Dong Nai province, an industrial hub in the southern region, has set up the Japan Desk at the headquarters of the Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority to assist Japanese investors operating here.

It is tasked with connecting Japanese businesses with departments, sectors, and localities in Dong Nai so as to handle issues emerging during investment and project implementation. It also receives and provides information while giving advice to Japanese investors.

Dong Nai is currently home to 1,606 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects totalling 34.65 billion USD from 46 countries and territories. Japan ranks second among the foreign investors in terms of the project number, 276, and third in terms of the registered capital, 5.22 billion USD, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

The administration said Japanese businesses have significantly contributed to local socioeconomic development and job creation. They have also helped promote the development of industrial, trade and service sectors, especially supporting industries./.

Exhibition showcases ceramics, lacquer, and gold card industry products in Hanoi

The 2024 thematic exhibition highlighting the ceramics, lacquer and gold card industry opened on May 13.

The exhibition, featuring handicraft products, OCOP (One Commune One Product) items, and rural industry specialties, is being held at the capital OCOP product display centre at 176 Quang Trung, Ha Dong district.

This event marks the first in a series of thematic exhibitions showcasing exquisite handicrafts, technological advancements, OCOP products, and rural industry specialties at the "capital OCOP product display, introduction, and promotion site". It is organised by the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade.

The exhibition serves as a platform to exhibit, introduce, promote, and facilitate trade connections for new products and designs by artisans, experts, and young designers in the fields of ceramics, lacquer and gilding. Spanning an area of approximately 500sq.m, the exhibition showcases over 400 unique and creative handicraft samples and products from various craft villages.

Hoang Minh Lam, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Center for Industrial Promotion and Industrial Development Consulting, emphasised the significance of the thematic exhibition during the opening ceremony. He highlighted how the event encourages and guides designers to create practical products with high aesthetic value. It plays an active role in supporting the development and diversification of product designs for businesses and production facilities in Hanoi’s rural industry.

The exhibition also strengthens the connection between designers, craftsmen, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers. It also serves as a platform to introduce and promote unique and distinctive products from traditional craft villages in different districts and towns of the city to the public./.

Hai Phong, China’s Shangyu district boost trade, investment

The Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority (HEZA) and Shangyu district of Shaoxing city, Zhejiang province, China embarked on a collaborative effort to strengthen trade and cultural exchanges through a letter of intent signed on May 13.

Under the letter, both sides will encourage and facilitate business partnerships, foster a business-friendly environment and protect investors’ rights and interests, and regularly share management experience and investment policies to promptly address difficulties faced by companies engaged in production and trade.

Head of the HEZA Le Trung Kien expressed his hope for the establishment of a formal twinning relationship between Hai Phong and Shangyu to further solidify this partnership.

Chief of Shangyu district Jin Jinfu said his locality has companies strong in hi-tech manufacturing, an area that aligns with Hai Phong's investment priorities so that the district is looking forward to promoting investment opportunities between the both sides.

The HEZA reported that Hai Phong now boasts 210 Chinese-invested projects with a combined capital of 5.6 billion USD. They are mostly in electricity, electronics, apparel, leather and footwear, and plastics, generating jobs to over 58,000 workers. Notably, Hai Phong is home to two industrial zones – Do Son and An Duong – that house a significant number of Chinese-invested enterprises./.

Southeast Asian steel exhibition gets underway in Da Nang

The Southeast Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI) Conference & Exhibition 2024 opened on May 13 in the central coastal city of Da Nang, with the event offering Vietnamese firms the chance to introduce their operations and the local steel industry.

Upon addressing the event, Nghiem Xuan Da, chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association, emphasized that the event themed “Surviving and thriving in the decarbonized world”, is expected to provide an ideal platform for representatives from various nations to share technologies and innovations towards green and circular economic development.

He underlined the need to accelerate the transition towards a green economy, which is an inevitable trend as part of efforts to meet market demands.

Furthermore, he underscored the importance of renovating technologies rapidly in a bid to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, as well as applying artificial intelligence to improve productivity in order to ensure social and environmental responsibility.

Countries must therefore work together in a bid to ensure equitable development, whilst also making commitments to deploy drastic actions in response to climate change in many different contexts, he said, adding that steel companies in the nation must exert every effort as they seek to reduce carbon emissions and save energy in the future.

At the conference, international and domestic business representatives, experts, and scientists all came together to exchange information on policies and legal regulations of Vietnam, the region, and the world with the aim of helping steel enterprises to devise proper business plans in accordance with the country's green growth strategy.

Thanh Ha lychees to be transported to Australia by air

The first batch of Thanh Ha lychees from the northern province of Hai Duong is set to be transported to Australia by air on May 14, according to details given by Red Dragon Service Trading Manufacture Company Limited.

Australia represents a traditional market that has consumed Thanh Ha lychees for several years. Currently, the firm has been processing about one tonne of Thanh Ha lychees for export to the Australian market, with the fruit products fully meeting VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards.

After going through preliminary processing, the lychee batch will be irradiated on May 13 in order to meet quarantine criteria before being exported to Australia by air on May 14.

According to the schedule, the firm will purchase between 10 tonnes and 15 tonnes of lychees for export as the harvest seasons begins.

Red Dragon Service Trading Manufacture Company Limited specialises in exporting Thanh Ha lychees to major markets such as Japan, the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia.

This year will see the enterprise continue to invite Japanese experts to strictly supervise the quality of lychees and co-ordinate efforts in introducing Thanh Ha lychees into Japan’s Aeon supermarket chain.

Over recent years, aside from being consumed within the domestic market, Thanh Ha lychee has been shipped to a number of high-end markets such as China, Japan, France, the US, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan (China), Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Singapore along with several countries in the Middle East and ASEAN.

Compliance risk management to be enhanced to prevent tax evasion in a digital economy

The tax administrations will enhance tax compliance risk management to prevent evasions in a digital economy, Đặng Ngọc Minh, Deputy Director of the General Department of Taxation told a conference on Monday.

The department’s statistics showed that there are nearly one million enterprises, three million business households and 27 million individuals subject to individual income tax in Việt Nam.

The rapid development of science and technology, especially the explosion of the Internet and digital platforms, has created a digital economy full of potential and opportunities for socio-economic development, Minh said.

However, he added, there are also risks for tax management.

To that end, the tax administrations have focused on tax compliance risk management with the development of criteria, a supervision system for e-invoice issuance as well as the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to detect unusual risks.

According to Ngô Thị Thuỳ Linh, Depute Head of the Risk Management Department under the General Department of Taxation, tax compliance risk management is a modern tax management method that is being applied by many countries around the world when the number of taxpayers is increasing rapidly, and the business operation is becoming more complicated for tax management.

Risk-based management will have the tax watchdogs use their resources more effectively and focus on groups of taxpayers with higher risks for tax evasion, Linh said.

The data has been centralised at the General Department of Taxation, which will serve as the base for risk analysis, she said.

For taxpayers who are individuals and business households, the tax administration is developing a set of criteria indicators for compliance risk management which is expected to be issued within this year, she said.

It is necessary to improve the legal framework on tax compliance risk management with an aim to encourage taxpayers to comply with the established regulations.

Nguyễn Thị Cúc, President of Việt Nam Tax Consultants Association, said risk analysis will help tax administration to classify taxpayers in accordance with their levels of tax compliance for appropriate management solutions.

Emulations and rewards should be carried out for highly compliant taxpayers together with other tax incentives such as tax references and fewer inspections to encourage compliance.

The application of information and technology should also be enhanced to facilitate tax payment.

“The better is the tax management, the higher the compliance, the more transparent is the business environment,” Cúc stressed. 

Business conditions numerous and cumbersome: CIEM

Major hurdles must be overcome to simplify and streamline regulations governing economic activities, according to the latest report by the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM).

The report showed a large number of conditional business lines, far exceeding the official number of 229. Explaining the discrepancy, the institute said many businesses were simply grouped together to bring down the count. There have also been inconsistencies in the definitions used by the market authority. To make matters worse, the number of conditional business lines tends to increase after numerous adjustments are made.

Meanwhile, authorities have been slow in removing businesses that were cleared from the list by the central Government. Old decrees were still in effect, hindering the implementation of more recent laws and regulations. All of the above-mentioned issues have been counter-productive to the Government's efforts to create a more favourable business environment and support business development, according to the institute.

Nguyễn Minh Thảo, head of CIEM's Department of Business Environment and Competitiveness said the market authority has been unable to effectively reduce the number of conditional business lines or provide meaningful support to the business community. Meanwhile, fresh efforts to introduce additional administrative reforms seemed to have lost momentum in recent years.

Thảo said failure and delay in delivering real reforms could restrict development, and increase risk and costs for businesses.

According to CIEM's report, major issues with current regulations included unclear definitions of conditions businesses must meet to operate in certain industries, conditions that require paper permits, conditions that overlap with technical standards and conditions that are obsolete.

For example, under the recently implemented Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) producers could look at trillions of added expenses. While producers are fully supportive of EPR and the social and environmental benefits it entails, there have been questions regarding how the contributed funds will be managed and utilised, said Nguyễn Hồng Uy from EuroCham Vietnam.

Uy said since EPR came into effect on January 1 this year, businesses have been reporting issues related to the implementation of EPR as ministries and Government agencies were giving them insufficient guidelines.

"Businesses have been waiting for official guidelines to follow, which so far have not been made available to them," he said.

Uy stressed the importance of building national, unified and detailed guidelines for both the central and local governments on implementing EPR within the country.

Bạch Quốc Thắng, a representative from an association of veterinary pharmaceutical businesses said excessive red tape has been hindering the industry and putting farmers and their livestock at risk unnecessarily.

"There is no need to set up a technical condition for veterinary pharmaceutical products as they have been subjected to the same vetting procedures under the Good manufacturing practice (GMP) protocols, for example," Thắng said.

"The extra red tape does nothing to improve the safety of the products and goes in the opposite direction of the central Government's efforts to cut down on administrative procedures."

The association has voiced their support for the immediate suspension of conditions imposed on pharmaceutical products, requesting them to be included and governed under the country's Laws on veterinary pharmaceuticals as a long-term solution.

Banks raise savings rates to attract depositors

Many banks have adjusted up savings interest rates by 0.2-0.3 percentage point per year since early this months to lure depositors in the context that the savings amount at the banking system has declined for the first time after 25 consecutive month increase.

Specifically, Techcombank has increased deposit interest rates at all terms. According to Techcombank’s new interest rate list, depositors with a term of one to two months will receive an interest rate of 2.55 per cent per year, up 0.3 percentage point per year compared to last month.

Similarly, the bank’s deposit interest rate for terms from three to five months also increased to 2.95 per cent per year, up 0.4 percentage point per year.

The rates for longer term deposits of six to 11 months and 12 to 36 months at Techcombank have also increased by 0.3 and 0.1 percentage point per year to 3.85 per cent and 4.65 per cent per year, respectively.

For deposits worth more than VNĐ1 billion, Techcombank applies a higher interest rate of 0.1-0.2 percentage point compared to the above levels, depending on each term and deposit amount.

Similarly at VIB, deposit interest rates for terms from two to five months have raised by 0.2 percentage point per year to range from 2.8 to 3 per cent per year. The bank’s interest rates for 6-11 month deposits have also increased by 0.1 percentage point per year to 4.1 per cent per year.

Not only Techcombank and VIB, Bac A Bank is also in the same trend with a rate hike of 0.15-0.25 percentage point per year for six to 18 month deposits. Currently, Bac A Bank applies interest rate of 4.5 per cent per year for six-month deposits, 4.6 per cent per year for nine-month deposits, 5.1 per cent per year for 12-month deposits and 5.5 per cent per year for 18-month deposits.

Previously, a number of other banks participated in the race to increase deposit interest rates such as BIDV, VietinBank, BVBank, TPBank and Sacombank.

The deposit interest rate hike is not beyond the forecast of experts, especially in the context that the savings amount at the banking system have declined for the first time after 25 consecutive month increase.

According to the latest data from the State Bank of Vietnam, by the end of January 2024, deposits of individual customers reached nearly VNĐ6.5 quadrillion, down 0.53 per cent compared to the end of last year, while deposits of corporate customers were also declined by 2.41 per cent to more than VNĐ6.67 quadrillion.

Data from the General Statistics Office also shows that bank deposits as of March 25 this year decreased by 0.76 per cent compared to the beginning of the year, while it increased by nearly 1.2 per cent at the same period last year.

Dr. Nguyễn Đức Độ, Deputy Director of the Academy of Finance’s Institute of Financial Economics, said the increase in deposit interest rates may come from the recovery of credit demand. The SBV allocated all credit quota for commercial banks right from the beginning of the year, instead of only a part as previous years, so banks must raise more deposits to readily meet the capital needs of business, production and consumption.

However, experts believe that deposit interest rates in the coming time will hardly increase sharply because the Government and SBV's orientation is to stabilise interest rates and even strive to reduce the rates to support the economic growth.

Exhibition showcases ceramics, lacquer, and gold card industry products in Hà Nội

The 2024 thematic exhibition highlighting the ceramics, lacquer and gold card industry opened on Monday.

The exhibition, featuring handicraft products, OCOP (One Commune One Product) items, and rural industry specialties, is being held at the Capital OCOP product display centre at 176 Quang Trung, Hà Đông District.

This event marks the first in a series of thematic exhibitions showcasing exquisite handicrafts, technological advancements, OCOP products, and rural industry specialties at the "Capital OCOP product display, introduction, and promotion site". It is organised by the Hà Nội City Department of Industry and Trade.

The exhibition serves as a platform to exhibit, introduce, promote, and facilitate trade connections for new products and designs by artisans, experts, and young designers in the fields of ceramics, lacquer and gilding. Spanning an area of approximately 500sq.m, the exhibition showcases over 400 unique and creative handicraft samples and products from various craft villages.

Hoàng Minh Lâm, Deputy Director of the Hà Nội Center for Industrial Promotion and Industrial Development Consulting, emphasised the significance of the thematic exhibition during the opening ceremony. He highlighted how the event encourages and guides designers to create practical products with high aesthetic value. It plays an active role in supporting the development and diversification of product designs for businesses and production facilities in Hà Nội's rural industry.

The exhibition also strengthens the connection between designers, craftsmen, manufacturers, distributors, and consumers. It also serves as a platform to introduce and promote unique and distinctive products from traditional craft villages in different districts and towns of the city to the public.

Aquatic exports rebound in April

Key Vietnamese aquatic exports such as shrimp and Tra fish (pangasius) saw robust growth in April, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Statistics indicate that the country raked in US$285 million from exporting shrimp in April, reaching the highest level since the beginning of the year.

During the four-month period, the shrimp industry grossed US$971 million, up 6% against the same period from last year.

Insiders assessed that shrimp exports showed signs of recovery as importers' inventories decreased, thereby leading to a rise in import demand.

Meanwhile, pangasius exports to major markets in April also witnessed an upturn of 13% to US$168 million after experiencing a continuous decline in both February and March.

Along with key items such as frozen pangasius fillets, local businesses tended to increase the introduction of deeply processed pangasius and value-added products.  

From January to April, pangasius exports edged up by nearly 2% to reach US$579 million compared to the same period from last year.

Elsewhere, tuna exports in April surged by 28% to over US$86 million, raising the total export value during the four-month period to US$301 million, up 22% on-year.

Most notably, crab exports in April maintained an impressive growth rate of 101%, with China being the nation’s leading export market.

According to experts, along with live crabs, there is plenty of room ahead for Vietnamese products such as live lobsters and sea cucumbers in the Chinese market due to its favourable geographical location and competitive advantages compared to frozen items.

Among the top five largest consumers of Vietnamese aquatic products, only seafood exports to Japan and the Republic of Korea increased slightly in April, while exports to the EU and United States experienced a downward trajectory. Indeed, exports to China - Hong Kong dropped by over 22%.

Insiders attributed this decline to high inflation and inventories in importing countries. VASEP experts expect that inventories and oversupply sources will gradually decrease and are expected to facilitate seafood exporters’ activities in the second half of the year, thereby opening up a wealth of export opportunities for the seafood industry.

Enterprises continue to gain export growth momentum

The export market is showing numerous positive signs of growth, with increasing consumer demand helping Vietnamese businesses to confidently make a breakthrough in exports in the time ahead.

The export market is seeing gradual recovery thanks to reduced inventories coupled with increasing consumer demand, factors which are expected to be the foundation for Vietnamese export businesses looking to make breakthroughs.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of T&T Vina Company, said that the company has just successfully signed many major and long-term orders.

Accordingly, each week the firm will export two containers of fresh coconuts to the Dubai market, along with one container of seedless lemons and dragon fruit to the Omani market.

When the general market becomes more difficult, the demand for fruits and vegetables increases. Fruit and vegetable export turnover during the four-month period indicates positive signs, especially durian exports to China; or grapefruit exports to New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, Tung added.

Gradually coming out of a period of difficulties due to a lack of orders from the end of 2022 to the end of 2023, since the beginning of the year garment and textile export orders have grown again.

Pham Van Viet, chairman of Viet Thang Jean Company, said that since early this year export orders at this enterprise have recovered and grown well compared to the same period from last year.

According to Viet, not only Viet Thang Jean, apparel businesses are also witnessing a boost in export orders thanks to market recovery, while buyers' inventories are below the minimum level, thereby making them start importing goods again. As a result, purchasing power in the traditional markets of Vietnam's textile and garment industry have recorded strong growth.

Regarding the wood industry, Dien Quang Hiep, general director of Minh Phat 2 Company, acknowledged that major markets such as the US and Europe are showing many positive signs as consumer demand for goods is gradually increasing again.

This thereby serves to promote an increase in export orders, including wood and wood products.

During the past fourth month, the export activities of the wood industry has recorded a positive growth rate of about 65% to 70% compared to 2022. With the current growth momentum, the wood industry is forecast to see many good prospects ahead this year.

However, Hiep also noted that the main export markets of the wood industry increasingly require strict control of wood origins to ensure legality, without affecting degradation, deforestation, green production, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Along with that, the increasing risk of trade fraud and falsification of product origin is also a significant challenge facing wooden furniture exporters.

With regards to the wood industry developing sustainably, in addition to meeting regulations and standards on origin and the environment, businesses must focus on investing in design, creativity, and enhancing the added value of their products.

"Businesses need to invest in new technology and digital transformation to develop new products and services, improve competitiveness, and increase efficiency and higher productivity," Hiep emphazized.

Counterfeit goods worryingly widespread online

Many businesses are suffering higher overhead costs because they have to increase product quality along with fighting against fake goods widely available on the Internet.

Wishing to buy a new perfume bottle, N.P.K. from Tan Phu District of HCMC found a livestream session to sell cosmetics at a discount of 50 – 70 percent in celebration the Reunification Day. Seeing that the prices of renowned perfume brand names like Chanel or Gucci are only one-fourth or one-fifth of the normal ones displayed in official outlets, she decided to purchase a Gucci bottle, paying VND600,000 (US$23.6). When receiving the pack with no formal receipt or related document and recognizing strange smells from the bottle, plus having red skin after use, she had to throw it away.

A similar story comes from V.T.V. from District 3 in HCMC. He bought a sunscreen bottle as a gift for his girlfriend after being advertised that the product was made in Japan but sold at half price as grey goods. The girl reported that the product is of low quality and might be a counterfeit as some details are different from authentic ones.

Not just luxurious goods but normal commodities like local specialty food items are being faked. In a recent livestream session, fruits and specialties of Can Gio District in HCMC received a lot of positive comments and were hot-sellers. Not long after that, some were faked, greatly annoying consumers due to mistaken purchases just because of cheaper prices.

A market management official in HCMC shared that counterfeit goods are now available everywhere. Functional agencies have already discovered warehouses after warehouses full of fake goods at different values. Most have nearly identical packages with authentic merchandise. This has annoyingly confused owners of renowned brand names in the world when they have to learn ways to differentiate between their own goods and the fake ones on the market!

A majority of counterfeit items are distributed in suburban or rural areas, where people merely know a bit about famous brand names and are willing to choose those with cheaper prices without careful checking.

Meanwhile, businesses have to spend billions of VND for the fight against these harmful products but dare not announce this publicly for fear of consumers stay away from authentic ones as well because of confidence loss. Being so lonely in this fight, they still have no better options than continuing till the end.

Huynh Van Thanh, Director of Can Gio Tuong Lai Cooperative stressed that there must be stricter sanctions to punish people who make or sell counterfeit products, while relevant state departments and localities should help businesses to formally advertise their merchandise to consumers.

Deputy Director Nguyen Quang Huy of the HCMC Market Management Department said that the spreading of counterfeit goods has become increasingly serious. Products could be faked regardless of their values or manufacturing techniques. More seriously, these items are boldly sold on trading floors, social network sites without control. Sadly, there is much trouble pinpointing and then handling them due to foxy methods of sellers. It is harder since most of these harmful products are delivered via a third party shipping company.

Aware of this, the market management team of HCMC has closely cooperated with functional agencies to support businesses sited in the city in the harsh fight against counterfeit goods. They propagandize negative effects of fake merchandise and ways to differentiate them from authentic ones to ensure the rights of both manufacturers and consumers. The professional skills of functional agencies are frequently updated to effectively handle violations regarding this matter.

Chairwoman Phan Thi Viet Thu of the HCMC Consumer Rights Protection Association said that trading counterfeit goods is extremely profitable, especially doing it online, which is why this has become so infamous now with various cunning methods.

She insisted on the necessity of close collaboration among functional agencies in checking and handling such cases. She added that businesses themselves should cooperate via their own announcements on counterfeit goods and ways to identify those unsafe products or to reach authentic ones.

Online trading is obviously lucrative yet possesses a lot of risks. There can be goods of different values, qualities, and origins available on the Internet. Meanwhile, the law enforcement force is not sufficient to cover every corner of the market. Therefore, consumers should be wise and careful to protect themselves against counterfeit goods by only buying at trusted shops that can display valid documents about the products. Under no circumstances should people choose fake items.

From December 15, 2023 to April 14, 2024, the market management force in Vietnam was able to detect and handle more than 15,500 cases of trading counterfeit goods, imposing different fines with a total value of VND171 billion ($6.72 million). This is a rise of 25 percent compared to this time last year. The confiscated goods are worth VND73 billion ($2.87 million) and the destroyed ones VND117 billion ($4.6 million).

Land-related procedures remain daunting for business – VCCI

The latest Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) report, released by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce (VCCI) on May 9, underscores ongoing land-related challenges faced by business and calls for local governments to deal with them in earnest.

According to the 2023 report, the ease of access to land or expanding business premises has declined. While 55.2% reported no difficulties in 2021, this percentage fell to 48% in 2022 and further to 40.7% in 2023.

The survey also highlighted that nearly 73% of businesses postponed or cancelled their expansion plans in 2023 due to cumbersome land-related administrative procedures. This figure represents an increase from 42.9% in 2022 and 53.9% in 2021.

The dynamism index of local governments appears to be less optimistic, with a decrease from 86% in 2022 to 82.1% in 2023.

About 77% of respondents still recognize the provincial efforts in being proactive and creative in addressing emerging issues, although this is a slight decline from 79.7% in the previous year.

In the 2023 PCI rankings, Quang Ninh Province maintained its lead with 71.25 points, climbing eight points from the previous year. Long An Province came second with 70.94 points, overtaking Bac Giang Province. Meanwhile, major urban centers such as HCMC and Hanoi were ranked 27th and 28th, respectively.

MWG dissolves two subsidiaries

Mobile World Investment Corporation, whose MWG shares are traded on the southern exchange, has announced to dissolve its two subsidiaries as part of its restructuring plan.

Those two subsidiaries are 4KFarm JSC and Fully Trusted Logistics JSC.

Established in November 2021, Fully Trusted Logistics JSC primarily operates in the field of road transportation, as well as provides warehousing services and supplies goods to MWG’s retail chains.

4KFarm was launched in Ba Ria-Vung Tau in 2020 by MWG as a high-tech farming model based on four principles: no pesticides, no genetically modified organisms, no growth hormones, and no preservatives.

The dissolution of these two subsidiary companies is part of the restructuring plan mentioned by Nguyen Duc Tai, board chairman of Mobile World, at the recent annual shareholders’ meeting.

After dissolving these two enterprises, the company now has nine subsidiary companies.

More local firms keen on trade with UAE

Since the Dubai Chamber of Commerce was set up in HCMC last year, Vietnamese businesses have been expanding trade with the United Arab Emirates.

In 2023, the non-petroleum bilateral trade between Vietnam and the UAE grew by 12.2% to US$8.6 billion. The expanding trade relationship is further evidenced by the rise in Vietnamese businesses registered with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 14 in 2014 to 147 as of March 2024.

Vietnam has identified several sectors with high export potential to Dubai, including furniture, seeds, tropical fruits, and coffee, aligning with Dubai’s investment interest in Vietnam, especially in sustainable agriculture, construction, tourism, and food.

Despite global economic challenges, HCMC’s exports to the UAE grew by over 4% in the past year, totaling nearly US$340 million. The UAE currently ranks 42nd among the countries and territories investing in HCMC, with 27 projects in the city.

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