Ho Chi Minh City is striving to reactivate several key projects that have been shelved for years with a view to helping ease flooding and traffic congestion.

HCM City has officially entered the rainy season, but a project worth 10 trillion VND (426.4 million USD) on addressing tidal flooding with climate change taken into account hasn’t shown any signs of resumption, the Lao dong (Labour) daily reported.

Though more than 93% of the workload was completed, this anti-tidal flood project has been suspended since late 2020 due to hindrances related to the contract appendix and payment procedures.

Facing the same situation, construction on the third section of Ring Road No 2 has been halted for over three years. The nearly-2.7km stretch, connecting Pham Van Dong road to the Go Dua intersection in Thu Duc city, was invested with over 2.7 trillion VND under the build - transfer (BT) format.

Obstacles related to site clearance and land were blamed for the suspension of this project, with some 44% already completed, since March 2020.

Meanwhile, Tan Ky - Tan Quy Bridge had its construction under the build - operate - transfer (BOT) format started in early 2018. Located in the southwestern gateway of HCM City, it has total investment of over 312 billion VND.

About 70% of workload had been completed by December 2018, but issues related to site clearance and compensation have led to a halt to construction since then.

In early 2023, the HCM City People’s Committee signed the BT contract’s appendix, which extended the completion deadline for the anti-tidal flood project.

The Trung Nam BT 1547 Co. Ltd, which carried out this project, is waiting for the State Bank’s opinion so that the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) can disburse capital for the project. If disbursement is made in the next two months, this project can be completed in February 2024 and handed over to the municipal People’s Committee in May the same year.

However, Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Phan Van Mai recently demanded relevant units ramp up efforts to resume the project right this May and complete it by the end of 2023.

Regarding the third section of Ring Road No 2, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Bui Xuan Cuong has directly inspected this project and urged related agencies to complete and re-submit the contract appendix in May. If legal procedures are finished soon, construction can be reactivated as early as in June.

The BOT format of the Tan Ky - Tan Quy Bridge project has been converted into public investment worth nearly 500 billion VND, including about 230 billion VND paid for the finished workload and 261 billion VND for building the remainder.

Authorities of Binh Tan district are also accelerating site clearance so that the project can be recovered this year and completed in 2025, according to Lao dong.

Tech firm VNG’s stock put under trading restriction

The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) imposed trading restrictions on the tech giant VNG Corporation’s shares (stock code: VNZ) today, May 25, for late submission of its financial statement for 2022. VNZ shares will only be traded on Fridays of each week.

HNX said that VNG Corporation had been over 45 days late in filing the audited financial statement for 2022, so its shares were put under trading restrictions in accordance with the current regulations.

VNG Corporation explained that the firm has been preparing its financial statement for 2022 in line with both Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

It took time to complete the financial statement as the corporation has operated in multiple countries worldwide, with 33 subsidiaries and seven affiliated companies.

VNG previously sought permission from HNX and the State Securities Commission of Vietnam to extend the deadline.

VNG debuted its VNZ shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market on January 5 this year with a starting price of VND240,000 per share, then skyrocketing to an all-time high on February 16 at VND1,562,000 per share.

Vietnamese bird’s nests see opportunities to enter Chinese market

Vietnamese bird's nests see great potential for export to Chinese market as people in China and Chinese communities in other countries across the world spend about 5 billion USD on bird’s nests and products made from them.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of China signed a protocol on requirements for quarantine, inspection and veterinary hygiene for bird’s nests of Vietnam to be exported to China.

The protocol, which took effect in November last year, is said to be a condition for Vietnamese bird’s nests to conquer the Chinese market after Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thai;and.

In Central Highland provinces, swiftlet farms have registered for production area codes and completing documents in line with the protocol. Authorities also support enterprises in registering for exporting bird’s nests to China.

Nguyen Dung, Vice President of the Vietnam Farms and Agricultural Enterprises Association, said that China opening door to Vietnamese bird’s nests via official channels brings opportunities to the local bird’s nest industry.

Exports to China and countries with big Chinese communities like the US, Australia, and New Zealand is a way to increase the value of the product.

Currently, bird’s nests are considered one of the most expensive foods in the world.

He said that to prosper in the business,  swiftlet farmers need to connect with cooperatives and companies to obtain international certifications, which will help their products to be sold for good prices.
Individuals and units in the bird’s nest industry should also diversify products to better reach potential consumers.

According to the Vietnam association of swiftlet farms, almost all the farms in Vietnam harvest and process the nests by themselves and then sell in a small scale. As a result, although Vietnam has nests brands, their quality fails to meet international standards.

Currently, Vietnam mostly exports raw bird’s nests with low value through unofficial channels.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there were about 23,600  swiftlet farms in 42 out of 63 localities across the country.

The country sees a production of about 200 tonnes of bird’s nests and exports over 120 tonnes worth 450 million USD each year.

Tran Phuong Tuan, director of Vietnam Bird’s Nests Company (VinBirdnest) said that the protocol relating to the export of Vietnamese bird’s nests to China brings opportunities for the industry as China is the world's largest market for bird's nests.

When the market is activated, the bird's nest industry of Vietnam will be restructured, creating higher added value, helping to improve the income and profits for bird nest farmers and processors.

Nearly 2.3 billion USD in state capital saved in 2022: Gov't report

Almost 53.9 trillion VND (2.29 billion USD) in state capital was saved in 2022 as reported by ministries, sectors, and localities, according to the Government.

On behalf of the Government, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc delivered a report on thrift practice and wastefulness prevention last year in front of the 15th National Assembly (NA) at the ongoing fifth session on May 23.

He said that thanks to proactive governance, the state budget spending tasks in 2022 basically reached their targets.

In particular, the Government has pushed ahead with carrying out the Party Central Committee’s Resolution No 19-NQ/TW on reforming the organisation and management, and improving the quality and efficiency of non-business public units, with a focus on perfecting the mechanisms and policies on financial autonomy.

The implementation of fixed spending and financial autonomy in ministries, sectors, and localities last year saved over 3.49 trillion VND, of which 1.17 trillion VND was saved by Hanoi and another 1.22 trillion VND by Ho Chi Minh City, Phoc noted.

The Prime Minister issued a decision on a general programme on thrift practice and wastefulness prevention for 2023 that features eight focal tasks and four groups of measures, the official added.

Reading the verification report, Chairman of the NA's Finance-Budget Committee Le Quang Manh said that the committee basically agreed with the Government’s report and highly valued the Government, ministries, sectors, and localities’ activeness and determination to achieve encouraging results in thrift practice and wastefulness prevention in 2022.

However, he went on, the Government’s report didn’t assess or analyse improvements in the organisation of thrift practice and wastefulness prevention; or sufficiently point out problems, shortcomings, causes, and responsibilities for the management and use of public investment capital, recycled resources, renewable energy, and digital resources, among others.

Notably, Manh underlined the sluggish implementation and many problems of the three national target programmes on new-style rural area building, sustainable poverty reduction, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, which have eroded the effectiveness of investment capital use and wasted state funding.

The NA committee also gave some proposals to the Government and the PM to help with thrift practice and wastefulness prevention.

Vietjet opens series of new int’l routes for summer travel boom

Vietjet is opening a series of new international routes, including Ho Chi Minh City - Kochi (India), Da Nang – Hong Kong (China), Phu Quoc – Hong Kong, Da Nang - Singapore, Da Nang - Daegu (the Republic of Korea), Nha Trang - Seoul (Incheon, the RoK), to meet travel demand in summer.

Accordingly, the routes connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Kochi (India) will be launched from August 12 with six flights per week on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

The flights will depart from HCM City at 7:20 pm and arrive in Kochi at 10:50 pm (local time), while those from Kochi to Ho Chi Minh City will take off at 11:15 pm (local time) and land at 6:40 am.

This summer is especially exciting than ever with the return of flights connecting Phu Quoc, Da Nang and Nha Trang with famous tourist destinations across Asia.

Specifically, on the route connecting Phu Quoc and Hong Kong, there will be three return flights per week on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, while there will be four return flights per week on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on the route connecting Da Nang and Hong Kong.

Moreover, the carrier will re-operate one daily return flight on the route connecting Da Nang and Daegu (the RoK) and increase the frequency of flights between Da Nang and Singapore to two round trips per day.

Especially, it will increase the frequency to three return flights per day from July 13 on the route between the coastal city of Nha Trang and Seoul (Incheon, the RoK).

To celebrate the new international routes, Vietjet is offering millions of tickets from only zero VND, excluding taxes, fees, holidays of each market, from May 24 to 26. The promotional tickets are applied for its entire international flight network with flexible flight schedules from August 12, 2023 to March 31, 2024.

Besides, passengers will receive an additional 100,000 e-voucher (terms and conditions) to use at the next booking when successfully buying a ticket from now to August 15 this year.

Strategic changes needed to attract foreign investment to HCM City

Amid tax incentives no longer being an advantage in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City requires strategic changes to attract more major foreign investors.      

Recently, FDI attraction into the southern city has grown slowly. According to statistics released by the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, from 1988 to April, 2023, the southern metropolis led the country in terms of attracting investment capital from 117 other countries and territories globally with 11,220 projects totally capitalized at roughly US$83 billion.

However, in 2022 the total foreign investment capital into city stood at just over US$4.33 billion, marking a decline of nearly 40% compared to the previous year.

The initial four months of this year saw the city receive US$979.65 million in foreign investment capital, a decline of 23.4% on-year.

FDI capital in the southern city mainly focuses on industries such as repairs, trade, information, and communication.

Dr. Nguyen Tu Anh, head of the General Economics Department of the Central Economic Committee, attributed falling FDI inflows into Ho Chi Minh City to trends relating to large enterprises in North America, East Asia, and the EU’s to shift their investment to countries that are geopolitically close, such as India, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

In addition, the global minimum tax will lose its advantages for countries with tax incentives like Vietnam when applied.

Dr. Nguyen Tu Anh explained, "Vietnam is offering a lot of incentives to FDI enterprises, especially major corporations with the tax rate of lower than 15%. If we keep that incentive, then their own countries will pay 15% more, then the incentive will no longer work because those businesses will lose 15% anyway, partly to Vietnam, partly to their nations."

Furthermore, many experts also said that FDI in Ho Chi Minh City has decreased because due to the city’s failure to take effective measures in terms of accessing, attracting, and providing information to international investors. In particular, administrative and legal procedures remain cumbersome and are difficult for the project implementation process.

Another reason was also posed by Dr. Banh Quoc Tuan of Thu Dau Mot University in the southern province of Binh Duong, that is the transport infrastructure connecting the region has yet to meet the development needs.

Telecommunications infrastructure, digital technology, health care, and education fail to meet the requirements of many foreign investors, Tuan added.

In order to lure more foreign investors, Cao Thi Phi Van, deputy director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC), stated that when tax incentives are no longer useful, the southern city needs to focus on administrative reform aimed at improving the investment environment in order to make it transparent and clear, with little change in investment policy for easy prediction.

Along with focusing on high-quality FDI capital, it remains necessary to strengthen regional linkages, Van stressed.

"Ho Chi Minh City cannot develop by standing alone. The city can only develop when the surrounding provinces develop together. Then we will establish chains of links. Ho Chi Minh City is an important link in that link chain so it is essential to cooperate with provinces and cities to form a strong raw material area and supply chain," Van went on to say.

The ITPC representative also said that moving forward the centre will continue to promote the expansion of links with foreign diplomatic missions according to the needs of the field, with the priority city expecting greater investment.

It will guide investors to carry out licensing procedures, advise the southern city to upgrade its infrastructure facilities, whilst supporting businesses in connecting through exhibitions on supporting industries and investment in connecting with the manufacturing industry.

This could be done by building a trade and investment promotion centre into an agency that receives and summarises feedback from departments and sectors as to deal with investors' recommendations, problems, and difficulties, whilst also providing more support for businesses.

Pham Phu Truong, general director of GIBC Global Integration Business Consulting Company, commented that, besides expanding links through diplomatic missions, ITPC can co-operate with many other units to invite foreign partners to do business in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Truong, entrepreneurs and investment funds with many relationships are also easy-to-share clues with other investors. Therefore, the centre may consider inviting those units or groups of financiers who understand the city operational mechanisms, thus facilitating foreign investment attraction.

Truong also suggested that there should be an assessment of potential investors aimed at attracting strategic financiers to pull in others, thereby opening up new development space for the southern city moving forward.

Bac Giang province’s lychee crop ripens early, ready for export

Tan Yen district in the northern province of Bac Giang, dubbed Vietnam's “Lychee Kingdom”, stands ready to export its lychee, with the crop ripening early on the vine this growing season.

The district expects to harvest about 17,000 tonnes of the fruit from 1,340 hectares this year, of which 1,170 hectares are hoped to provide nearly 15,000 tonnes of early ripening lychee.

To ensure the quality of early ripening lychee, Tan Yen has continued maintaining and expanding the cultivation area under VietGAP standards, and built a 10-ha production area under GlobalGAP standards.

Since early April, businesses and cooperatives came to Tan Yen to scope out its lychee farming. The locality expects to harvest roughly 9,000 tonnes of lychee for  the domestic market, and export some 8,000 tonnes, mainly to China, Japan, the US and the EU.

The district plans to organise a consumption promotion programme for early ripening lychee in late May in Phuc Hoa commune, which is home to about 680 hectares of the fruit with an output of 9,000 tonnes.

Ngo Quoc Hung, Vice Chairman of the district People’s Committee, said Tan Yen has invited enterprises to the locality, to help in removing obstacles to lychee consumption.

The district has also asked relevant sides to step up agricultural product trading through e-commerce platforms, thus enabling people to directly sell their products, he added.

First Vietnam-ASEAN furniture, home accessories fair scheduled for August

The first Vietnam ASEAN International Furniture & Home Accessories Fair (VIFA ASEAN) will take place in Ho Chi Minh City from August 29 to September 1.

As heard at a conference held in the southern metropolis on May 23, the fair, spanning 20,000 sq.m, will feature 1,400 stalls run by 350 domestic and international producers. There will be a common space for the display of goods from Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Dang Quoc Hung, President of the Alliance Handicraft & Wooden Fine Art Corporation – the organiser of the expo, said Southeast Asia has become an important and dynamic economic region and one of the world's leading manufacturing and supplying centers of furniture, interior and handicrafts.

Vietnam is leading the region in wood exports and is a familiar and attractive destination for international importers of furniture, interior and exterior, he added.

According to Hung, a wide range of products and latest designs will be showcased, including furniture, home décor & handicraft, and machines, hardware & tools supporting services.

Smart logistics key for competitiveness improvement: Experts

To meet the demands of domestic trading and import-export activities, the logistics sector is working towards professional and competitive services meeting international standards, in which smart logistics development is considered the key solution.

According to Director of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Phan Van Chinh, local logistics firms have been increasingly aware of the need to speed up digital transformation and apply technology into their business operations, aiming to cut cost and increase competitiveness.

Supply chain director at Nestle Vietnam Nguyen Tran Hoang Yen said that digitalisation has helped the firm better connect with the global market and optimise goods transport and distribution activities in the domestic market.

Nestle has launched its Cargoo app to connect manufacturers, importers and shipping lines, enabling them to follow the transportation process of each order and track the goods information, book ships and manage all related documents, she said.

Meanwhile, Marketing Director of the Saigon Newport Corporation Truong Tan Loc said that the firm has launched a system of e-port and e-warehouse, while applying artificial intelligence (AI) in customer services, thus improving its service quality.

However, as 90% of the logistic firms are small- and medium-sized enterprises, the application of smart logistics has remained limited.

Pointing to major barriers hindering smart logistics development in Vietnam, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association Le Quang Trung mentioned limitations in mindset and confusions in selecting suitable technologies as well as a shortage in financial and human resources and a lack of harmonious policies for digital transformation.

Experts held that strengthening the application of IT and modernising management and operation methods as well as using logistics optimising platforms are among the effective measures to reduce logistics cost and improve service quality.

Loc said that domestic logistics firms should work closely together to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnam’s logistics sector by building a shared database on Vietnam seaport system with connections with other ports in the region and the world.

At the same time, the State and localities should further simplify administrative procedures, while building a joint database and processing administrative procedures online, he said, stressing the need for updating the legal system to encourage businesses to develop new services and technologies.

Director of Northern Operations Division at Lazada Vietnam Nguyen Trieu Quang said that logistics businesses should standardise their processes and build a sustainable ecosystem to grasp opportunities from the booming e-commerce, while improving the delivery experience from every touchpoint.

Vice Director of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Tran Thanh Hai underlined the need for coordination and strong linkage among not only logistics firms but also all relevant agencies in order to successfully promote the application of digital technology.

Banks improve costs to income ratio thanks to digital transformation

Many banks have cut their costs to income ratio (CIR) thanks to digital transformation to optimise operations, which greatly contributed to their positive business results in the first quarter of 2023 despite the challenging market context.

The financial report for the first quarter of 2023 of VietinBank showed the bank’s positive business results were greatly contributed to by the good control of expenses. The bank’s CIR was cut to 25.3% from 27.2% in the same period last year. Thanks to the cost reduction, the bank’s net profit from business activities reached more than 12.7 trillion VND, up 24% over the same period of 2022.

At VIB, the CIR ratio dropped sharply from 35.3% to 31.8% in Q1 2023. The good cost control helped VIB's net operating profit reach 3.36 trillion VND in Q1 2023, up 25.6% over the same period last year.

ACB is also one of the banks that reduced significantly the CIR ratio in the first quarter of this year from 40% to 31.6%. The bank's operating expenses also fell 8% year-on-year to 2.5 trillion VND while operating income increased by 15.6% to 7.92 trillion VND.

Statistics from the financial statements of 28 banks in Q1 2023 showed their current CIR ratio had a significant difference. Effective banks such as VIB, ACB, Techcombank and MB had with average CIR around 30% while other banks were less effective with operating expenses accounting for nearly half of the total income.

Not only in 2023 but reducing CIR is a long-term goal of banks as it is an important indicator that measures how the bank's resources are used. The lower the CIR ratio is, the better the bank operates. Vice versa, the higher this ratio is, the higher the bank has operating costs which becomes a burden to narrow its profitability.

In fact, reducing operating costs is very difficult because banks have to continuously invest to expand their scale and increase customer experience. Therefore, the problem is that the bank will have to find a way so that the growth of costs is lower than income. It means their investment has high efficiency and optimise their operational efficiency. This requires a drastic reform of the operating model of banks. In recent years, banks have poured a lot of money into technology investment and consider digital transformation as one of the decisive keys to reducing CIR.

Typically, TPBank has a LiveBank model, which provides the basic services of a transaction office. The bank’s automated transaction points have much lower investment and operating costs than traditional transaction offices, but are still highly efficient as they can reach many users and operate 24/7.

VIB has pioneered in the application of AI technology, biometrics and many other outstanding technologies, such as cloud–native and augmented reality (AR), to enhance customer experience. The strong investment in technology early on has helped this bank rapidly grow the retail segment. The transaction rate on digital channels at VIB currently reaches 93%. While the cost per transaction on digital banks is much lower than in transaction offices, it has helped the bank to optimise operations.

Digital transformation has also helped improve banks’ employee productivity, reduce paperwork and shorten processes. Instead of massively recruiting like in the past, banks have also focused on training personnel and attracting talent to improve the productivity of each employee.

Effective investment in technology, infrastructure and people to promote growth will help cut the CIR ratio in the long term, which is the driving force for the banks’ sustainable growth.

Red River Delta provinces move to promote agritourism

Four provinces in the southern part of the Red River Delta, namely Ninh Binh, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, and Thai Binh, have been taking steps to tap into their natural advantages to develop agricultural and rural tourism.

The Nhan dan (People) daily cited tourism experts and culture researchers as saying that the southern region of the Red River Delta boasts a large farmland area, mainly fertile alluvial soil, relatively developed intensive farming, and favourable climate conditions for not only agricultural development but also agricultural and rural tourism.

Over the past years, a number of domestic and international travellers have viewed agricultural and rural tourism as a novel experience worth to try, especially in the post-COVID period, when a trend of low-cost travel in rural places with pristine and beautiful landscapes has been rising.

Grasping that chance, these localities have specified strategies for developing agricultural and rural tourism.

Among them, Ha Nam aims to turn this type of tourism into one of its main tourism products by 2030.

Thai Binh has promptly approved a plan to promote agriculture and rural areas in tandem with tourism for 2022 - 2025, with a vision to 2030, under which the province will develop 80 - 85 farming zones, each with their own features; assign authorities to use nearly 5,000ha of mangrove forest and coastal wetland to protect the environment, prevent natural disasters, and create livelihoods for locals via agricultural tourism; and establish three - five agritourism cooperatives to maximise local potential and advantages.

Meanwhile, Ninh Binh has assisted residents to grow sunflower in Khanh Thien commune of Yen Khanh district on a trial basis, along with Japanese lotus varieties in Ninh Hai and Ninh Thang communes and grapes in Ninh Giang commune of Hoa Lu district. The move aims to create unique agritourism products to attract more visitors, thus helping raise the added value of farmland and people’s income.

For its part, Nam Dinh targets that by 2025, agritourism destinations will be standardised, at least two agritourism sites and 50% of the establishments providing rural tourism services recognised, 70% of the owners of agritourism sites given training in tourism management, and 80% of agritourism workers trained in tourism skills. The province also plans to pilot some agritourism models connected with agricultural value chains, the “One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme, and digital transformation.

Ngo Manh Ngoc, Deputy Director of the Ha Nam Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said localities in the region should step up training in agricultural tourism for local residents, build pilot agritourism models to encourage people to preserve rural landscapes and the wet rice culture’s identity, and create typical agritourism products.

Recommending centres be set up to introduce unique agritourism products to travellers, Dinh Vinh Thuy, Director of the Thai Binh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, pointed out the necessity to increase communications to popularise images of local agriculture, rural areas, and farm produce, which will help to not only fuel agritourism, improve people’s life quality, but also accelerate the new-style countryside building in the south of the Red River Delta.

CJ CGV posts record quarterly operating profit in Vietnam

The Republic of Korea (RoK)’s cinema chain CJ CGV posted a revenue of 59.1 billion KRW (44.8 million USD) and an operating profit of 9.3 billion KRW in Vietnam in the first quarter of this year.

It saw a year-on-year rise of 125.6% in revenue, and additional 7.1 billion KRW in operating profit.

This is the highest-ever quarterly operating profit the film distributor reported in Vietnam, even higher than the 2.1 billion KRW recorded in the first quarter of 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak had begun.

CJ CGV said it earned operating profits only in Vietnam and Turkey where the number stood at 50 million KRW.

It forecast that the business outcomes will be maintained in the second quarter thanks to the recovery of the film industry and the release of many highly anticipated movies.

The Korean entertainment giant, which has been in Vietnam since 2011, is running 83 cinemas and 483 screens in the Southeast Asian nation, making up 51% of the market share.

CJ CGV said it is closely coordinating with the Vietnamese film industry, with the 2023 CJ Short Film Making Project being kicked off recently in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam shows significant improvement in business environment: EIU

Vietnam jumped 12 places in the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s latest business environment rankings which measure the attractiveness of doing business in 82 countries with 91 crucial indicators.

The report highlights that Vietnam, along with Thailand and India, is considered the Asian country that has made the most progress in terms of business environment development.

Thailand leaped 10 places and India six. Meanwhile, Singapore topped the rankings.

In the first four months of this year, FDI channeled into Vietnam neared 8.9 billion USD, with new capital surging after a slight decrease in the first three months.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), there were 750 new projects granted with investment licences worth over 4.1 billion USD, up 65.2% and 11.1% annually, respectively.

A total of 386 projects had their capital added for a total of 1.66 billion USD, a 19.5% increase in quantity and reduction of 68.6% in value against the same period last year. The growth, despite the associated decrease, reflected investors’ confidence in Vietnam’s business climate and decisions to expand their existing projects.

Also in the four months, foreign investors did 1,044 transactions of capital contribution and share purchases, with their contributed capital exceeding 3.1 billion USD, up 70.4% year-on-year. They invested in 18 economic sectors, mostly in processing and manufacturing with over 5.1 billion USD or 57.8% of their total investment.

The number of countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the period amounted to 77. Singapore took the lead by pouring close to 2.2 billion USD into the market, followed by Japan with nearly 2 billion USD and China with 752 million USD.

Hanoi aims to be national hub of technology transfer, development

Hanoi stands ready to coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology to pilot policies on innovation and science and technology development, thus turning the capital city into a hub of science, technology and innovation in the country, Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Phong has stated.

According to Phong, the 17th-tenure municipal Party Committee's Programme 07-CTr/TU on promoting the development of science, technology, and innovation in the city during the 2021-2025 period has contributed to creating a positive transformation from awareness to action among agencies and sectors for science and technology issues.

Scientific and technological research activities under the programme are increasingly aligned with the real demand and requirements of various industries and businesses, contributing to serving production and business development and promoting socio-economic growth in the capital city, he said.

The city's viewpoints, strategies, and goals for science and technology development and innovation have been effectively implemented, particularly for the youth, he said, adding that many sectors and localities in the capital city have shown interest in directing the application of science and technology and digital transformation in the management work.

According to the municipal People’s Committee, the capital city has defined science and technology as a decisive factor in boosting economic growth and improving productivity, quality and efficiency of all socio-economic activities.

The rate of high-tech agricultural production in the overall production value of the agricultural sector is planned to hit 70% in 2025 and over 85% in 2030.

Hanoi will work to have 12 science and technology researchers and developers out of each 10,000 people in 2024, and 14 out of each 10,000 people in 2030.

The capital city has also worked out specific measures to boost technological development in particular aspects.

As many as 22 tasks, programmes and projects will be implemented to realise its development strategy in the time to come.

As a unit commended by the Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications for outstanding achievements in digital transformation in 2020 - 2023, despite the impact of COVID-19, the Rang Dong Light Source & Vacuum Flask JSC (RAL) has maintained continuous and high growth.

Notably, in the first quarter of 2023, despite the global economic downturn and supply chain disruptions, the firm still recorded a growth rate of 19.8% compared to the same period last year.

Nguyen Doan Ket, Deputy General Director of RAL, affirmed that the successful digital transformation has enabled Rang Dong to restructure the product strategy and business model.

According to Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Hanoi Tran Quang Hung, the organisation is implementing five projects, including those on entrepreneurship and innovation support network in universities which connect the remaining ones to attract investment funds for innovation.

Innovation and entrepreneurship clubs have been established in universities, while collaborative programmes to support and accelerate startup projects have been performed, he said.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Hoang Giang has ordered the municipal authorities to continue closely following outlined programmes, and relevant mechanisms and policies, in order to leverage strengths and address weaknesses to realise the set targets.

In addition to the provincial competitiveness index (PCI), the Public Sector Innovation Index (PII) at the local level is also a basis for investors to choose investment locations, he said, noting that the Hanoi authority should pay attention to coordinating with the ministry in this work.

Phong asked stakeholders to work hard on raising public awareness of the role and importance of science, technology and innovation development, and fully tap potential and knowledge resources for socio-economic development in the capital city.

He underlined the need for agencies to perfect development institutions and policies, focusing on proposing specific mechanisms and policies on science, technology, innovation and digital transformation.

Highlighting the importance of encouraging innovation and scientific research in universities, Phong proposed to the Ministry of Science and Technology to create a flexible and open mechanism for universities and non-business units to promote this field.

Deputy PM urges acceleration of electricity licensing for finished wind, solar power projects

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha has requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to accelerate the process of issuing electricity licences for wind and solar power projects that have been completed but have not yet been put into operation.

The Government Office recently issued a Notice on Deputy PM Ha’s conclusion at a meeting related to the negotiations of electricity prices for these projects.

The document stated that to achieve the goal of sustainable development, the Government has been implementing solutions for the national energy transition, including policies to encourage investment in renewable energy development.

Many wind and solar power plants, which have been invested in and put into operation, have supplemented an important power source to ensure national energy security and boost socio-economic development. However, many others have not been put into use, causing a waste of social resources.

Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade was required to issue a specific guidance document on calculating and negotiating electricity prices for wind and solar power following regulations.

For projects that are not yet eligible for operation and still having problems with legal procedures, the ministry and localities where the transitional power projects are located should urgently guide enterprises to complete the prescribed procedures.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment was urged to issue a document before May 25 guiding the People's Committees of provinces and cities to consider and decide to adjust investment policies for transitional projects with an implementation time of more than 24 months compared to the time limit specified in the first investment policy approval letter following regulations. 

SHB completed 50 per cent shares transfer to Krungsri Bank of Thailand

SHB on Tuesday officially announced it successfully completed the transfer of the first 50 per cent of charter capital at SHBank Finance Company Limited (SHB Finance) to its partner - Krungsri Bank of Thailand - a strategic member of MUFG Group (Japan).

They will complete the remaining 50 per cent in the next three years, subject to approval from the relevant regulators.

The completion of the acquisition follows the capital transfer agreement announced on August 25, 2021.

According to the Decision No 759/QD-NHNN by the SBV and the Establishment and Operation License No 21/GP-NHNN dated April 25, 2023, SHB Finance officially converted from Saigon- Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank Finance Single-member Limited Company to Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank Finance Company Limited.

Krungsri, the fifth largest bank in Thailand in terms of assets, loans, and deposits, has overseas businesses in Lao PDR, the Philippines, Cambodia, and the latest one, Viet Nam. The bank also has a representative office in Myanmar.

Established in 1993, SHB is currently in the Top 5 largest joint stock commercial banks in Viet Nam. By the end of 2022, SHB has total assets of more than VND550 trillion (US$23.3 billion) and pre-tax profit of VND3.5 trillion in the first quarter of the year, posting 10.3 per cent year-on-year increase.

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