The People’s Committee of Hanoi has assigned relevant departments, sectors and the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) to start a project studying the building of the urban railway route No.6, the section from Noi Bai to Ngoc Hoi in Thanh Tri district.

The study project will be financed by non-refundable ODA capital provided by the Australian government via the World Bank (WB).

The MRB, as the project’s coordinator, will be responsible for working with WB experts on the contents of the project, which is expected to propose forms of investment for the urban railway route.

The model of transit-oriented development (TOD) will be considered with the aim of recovering part of investment in urban railway, enhancing investment efficiency and easing pressure on the state budget.

Under the Hanoi urban railway network plan until 2030, the capital would have 10 lines with a total length of 417 km; of which 342 km would be elevated and the rest underground.

So far, only the first Cat Linh-Ha Dong line has been completed and in operation. The other lines are still in different phases of development. The Nhon-Hanoi station line is set to have its elevated section operating at the end of 2022, and the entire line operating in 2027.

VinFast, Infineon extend partnership in electromobility

VinFast and Infineon Technologies AG on October 13 announced to extend their partnership on the occasion of Infineon's OktoberTech Asia Pacific 2022 Technology Forum in Singapore.

Accordingly, the two companies will set up a joint application competence centre focusing on electromobility to accelerate VinFast's development of solutions for the future of smart mobility. The inauguration of the VinFast–Infineon Competence Center (VICC) is planned in the first quarter of 2023.

Forecasts on Vietnam’s economic growth grounded: Sputnik

Financial institutions and the world’s top credit rating agencies’ forecasts on Vietnam’s economic growth are completely founded, said Russia’s Sputnik radio.

The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Moody’s, Fitch, Standard & Poor's, Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) or the UK’s Standard Chartered Bank offered optimistic opinions about the Vietnamese economy amid the dull economic landscape all over the world.

In the Asia Economic Outlook released by the IMF on October 11, Vietnam’s gross domestic product is forecast to grow by 7% this year. While one-third of the world economies are predicted to contract, this growth is considered a miracle.

Though the WB revised down Vietnam’s economic growth to 7.2% from 7.5%, it highlighted that the figure remains high amid the global slowdown.

The lender attributed that to the country’s strong recovery and solid manufacturing and processing activities.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered upgraded Vietnam’s growth outlook to 7.5% from 6.7%, saying that the figure could reach 7-7.2% next year.

The UOB offered a prediction of 8.2% growth this year while Moody’s was the most optimistic with 8.5%.

In September, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Vietnam’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to Ba2 from Ba3 and changed the outlook to stable from positive. Vietnam is the only country in Asia-Pacific and one of the four countries in the world to have ratings upgraded by Moody’s since early this year, showing that its economy has growing strengths and greater resilience to external macroeconomic shocks that are indicative of improved policy effectiveness.

Vietnam’s national brand value rising: official

The growth of Vietnam’s national brand value remains a bright spot in national brand building and development, heard a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in Hanoi on October 12.

Hoang Minh Chien, deputy head of the MoIT’s Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, said the Vietnamese brand value is among those with the fastest growth rates in the world in the 2019-2022 period.

He cited a report by Brand Finance - the world's leading brand valuation consulting company – as showing that the value rose from 247 billion USD in 2019 to 388 billion USD in 2021 and 431 billion USD this year.
In rankings, Vietnam jumped from the 42nd position in 2019 to the 33rd in 2021 and the 32nd in 2022.

The brand value of the top 50 local firms also grew 36%, higher than that of Singapore, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, China, Japan and Thailand, according to UK-based Brand Finance.

Japanese retailer AEON to expand operation in Vietnam

Leading Japanese retail group AEON is accelerating the expansion of its malls and other stores in Vietnam.

AEON plans to triple its malls in Vietnam to 16 between now and 2025, looking to gain an advantage in the food sector, reported Japan’s news service Nikkei Asia.

With almost 40 years of experience in Southeast Asia, the retailer will leverage the knowledge it has accumulated in Malaysia, and other markets to intensify its store opening campaign.

Strengthening its food businesses such as bakeries and kitchens is part of that effort, he added.

The retailer has so far opened some 200 stores in Vietnam, including six shopping malls and several supermarkets. Stores are concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's largest city, and Hanoi, the capital. A mall is set to open in the central city of Hue in 2024.

Outstanding Hanoi’s entrepreneurs, enterprises to be honoured

Nearly 200 outstanding entrepreneurs and enterprises of Hanoi will be honoured at a ceremony which will be held on November 10.

The event will be organised by HANOISME in collaboration with the municipal departments of Planning and Investment, Industry and Trade, Culture and Sports, and the Hanoi Promotion Agency. It aims to honour collectives and individuals who have made outstanding performance in production and business, and actively taken part in social welfare activities, contributing to the city’s development.

The event will see the presence of representatives from central and Hanoi agencies, foreign diplomats and nearly 200 companies representing more than 251,000 enterprises in the city, he said.

Quang Ninh issues series of commitments to attract investors

Quang Ninh People’s Committee will implement seven commitments to attract investors and simultaneously support the business community to expand operations.

At the meeting between provincial leaders and representatives of investors on October 12, Chairman of Quang Ninh People’s Committee Nguyen Tuong Van asserted that the province will accelerate the provincial planning and create favourable conditions for investors as soon as possible.

The province will prepare clean land for investors and develop synchronised infrastructure. Besides this, Quang Ninh also prepares an available labour force for investors.

The province will deal with difficulties and barriers for businesses during the investment and operation process in the province.

The northeastern province of Quang Ninh maintained its top spot in the rankings of the Provincial Competitiveness Index since 2017. The province leads the two sub-indexes of market entry cost (7.98 points), and cost and time for handling administrative procedures (8.25 points).

Inter-agency appraisal council for Quang Tri Airport established

The prime minister on October 12 signed Decision No.1196/QD-TTg to establish an inter-agency appraisal council for the feasibility study on Quang Tri Airport.

The PM assigned minister of Planning and Investment to be the chairman of the council, and a deputy minister of Planning and Investment to be the vice chairman. The members of the council are leaders of many other ministries, including the State Bank of Vietnam and Quang Tri People’s Committee.

The airport’s construction will be divided into two phases, with the total investment capital of $256.08 million. In the first phase, Quang Tri and investors will construct the basic facilities of a Grade 4C civil airport and a Grade II military airport in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.

The airport is designed to have a capacity of 2.2 million passengers per year by 2046 and 5,600 tonnes of goods per year by 2042.

In the second phase, the province and investors will invest in the infrastructure of ground services at the airport in 2029. It will expand the passenger terminal in 2047 to increase the capacity to receive up to five million passengers per year as well as expand the first cargo terminal with a capacity of about 13,700 tonnes a year in 2043 and about 25,500 tonnes a year in 2059.

Expressway contractors decry fuel shortage

Though accepting to buy gasoline at a higher price, Dau Giay-Phan Thiet expressway contractors are still facing a shortage of fuel for operating machinery.

The fuel shortage in the past few days in southern Vietnam, especially in HCMC, Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc, has hindered the construction pace of the expressway.

The expressway is scheduled to be completed at the end of the year. While all the contractors are expediting work to meet the deadline of the project, they now have to face a lack of gasoline.

To ensure the project progress on schedule, many agreed to buy petrol at a higher price; however, the supply is still limited.

The tender package XL02 developed by Phuong Thanh Transport Construction and Investment Joint Stock Company needs around 20,000 liters of fuel a day for their operation. Though they accepted a fuel price that is VND3,000-5,000 higher per liter than normal, they still could not find suppliers.

The contractor will get into a worse situation if the fuel shortfall continues, said the company’s representative.

Similarly, the tender package XL03 executed by Vinaconex needs 5,000 liters of fuel a day to operate vehicles and machinery. Meanwhile, the contractor can only buy 600-1,000 liters of fuel per day.

According to the managing director of the tender package, the fuel insufficiency has impacted the project’s schedule.

Most of the Dau Giay-Phan Thiet expressway contractors are facing a scarcity of fuel. If the situation is not tackled soon, the project cannot be done at the end of the year.

Railway industry spends VND200 billion on automatic warning systems

The railway industry has spent some VND200 billion installing automatic warning systems at 112 crossings to improve traffic safety along the railways, according to the Vietnam Railway Authority.

The installation of 112 systems by the Vietnam Railways Corporation is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The cost for the automatic warning system at a major crossing is estimated at around VND1.6-1.8 billion.

In addition to the capital of VND200 billion from the State budget, the Vietnam Railway Authority sought approval to allocate VND560 billion to install the systems on 282 other level crossings in 2023.

The Vietnam Railways Corporation has been assigned to install and fix the warning systems on some 566 level crossings in 2022 and 2023.

The installation of automatic warning systems on the other crossings will be finished in 2024.

As of September 30, the national railway network had 1,510 level crossings of all kinds.

Among those, 713 crossings have automatic warning systems, while 660 other crossings are guarded by railway staff. The other 137 crossings are only equipped with railway crossing signs.

More flexible, active price management needed: Deputy Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai in yesterday’s meeting with the Price Management Steering Committee concluded that the price management and administration should continue to be flexible and active to ensure inflation control for both this year and 2023.

Statistics from the Finance Ministry reveal that in the first 9 months of 2022, on average, the consumer price index (CPI) and core inflation increased by 2.73 percent and 1.88 percent respectively compared to this time last year. It is forecasted that the average CPI in 2022 will rise by 3.27-3.51 percent, while the prediction of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam is at 3.2-3.5 percent.

Therefore, the Deputy Prime Minister requested that ministries, state agencies, and localities must closely monitor the global economic and inflation status as well as responding measures from different nations, especially important trading partners of Vietnam.

The supply-demand situation and price fluctuations in the market must be observed carefully for more effective and flexible price management to ensure stable domestic prices and supply sources of commodities. The monetary policy must be administrated logically and harmoniously with the fiscal policy and others to control inflation, maintain the stability of our macroeconomy as well as major balances of the national economy. The rates of credit, interest, and exchange must be correspondingly adjusted.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Khai also asked for a proactive price management method for essential commodities like fuel, energy, food, transport services. Also, the Ministry of Industry and Trade must adopt suitable solutions to ensure stable fuel supply sources effective trading system.

Regarding the merchandise under the control of the state and the services implementing the market-economy pathway (healthcare, education, electricity), ministries and state agencies should devise feasible measures to introduce at suitable times.

All ministries, state agencies, and localities must flexibly use price regulating tools in compliance with the price law to stabilize the domestic market, while inspection tasks on this matter must be done frequently to timely detect and handle violations, inadequacies.

Ho Chi Minh City honors 106 outstanding businesses and entrepreneurs in 2022

On the occasion of Vietnam Entrepreneurs Day (October 13, 2022), the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City today awarded certificates of merit to 106 businesses and entrepreneurs who have made great contributions to the city's economic development.

Also on this occasion, the municipal People's Committee recognized and awarded the title of Outstanding Enterprise and Entrepreneur of Ho Chi Minh City in 2022 to 98 businesses and 98 entrepreneurs of all economic sectors operating in the city.

As a result, this year, 98 businesses have been selected with a total capital of up to VND70,391 billion and revenue in the two years of 2021-2022 reaching nearly VND500 trillion generating 91,320 employments. In particular, these businesses have contributed VND1,352 billion to social and charity activities.

HCM City seeks to speed up development of logistics sector
     
HCM City is taking a number of measures to resolve the problems faced by the logistics sector such as poor infrastructure and lack of skilled human resources, according to its government.

According to Phan Thi Thang, deputy chairwoman of the city People’s Committee, the city is an important trade gateway for the southern region, but the transportation system is inadequate.

The construction of ring roads connecting with provinces has been slow, and so trade with them is not commensurate with the potential.

The city plans to develop seven logistics centres by 2025, with the six-hectare Hi-Tech Park Logistics Centre being in the process of identifying a developer.

Besides, enterprises are building facilities that are "similar to logistics centres" such as a cold storage at the Vinh Loc Industrial Park and an e-commerce warehouse in Cu Chi District.

Le Huynh Minh Tu, deputy director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said the country’s demand for logistics workers was increasing by 7.5 per cent a year.

HCM City alone needs 63,000 workers a year, including more than 8,400 with professional skills, in 2021-25, according to Tu.

To meet this demand, the city has identified two strategic tasks: accelerating short-term training for small and medium logistics enterprises to mitigate their labour shortage and providing intensive training to develop human resources of international standard.

Nguyen Quang Trung of the University of Economics and Finance said along with the development of e-commerce and the digital economy, e-logistics played an increasingly important role.

Therefore, investment in logistics and information technology infrastructure for e-logistics development was an urgent need, he said.

Delegates at a recent forum called for upgrading ports and developing road and rail transport networks.

Thang said the city, recognising the importance of the logistics industry, wanted to make it a spearhead that would account for 12 per cent of the economy by 2030.

Logistics costs are expected to fall to 10-15 per cent of GDP by 2025. 

HCM City to host international industrial machinery expo

The Viet Nam International Exhibition on Industrial Machinery Equipment, Technology and Products, or VINAMAC Expo 2022, will be held in HCM City from November 2-5, the event's organisers announced on Wednesday.

The upcoming event will comprise 500 booths set up by 300 Vietnamese firms and foreign-invested companies in Viet Nam and others from ASEAN member countries. On display will be industrial machinery, materials and products, and automation, metallurgy and metalworking technologies.

The expo will also include a seminar on introducing HCM City's typical equipment and industrial products and discussing solutions that will help local enterprises overcome difficulties in the "new normal"; a business forum on control and automation; a welding competition; business matching; technology and product introduction.

Approval unblocks gas power venture

The approval of the O Mon III gas-fired power plant’s investment will help remove a major bottleneck at Block B of the megaproject, yet several hardships still persist.

In light of Decision No.2447/QD-UBND from Can Tho People’s Committee, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) received the thumbs-up to become the investor of O Mon III, which has around $1.19 billion in total investment value, in which $428 million would be investor’s equity and the remainder raised from different sources.

The move helps boost the project as it has stalled for almost three years due to the evaluation process and some legal aspects. The venture involves the use of official development assistance (ODA) from Japan for implementation, with the relevant dossier soon to be finalised for submission to the prime minister.

The 1,050MW O Mon III is part of O Mon Power Centre based in Can Tho city in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The site also accommodates O Mon I, with capacity of 660MW, together with O Mon II and IV at 1,050MW capacity each. With the latest move, EVN is now the investor of O Mons I, III, and IV.

The plants are expected to consume around 4.5-5 billion cubic metres of gas annually, taking gas from Block B, off the southwest coast of Vietnam. Block B has gas reserves of around 107 billion cu.m, ensuring sufficient gas supply to feed these power plants and supersede several near-mature gas fields.

EVN has completed the tender dossier of O Mon IV and envisages issuing bid invitation records after property defining the gas supply progress at Block B.

After O Mon III gets approved, EVN may move to sign a contract on gas supply with PetroVietnam, laying the bedrock to expedite upstream projects on gas exploitation at Block B and developing an associated gas pipeline.

These two upstream projects are awaiting a final investment decision before commencing official implementation.

Vietnam’s tra fish exports to ASEAN surge

Vietnam’s tra fish (pangasius) exports to ASEAN have increased strongly and if the pace continues, shipments to the region might surpass the volume shipped to the EU market, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

In the year to September, tra fish exports to the market of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had brought in over US$152 million, accounting for nearly 8% of total tra exports.

Some top ASEAN buyers of Vietnam’s tra fish include Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore.

Tra fish exports to Thailand by the end of the third quarter had reached over US$70 million, up 81% year-over-year, representing 3.6% of Vietnam’s total tra fish export value. In September alone, tra fish shipments to Thailand jumped by 165% against August.

Meanwhile, tra fish exports to the Philippines made a significant breakthrough in the first nine months, an increase of five times over the same period last year. By the end of the third quarter, tra fish exports to this market had amounted to an estimated US$25 million, up 92%, and accounting for 1.3% of Vietnam’s total.

South Korea appreciates cooperation in smart city with Vietnam: KICT President

The South Korean government highly values the results of bilateral cooperation with Vietnam in construction, especially smart city development over the past time, said the President of the South Korean Institute of Civil Engineering and Construction Technology (KICT), Kim Byung Suk, at an event in Hanoi on October 11.

The VKC project aims to establish a professional center to promote research and training in smart cities and advanced construction technologies to contribute to the development of smart cities in Vietnam, Kim Byung Suk said.

He added that the project will gradually concretize Vietnam's guidelines and policies in promoting sustainable smart city development by 2030 and strengthen the relationship between Vietnam and South Korea.

Currently, 41 of Vietnam's 63 provinces and cities are building smart cities, including 27 localities that are making the entire municipality smart and 14 others that are building smart cities at the sub-provincial level.

The Vietnamese Government have always identified smart city development as one of the critical drivers to realize the goal of turning Vietnam into a modernized and industrialized country by 2045.

HCMC tourism back to high growth path

In January-September, HCMC attracted 21.6 million domestic travelers and over 2.1 million international visitors. Revenue from travel services soared 147.3% year-on-year to over VND4.7 trillion while accommodation and food services generated nearly VND61 trillion in revenue, up 92.1% year-on-year.

Statistics showed the southern metropolis has over 4,000 hotels and lodging facilities with nearly 50,000 guest rooms, some 1,280 travel firms and some 7,000 tour guides, 60% of whom are certified as international tour guides.

To help the sector bounce back stronger, the HCMC Tourism Department has joined hands with travel firms to promote products such as business-leisure travel and Meetings-Incentives-Conferences-Exhibitions (MICE) tours.

In early October, the French luxury vessel Le Laperouse arrived in HCMC, becoming the first international cruise ship to visit Vietnam after a two-year suspension induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The city held the 16th HCMC International Tourism Fair in September. The event featured 210 booths from domestic travel firms and 50 others from foreign companies, and attracted over 22,000 visitors with 8,600 transactions.

Ha Noi to inspect violations of plots and ground sales
     
Ha Noi authorities have requested the Department of Natural Resources and Environment strictly handle the bulldozing of hills and mountains and levelling of ponds, rivers and streams to sell land.

The city also called for investigations into construction on unregulated agricultural land and a review of projects that have not yet or are slow to put land to use.

Ha Noi also told the department to check if local project investors gave buyers ownership certificates for houses and other assets against the implementation of land use plans, or changed land use purposes for rice cultivation in the city.

The department was also assigned to inspect possible violations in the separation of parcels, plots, and ground sales that disrupt the planning, affect the real estate market, land price determination, and the implementation of the auction of land use rights in the area.

The city requested a comprehensive inspection of land areas originating from agriculture and forestry schools handed over to localities for management that still have difficulties and problems in land allocation, land lease, issuance of land use rights certificates, ownership of houses and other assets attached to land; aggregate proposed reporting authority considers regulatory treatment.

Regarding the registration and issuance of certificates of land use rights, ownership of houses and other assets attached to the land, the Ha Noi City People's Committee requested the department to arrange and rationally arrange the receipt of dossiers of administrative procedures for people; do not let overload prolong the time of receiving and resolving documents give rise to negatives.

At the same time, the department needed reviewing and advising on amending and abolishing unreasonable procedures, prolonging the implementation time, and causing trouble for people and businesses when carrying out land transactions.

In addition, the city said: "It is necessary to correct the registration and issuance of certificates, review and make full statistics on outstanding cases where land has not been registered, or certificates have not been issued; at the same time clarify the causes and have specific plans and measures to solve these cases definitively."

The City People's Committee also requested the construction of the land database be urgently completed, with resources focussed on ensuring the completion of national land databases and information systems and providing online public services to shorten the time to carry out administrative procedures.

In addition, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with the Department of Finance and the City Tax Department in advising the City People's Committee to ensure that at least 10 per cent of the total revenue from land use and land rent are set aside annually for cadastral mapping measurements and land registration, issuance of certificates, construction of land databases and operation of land information systems.

Meanwhile, an individual who divided plots and advertised land for sale illegally was fined VND45 million.

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