. To reach that goal, green growth is the inevitable choice.

According to experts, the path to green growth is not easy as the awareness of the business community toward environmental protection is at an early stage.

In a survey conducted by the Vietnam Federation of Trade and Industry (VCCI), although environmental pollution has seriously affected production and business activities, enterprise comprehension of environmental regulations remains modest. Only 31.8% of private enterprises said they understood environmental regulations, but up to 68% of enterprises said they were negatively affected by climate change.

There is a lack of human resources in Vietnam with adequate knowledge of environmental laws and regulations. In particular, investment in green production and operations in an environmentally friendly direction is capital intensive, which affects short-term competitiveness. Some 44% of domestic enterprises and 38% of foreign-invested enterprises admitted that they have not fully complied with environmental regulations.

In addition, business investment in innovation, and green production practices are generally at an early stage.  According to a report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), only about 50% of enterprises in the fields of industrial production, transportation, and construction have applied solutions to save energy and resources.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung affirmed that green and sustainable growth is currently a top priority and a goal that all countries are aiming for. For Vietnam, green growth is an opportunity to become a pioneer in the region, catching up with global trends.

He said Vietnam believes that green growth is based on science, and innovation, taking advantage of new technologies, protecting the environment, and effectively responding to climate change.

The country should create an appropriate mechanism to mobilise and optimise resources, encourage the private sector to participate in green economic development, use various types of renewable energy such as wind power, and solar power, reduce emissions, and strengthen international cooperation. It should also focus on green growth and sustainable development, the minister added.

Recognising the importance of green growth, the Prime Minister issued the National Green Growth Strategy for the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, along with a national action plan on green growth for the period 2021-2030 and a circular economy development scheme, which all share the same goal to develop science and technology, innovate, and transform the economic model towards a green, digital, and circular economy in order to participate more deeply in the global supply chain.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the State can only meet 30% of resources for green growth. Therefore, mechanisms are needed to promote domestic and foreign financial institutions as well as the private sector to participate in green growth goals.

In order to diversify resources, a US business delegation, consisting of 50 big names in the technology industry with green production principles, has just finished a trip to explore manufacturing opportunities in Vietnam. The businesses include Boeing, Meta, and CitiBank which are dubbed as the "eagles" in the fields of telecommunications, aviation, semiconductor, and finance.   If new projects from these groups are implemented, it will be a testament to the new success in attracting resources as well as marking a new stage in realising Vietnam's green growth ambitions.

US is largest export market for Vietnamese goods over four months

The United States made up Vietnam’s largest export market with an estimated turnover reaching US$28.4 billion during the first four months of the year, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO).      

China ranked second with US$16.4 billion, followed by the EU with US$13.7 billion, ASEAN with US$11.1 billion, the Republic of Korea (RoK) with US$7.8 billion, and Japan with US$7.3 billion.

Throughout the reviewed period, Vietnam’s export turnover of goods dropped by 11.8% to US$108.57 billion against the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the country’s four-month import turnover also declined by 15.4% year on year to US$102.22 billion.

China was the largest importer of Vietnamese goods with an estimated turnover reaching US$33.3 billion, trailed by the RoK with US$16.7 billion, ASEAN with US$13.4 billion, Japan with US$7.3 billion, the EU with US$4.4 billion, and the United States with US$4.1 billion.

The reviewed period saw Vietnam rack up a trade surplus of US$24.4 billion, of which US$24.4 billion was generated from Vietnamese export surplus to the US alone.

Southern localities signal breakthrough tourism recovery  
 
Southern provinces and cities in Vietnam saw positive signs from the tourism industry in the first three months of this year with diverse products, tours, and activities to attract visitors.      

According to Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, in the first quarter of this year, the city welcomed over 7.5 million domestic visitors and over 1 million international arrivals, an increase of nearly 60% and 100%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

Revenue from accommodation and food services in the city increased by over 37% in the last three months, while revenue from travel services increased by 84.5 % over the same period last year.

The city developed effective tourism products, and each district developed at least one. Known as a place of dynamic tourism, the city continuously organised events to attract visitors such as the Vietnamese New Year Festival, the Nguyen Hue Spring Flower Festival, Book Street, Golf Tourism Festival, Ao dai festival, and Banh mi Festival.

Meanwhile, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province welcomed over 3.4 million visitors including over 48,000 international guests in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of more than 42%.

Destinations for sea and island tourism, resort tourism, cultural and historical sites, and ecotourism continue to attract tourists, especially during weekends and holidays.

In the first quarter, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang welcomed nearly 2.3 million visitors. Particularly, Phu Quoc city - a prominent destination on the domestic and international tourism map - welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors, an increase of over 43% over the same period in 2022. Tourism establishments in the province have deployed solutions to further promote and develop tourism products that meet the rising demands.

Meanwhile, the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho saw accommodation services double over the same period last year, reaching nearly VND410 billion (US$17.5 million). 

The city’s tourism revenue reached over VND52 billion, up nearly 16% over the same period.

After achieving positive results in tourism recovery in the first quarter, localities proposed solutions to continue diversifying products and expanding markets. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the Department of Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the city continues to implement its tourism development strategy with a focus on improving quality and diversifying products.

The city targets to develop products for different tourist segments and products for waterway, medical, cultural, and culinary tourism. 

For promotion activities, the city introduces those and destinations not only in Ho Chi Minh City but also connected with localities in the southeast region and the Mekong Delta, central coast, Central Highlands, Red River Delta, and northwest region to create attractive tours. 

The city also strengthened coordination with provinces and cities in digital transformation to increase the effectiveness of tourism promotion online. 

They are building a common database that helps businesses develop inter-provincial and inter-regional products and call for effective investment.

Director of the Kien Giang provincial Department of Tourism Bui Quoc Thai said that to keep attracting tourists, the province has stepped up promotion for destinations such as Phu Quoc island, Ha Tien city, and Rach Gia city, and districts of U Minh Thuong, Kien Luong, Kien Hai, and Hon Dat.

The province’s tourism sector cooperates with others of agriculture, industry, and trade to exploit agricultural products, specialties, and craft villages associated with tourism activities.

A representative from Vietravel said that to attract local and international visitors with higher spending, localities need to improve and renew products, especially tourism ones and night services. 

They should focus on developing groups of products associated with community culture, entertainment, cuisine, and products associated with cultural and art programmes.

Thai Nguyen Province to build 16 new industrial zones and clusters until 2030

Thai Nguyen Province is planning to establish 16 new industrial zones and industrial clusters from now until 2030.

The province, known as the tea capital of Viet Nam, aims to enhance the construction and infrastructure investment of industrial zones and clusters, as per the Thai Nguyen Province’s master plan for the period 2021-30, approved by the Prime Minister.

The newly proposed industrial zone area will cover 1,599 hectares, bringing the total industrial zone area in the plan to 4,245 hectares, nearly three times the size of the established industrial parks.

Under the master plan, Thai Nguyen aims to develop and expand 11 industrial parks and a concentrated information technology park by 2030.

The four newly proposed industrial parks include Yen Binh 2, Yen Binh 3, Thuong Dinh and Tay (West) Pho Yen industrial-urban-service complex in Pho Yen City, of which the latter has the largest planned area of 1,128 ha, comprising 868ha of industrial park land and 260ha of urban-service land.

These industrial zones will be situated along crucial road systems connecting Ha Noi and the Thai Nguyen-Bac Giang-Vinh Phuc region, making them ideal locations for high-tech and green technology investment.

Moreover, Thai Nguyen province aims to develop 41 industrial clusters covering an area of 2,067 hectares by 2030, with 12 new clusters to be located in Thai Nguyen City, Song Cong City and other districts.

Over the past decade, Thai Nguyen has become a leading magnet for attracting foreign direct investment in the North thanks to its investor-friendly business environment, transparent policies and strategic location.

As of the end of February 2023, the region has already secured 173 projects with a total registered capital exceeding $10.3 billion. The province is targeting to attract $900 million in foreign direct investment capital this year.

April’s consumer price index down 0.34% on month

The consumer price index (CPI) in April decreased by 0.34 per cent month-on-month, but increased by 2.81 per cent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

In the first four months of this year, the index rose by 3.84 per cent year on year, mainly due to increases in prices of education, housing and construction materials, culture, entertainment and tourism, food, and electricity.

In April, seven out of the 11 groups of main consumer goods and services witnessed price decreases, and the remainders saw rises.

Notably, a 0.38 per cent fall in the price of food and catering services caused a decline of 0.13 percentage point of the CPI.

Gold prices in April were up 2.04 per cent month on month, but down 1.09 per cent year on year. In the January-April period, the prices rose by 0.66 per cent year on year.

Meanwhile, the US dollar price in April fell 0.89 per cent month on month, but rose by 2.5 per cent year on year, leading to a year-on-year increase of 3.21 per cent in the first four months of this year.

According to the GSO, core inflation in April increased by 0.13 per cent over the previous month, and by 4.56 per cent over the same period last year. On average, in the first four months, it increased by 4.9 per cent year on year, higher than the overall average CPI (3.84 per cent). 

Vietbank targets 46% growth in profits, HOSE listing

Shareholders of Vietbank approved last year’s results, targets for this year, profit distribution plans, and other important proposals at its annual general meeting held online on April 26.

Duong Nhat Nguyen, the lender’s chairman, said last year pre-tax profits and total assets were up 3.2 per cent and 7.7 per cent to VND656 billion ($28.2 million) and VND111.3 trillion ($4.7 billion).

Deposits and loans outstanding were VND81.1 trillion and VND67.5 trillion, up 9 per cent and 19.2 per cent.

Its net interest income and earnings from other core business activities such as services and foreign exchange trading were all higher.

Its capital adequacy and liquidity ratios were within the levels stipulated by the State Bank of Vietnam.

In 2023 Vietbank eyes pre-tax profits of VND960 billion ($41.2 million), a 46 per cent increase from last year.

The bank also targets having assets of VND125 trillion ($5.3 billion), deposits of VND95 trillion ($4.1 billion) and loans outstanding of VND75.6 trillion ($3.2 billion).

It also hopes to expand market share, improve asset quantity and quality, and keep non-performing loans at less than 3 per cent as prescribed by the central bank.

Vietbank plans to switch the listing of its VBB stock from UPCoM to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange at a favourable time.

It will increase its charter capital by over VND1 trillion ($42.9 million) through a share issuance to existing shareholders at a rate of 21 per cent to nearly VND5.8 trillion.

To accomplish the targets it plans to focus on developing a retail-oriented traditional customer base while prioritising production and service businesses, reduce the proportion of risky assets and improve profitability and further cut costs and improve operational efficiency indicators.

Nguyen said Vietbank is confident of achieving its targets.

The bank reported VND197 billion ($8.4 million) in pre-tax profits in the first quarter, up 74.3 per cent year-on-year. 

Yellow Pages of digital transformation providers launched

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have launched the first official Yellow Pages for Digital Transformation Providers.

This database aims to provide information and connect business communities with four groups of digital transformation solutions, including general industries, production, information management and infrastructure, and specific industries like healthcare, petroleum, and transportation.

To compile the Yellow Pages, independent experts from the MPI’s Agency of Enterprise Development (AED) and the USAID Linkages for Small and Medium Enterprises (LinkSME) have reviewed and classified suitable solutions, with support from 115 businesses providing solutions. They have also selected 40 outstanding businesses that have effectively implemented digital transformation processes, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to conduct a direct appraisal for each solution.

The Yellow Pages aims to address the lack of information about existing digital transformation solutions that many enterprises face.

According to the MPI's Annual Report on Digital Transformation of Enterprises in 2022, more than 40 per cent of surveyed enterprises reported a lack of information about existing digital transformation solutions.

Deputy Minister Tran Duy Dong highlighted that this is the first release of the Yellow Pages and that the MPI plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Information and Communications and related parties to update useful data for the business community annually. This database also acts as the foundation to cater to in-depth guidance and support from the State budget and other legal social resources for businesses.

The Yellow Pages includes the best providers of transformation solutions like VNPT Vinaphone Corporation, Vinorsoft Technology JSC, and MISA JSC, which SMEs in Viet Nam can easily connect with. This is a sustainable approach that the MPI and USAID adopted to support SMEs in their digital transformation journey. 

Registered capital per enterprise in Vietnam declines in Jan-Apr

Though the country saw a rebound in new market entrants in April with nearly 16,000 firms, the average registered capital per enterprise fell in the first four months of the year over the year-ago period.

Each company which was registered in the first four months had VND9.3 billion in capital on average, down 27.2% against the same period last year.

The General Statistics Office said that last month, there were nearly 16,000 new enterprises established nationwide with total pledged capital of VND154,600 billion, up 12.3% and 6.2% compared to the month earlier, respectively.

Around 9,610 businesses resumed operations in April, rising nearly 53% against the previous month and up 36.6% year-on-year.

In the year till now, an additional 49,900 businesses with total registered capital of VND465,000 billion had entered the market, rising a mere 0.6% in volume but dropping sharply in registered capital.

If VND604,600 billion in extra capital registered by 17,174 existing firms in January-April was taken into account, the total amount of newly-pledged capital would be VND1,069.6 trillion, dropping 46% over the year-ago period.

Nearly 29,000 businesses resumed their operations in the first four months, down 6.2% over the same period last year, raising the number of newly established and restarted businesses to 78,900, declining 2% year-on-year.

Transactions worth VND400 million to be reported to central bank

Transactions whose value tops VND400 million will have to be reported to the State Bank of Vietnam from December 1, according to a new government decision.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has signed Decision 11/2023, which increases the value of transactions prescribed in Decision 20/2013 by VND100 million to VND400 million.

The regulation is applied to financial organizations and organizations and individuals who organize prize-awarding games and trade properties and precious metals and gems.

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