There is ample room for growth for Vietnamese coffee exports as Spain’s coffee segment is expected to grow by 6.84% in 2022-2025 period, according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Spain.

A survey in the Spainish market showed that up to 87% of its popoulation aging between 18 and 64 drink coffee and 70% do so daily. The average is 2.2 cups a day and the prefered place is at home (61%), followed by bars or restaurants (26%) and work (21%).

Data from the General Department of Customs showed that Vietnam exported 5,240 tonnes of coffee to Spain in September this year, worth 13.1 million USD , down 14.4% in volume and 7.1% in value against the previous month, reported the Foreign Trade Office under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. However, the figure increased by 11.5% in volume and by 37.4% in value compared to September last year.

Shipment from Vietnam to Spain reached 71,700 tonnes, worth 160.81 million USD, a year-on-year rise of 40.4% in volume and 63.4% in value. The average export price of coffee in the first nine months of this year was 2,245 USD per tonne, up 16.7% year-on-year.

Spain's coffee imports from non-EU supply in the first seven months of 2022 reached 165,730 tonnes, worth 524.1 million euros, up 17.4% in volume and 100.8% in value. Of which, Vietnam is the largest source for the country with an import volume of 67,200 tonnes. Particularly, Vietnam's coffee accounted for 30.14% of the total coffee import of Spain in the seven months of this year.

Vietnamese EV maker VinFast receives US$135 million in green funding
     
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) mobilised a US$135 million financing package for VinFast Trading and Production Joint Stock Company (VinFast) to manufacture Viet Nam’s first fully-electric public transport bus fleet and first national electric vehicle (EV) charging network.

The assistance will support Viet Nam’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and expand high-tech manufacturing industries.

The 7-year tenor financing comprises a $20 million loan funded by ADB, parallel loans of $87 million facilitated by ADB as mandated lead arranger, and concessional financing of up to $28 million. The climate financing is certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative, a scientifically-based standard for labelling bonds, loans and other debt instruments which contribute to addressing climate change.

ADB has partially offset the project’s risks by utilising concessional financing from its managed trust funds comprising a loan of up to $20 million from the Australian Climate Finance Partnership funded by the Australian Government (ACFP); a loan of up to $5 million from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), and a grant of up to $3 million from the Climate Innovation and Development Fund, which is funded by Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Parallel loans were also mobilised by ADB from Export Finance Australia, the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation, Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG, and responsAbility.

Additionally, the project includes a technical assistance (TA) of $950,000 from the ACFP and the CTF, focused on raising consumer awareness about e-mobility’s economic, environmental, and social impacts to help advance its market penetration. The TA will also help promote the role of women studying for or working in fields related to science, technology, and mathematics.

Vietnam’s 2022 exports to Netherlands seen exceeding US$10 billion

Vietnam’s exports to the Netherlands are expected to reach over US$10.4 billion this year.

Vietnam’s exports to the Netherlands brought US$7.817 billion in the first nine months, up 40.1% from the previous year.

Two groups of items with high export value are computers, electronics and accessories valued at US$1.96 billion, and machinery, equipment, tools and parts worth US$1.42 billion.

The strong growth of exports to the Netherlands is attributed to the impact of the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

If the exports of each month in the last quarter are equal to the average export value of September, exports to the Netherlands will bring Vietnam US$10.4 billion.

Vietnam, Australia promote research commercialization

Representatives of the Vietnamese and Australian governments are joining hands to accelerate the implementation of the commercialization of research results.

Promoting the application of research results in manufacturing is in line with the prime minister’s strategy for developing science, technology and innovation to boost the quality and competitiveness of products and services until 2030.

Based on that principle, RMIT University and the Vietnam Institute of Science, Technology and Innovation (VISTI) under the Science and Technology Ministry cooperated to organize a roundtable on the third collaboration between Australia and Vietnam over Industry 4.0.

The event featured representatives of the Vietnamese and Australian governments, a number of local and international leading universities and corporations such as Ericsson and Dat Xanh Service.

As co-chair of the third Industry 4.0 Roundtable, Pr. Calum Drummond, vice president of RMIT University, showcased the Australian experience in intellectual property in the commercialization of research results.

Pr. Drummond affirmed, “In the future, we will continue to develop and promote the innovation platform, share our insights and acquire new knowledge in Vietnam to benefit the Vietnamese.

Two firms investigated for late fuel price stabilization fund transfers

The Ministry of Public Security has launched a probe into two fuel firms for their delays in transferring a combined VND24 billion to the fuel price stabilization fund.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade today, October 21, said that upon receipt of documents from the ministry, the police had started the investigation, the local media reported.

The two fuel firms are Thai Son B.Q.P Petroleum JSC, headquartered on Phung Khac Hoang Street in HCMC’s District 1, and Duong Dong-Hoa Phu JSC, located in Binh Thuan Province’s Tuy Phong District.

In late June, the Ministry of Industry and Trade sent dispatches to the two fuel distributors urging them to pay the fund’s balance to the State budget. Accordingly, Thai Son B.Q.P Petroleum JSC would have to pay over VND21 billion, while the other owed over VND3.7 billion.

The two firms were ordered to send a report on their payments to the Ministries of Finance and Industry-Trade prior to July 10, but failed to do so, resulting in the probe.

Agro, forestry, aquatic trade surplus doubles in nine months

Vietnam’s foreign trade of agro, forestry and aquatic products hit nearly 75 billion USD in the first nine months of 2022, a year-on-year rise of 10.7%, according to latest data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Exports exceeded 40 billion USD while imports totalled roughly 34 billion USD, up 15% and nearly 6%, respectively, year-on-year. This means the trade surplus of the sector mounted to nearly 7 billion USD, doubling the same period last year.

During the nine-month period, Vietnam exported nearly 17 billion USD worth of key agro products, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. Shipments of major forestry products valued more than 13 billion USD and seafood, 8.5 billion USD, up nearly 11% and 38%, respectively.

The US remained Vietnam’s largest buyer. It was, again, followed by China and Japan. A total of nearly 4,600 Production Unit Codes and more than 1,410 Packing House Codes have been granted in Vietnam, enabling exporters to ship fresh fruits to major markets like China, the US, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and Japan.

Vietnam becomes third largest coffee supplier to US

Vietnam has become the third largest supplier of coffee to the US over the first eight months of 2022, reported the General Department of Customs.

Vietnam exported over 96,500 tonnes of coffee to the US in eight months, gaining over 227 million USD, up 5.2% and nearly 36% in terms of volume and value over the same period last year.

Vietnam's coffee market share in the US increased from 6.27% to 6.45%.

During the January-September period, the nation earned more than 3 billion USD from exporting 1.34 million tonnes of coffee, up over 13% in volume and an increase of 37% in value against the same period last year.

Vietnam's coffee has been shipped to more than 80 countries and territories, making the country the second biggest exporter in the world.

Vietnam to become world leading IT hub: German newspaper

Vietnam has the potential to become a world leading IT hub for its quality universities as well as young and trained workforce, said a recent article by the German-language business newspaper Handelsblatt.

The article emphasised that Vietnam has so far been successful in the hardware sector, as most of Samsung mobile phones and Apple's iPads and Bluetooth headsets are manufactured here.

Meanwhile, many international corporations have established development centres or cooperated with IT service providers in Vietnam. The US-based management consulting firm A.T. Kearney regularly ranks the Southeast Asian country in the top five most attractive destinations for IT outsourcing services.

The article added that one of Bosch's most important global software development centres is located in Ho Chi Minh City.

Software developers in Vietnam are also rising to the top of the region. According to data from application data and analytics firm Data.ai, seven of the 20 most frequently downloaded apps in Southeast Asia come from Vietnam.

Thailand famtrip delegation explore tourism potential in Hue

A famtrip delegation made up of member of travel agencies, the press, and businesses in Thailand arrived in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on October 21 for a four-day trip to explore tourism services on offer.

The group visited several local tourist landmarks such as the Hue royal palace, An Dinh palace, and Thien Mu pagoda. In addition, they tasted traditional food, enjoyed an excursion on the Huong (Perfume) River, experienced wearing Ao Dai (the nation’s traditional long dress), and travelled by cyclo and double-decker bus around Hue City.

The Thai tourists dropped at Dong Ba market to buy souvenir and experienced healthcare services in the hot spring resort of Karawa My An.

The Thua Thien-Hue Tourism Association will host an exchange to connect businesses of both Vietnam and Thailand, in an effort to boost tourism promotion and popularize  local destinations and tourism products to foreign friends.

Thailand has been identified as one of 10 potential tourist markets for Thua Thien-Hue following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Weighing ticker charm of securities firms

As Vietnam’s stock market has witnessed a sharp plunge for over a month now, the tickers of many securities firms have lost 30-40 per cent, even 60-80 per cent, compared to their peak.

According to Agribank Securities JSC (Agriseco), the tickers of securities firms are susceptible to a high level of fluctuation and closely attached to stock market performance. That is because stock market movements directly affect securities firms’ business operation in a specific period.

As the stock market took a deep plunge in both liquidity and score in the past month, the price of this ticker group took a nosedive. In the short term, Agriseco assumed that selling force at this ticker group remains big and shows no sign of halting.

However, when the market begins to rally, this ticker group would bounce back stronger compared to other ticker groups. Negative movements of the stock market in the past month have badly impacted securities firms’ business operations.

Bui Van Huy, director at Ho Chi Minh City branch office of Hanoi-based DSC Securities Corporation, assumed that the pricing of securities firms’ tickers can be deemed as cheap as many firms, including leading players like SSI, VCI and HCM, which saw their ticker price losing 70 per cent from their peak.

Currently, the price to book (P/B) ratio of this ticker group is around 1.1x-1.2x, and the price per earning (P/E) ratio is about 8x-9x.

According to Bloomberg newswire, Vietnam’s stock market has slid to its bottom for the past nearly two years amid widespread force sell in the face of interest hike threat.

The VN-Index lost more than 18 per cent in the past month and became the worst sliding index globally.

Gasoline enterprise not proceeded with customs clearance due to over-due tax

The Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Vietnam Customs have just said that the three enterprises operating in the field of gasoline and oil were forced to halt the import due to violations on overdue taxation payments and failure on equipping devices and machines as regulated. 

Specifically, the Xuyen Viet Oil Travel and Transport Trading Company failed to pay over-due tax with a total coercive amount of more than VND684.4 billion (US$27.6 million) so that the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department proposed the customs agency cease the clearance progress for the company.

As for Nam Song Hau Trading Investing Petroleum Joint Stock Company, the company did not meet the requirement of importing gasoline and petroleum as it failed to equip the measuring devices which must be connected online to provide data on amounts of oil and petroleum products stored at tanks to customs authorities in accordance with the Decree No.67/2020/ND-CP of the Government dated on June 15, 2020 in advance August 8, 2022.

The proposal of Hai Ha Waterway Transport Company Limited on using a quality certificate issued by the supplier to accompany with the imported vessel for customs clearance review was not appropriate with Decision No.3810 dated December 18, 2019 of the Ministry of Science and Technology as gasoline and petroleum being goods under quality check in advance the customs clearance process.

Land prices in Hanoi in upward trend

The average land prices in Hanoi during the third quarter of 2022 went up by 5% against early 2022 and 20% year on year while demand remained low during the period.

In the past months, there has been a sharp decline in the number of real estate transactions in rural districts such as Dong Anh, Hoai Duc, Me Linh, Quoc Oai, or Thach That.

According to experts, the majority of landowners in these districts are investors, rather than people with actual housing needs. But recent efforts from the authorities in tightening credit into the real estate market have led to lower demand for land purchase.

Data from the real estate website batdongsan.com.vn revealed the search frequency for land in Hanoi declined by an average of 18% in the third quarter compared to the previous one, with a sharp fall seen in Quoc Oai (39%), Gia Lam (28%), or Thanh Tri (24%).

Such a trend, however, has not had significant impacts on land prices. A recent survey conducted by the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) suggested land prices in residential areas, especially in urban projects of rural districts, went up by 5% compared to early 2022 and 20% year on year.

Experts, however, suggested investors stay cautious before making any purchase decision, especially with inadequate infrastructure investment in the surrounding areas and the legal nature of lands in these districts.

In a recent land auction in Quoc Oai District, the successful bidding prices were in the range of VND64-77 million per square meter, some even went up to VND99.3 million, nearly double the starting prices.

While the high bidding prices would be beneficial for the state budget, this, however, would cause negative impacts on the average market price and difficulties in the compensation process for site clearance.

It is expected that by late 2022, demands for land would continue to stay low and investors may force to lower prices to attract buyers.

In the case of Hanoi, the planning for five rural districts of Hoai Duc, Dong Anh, Thanh Tri, Gia Lam, and Dan Phuong into urban districts by 2025 would create a foundation for local authorities to promote urban development projects, thanks to the huge land portfolio available. So rising land prices in these areas are understandable, said banking–finance expert Can Van Luc.

Kaspersky launches Digital Footprint Intelligence in Vietnam

Global cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky has launched Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence in Vietnam to help security analysts detect potential attack threats promptly and adjust their defence plans.

Using OSINT techniques combined with Kaspersky's knowledge base as well as analysis of the Surface, Deep, and Dark Web, the product provides a comprehensive picture of a business attack situation, including identifying vulnerabilities that can be exploited and alerting planned attacks by providing information about various types of threats such as network perimeter-related threats, dark web-related threats, malware-related threats and data leakages.

According to the latest data from Kaspersky Security Network, Kaspersky protected 24.2% of its users in Vietnam against web-borne attacks in the third quarter of this year. Vietnam ranked 74th worldwide in the dangers associated with surfing.

The global cybersecurity company also detected and blocked 30.1 million local threats, with 37.6% of Vietnamese users being attacked by malware spread via removable USB drives, CDs, DVDs, and other offline methods.

Exports bring in more than US$14 billion in first half of October

Vietnam raked in more than US$14 billion from exports in the first half of October, with electronics, garments and footwear bringing in the largest turnover.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs reported that the import-export turnover of Vietnam in the period from October 1 to 15, 2022 stood at US$27.7 billion, up 6.5% year on year.

Of the total turnover, exports brought in US$14.1 billion, up 7.6%, and imports fetched US$13.6 billion, up 5.4%.

As a result, Vietnam yielded a trade surplus of US$0.5 billion in the reviewed period, raising its trade surplus since the beginning of the year to US$7.3 billion.

Among major hard currency earners in the first half of October, phones and components made up 18% of the total export turnover; computers, electronic products and components 13.4%; and machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts 13%.

LNG Thi Vai project reaches 97 per cent completion
     
The one-million-tonne LNG Thi Vai storage project invested by PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (PV GAS) has reached 97.08 per cent progress, with a total safe time of more than 2.73 million hours and no occupational accidents during project implementation.

The LNG Thi Vai terminal project is invested by PV GAS with a capacity of one million tonnes of LNG per year through the warehouse in phase 1. Phase 2 has a capacity of three million tonnes of LNG per year and is expected to be completed next year.

The project located in Cai Mep Industrial Park, Tan Phuoc Ward, Phu My Town, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, is a large and key project of the Vietnamese oil and gas industry by the joint venture of Samsung C&T Corp, and PTSC.

The Thi Vai LNG terminal is capable of receiving LNG carriers with a tonnage of up to 85,000 tonnes, with the main items of phase 1 including LNG storage tanks with a capacity of 180,000m3 and the latest versions of technological equipment.

Total investment in phase 1 is about US$285 million. After completion this year, it will supplement the supply of about 1.4 billion m3 of gas for consumers including Nhon Trach 3 & 4 power plants, industrial customers and partially compensate for the shortage of gas in the country after this year. 

VN strives to achieve public investment disbursement goal this year
     
Efforts to disburse public investment must be enhanced in the remaining months of this year as the workload to reach the Government’s finish line remains huge.

Statistics from the Ministry of Finance show that more than VND253 trillion (US$10.6 billion) worth of public investment was disbursed as of September 30, making up 46.7 per cent of the Government’s plan.

The Government on September 15 issued Resolution No 124/NQ-CP as a push to stagnant public investment disbursement, which set the target for public investment disbursement at 95-100 per cent this year.

Public investment is an important and efficient solution to promote economic growth, improve the economy’s competitiveness, and draw investment inflow, especially in global uncertainties.

The disappointedly slow public disbursement was leading to delays in the implementation of development goals and causing waste.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said that there were three groups of difficulties which were hindering the disbursement of public investment.

The first group included difficulties related to institutions, mechanism, and policies, especially in land, natural resources, environment, State budget and public property, construction and bidding.

The second group included difficulties encountered during implementing public investment projects, such as slow land clearance, limited capacity of the investors and contractors and lack of drastic management measures.

The final group included specific difficulties in 2022. Skyrocketing raw material price was a major reason for the slow disbursement of public investment this year.

The prices of construction materials increased by 48.8 per cent against the same period last year, electricity and water system installation services by 13.37 per cent, iron and steel products by 11.08 per cent in the first nine months of this year.

HCMC not trading off environment for investment attraction

The Propaganda Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee has just issued a guideline on propagandizing environment security for the national development.

Accordingly, the Propaganda Department asks that all localities and units in HCMC focus on updating the community on the Central Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies and laws. Vietnam, especially HCMC, will never trade off the environment for economic growth or investment attraction, and will do its best to ensure environment security.

In particular, HCMC will purposely concentrate on introducing achievements in environment protection tasks, promoting the use of clean and environmentally friendly energy, encouraging the application of scientific measures to overcome challenges as to environment security, and boosting the implementation of the digital economy model for green growth.

Trung Nam Solar Power mobilization halted due to MoIT regulation

Vietnam Electricity (EVN) yesterday informed that the pause of mobilizing over 172MW of electricity from Trung Nam Solar Power (the largest in Vietnam, sited in Ninh Thuan Province) is in compliance with the regulation because of a lack of a price mechanism.

In 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) issued a guiding document that from January 1, 2017 any power plants (except major ones with special socio-economic, national defense, or security importance) with neither a specific power trading contract nor a valid-priced one cannot be mobilized and integrated into the national electricity grid.

EVN and related units should strictly observe this regulation except for cases where it is necessary to mobilize power to ensure the security of electricity supply.

In 2017, Circular No.13/2017/TT-BCT by MoIT stated that ‘EVN will not make temporary or formal electricity payments for any power plants that operate or integrate their product into the electricity grid without an official power trading contract’.

Vietnam's economy recovers strongly but needs policy flexibility: World Bank

Although Viet Nam's economy continues to recover strongly, increasing uncertainties, including a slowing global economy, rising domestic inflation and tightening global financing conditions, required Viet Nam to increase vigilance and policy flexibility.

In its October 2022 update on Viet Nam's economic situation, World Bank experts believed that Viet Nam's GDP growth in the third quarter of 2022 would accelerate 13.7 percent over the same period last year.

As the economy has not fully recovered and growth in key export markets was expected to slow, Viet Nam needs to continue proactive fiscal policies, supporting the economy based on financial results and closely coordinating with monetary policy.

Besides, as the deferral period has ended and financing conditions tightened, the financial sector faces increased risks, which required guidance from the State Bank of Viet Nam to prevent risks that might affect the real economy.

In its latest report, the International Monetary Fund warned of the risk of slowing global economic growth in 2023, in which countries that account for about a third of the worldwide economy could be in recession between 2022-2023.

Due to emerging external difficulties, Viet Nam's export growth and FDI inflows may slow down in the coming quarters. However, there are several economic growth drivers, including abundant public investment capital and the number of foreign visitors expected to recover strongly next year.

Additionally, experts predicted that in 2023, Viet Nam's GDP growth would slow down to 6.9 percent over the same period but still be among the fastest-growing economies in the region.

Vietnam issues nearly 4,600 planting area codes for export

Vietnam has issued 4,597 planting area codes for export activities in 54 provinces and cities, according the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The country has also granted 1,419 codes for packaging facilities that are qualified for exporting fresh fruits to China, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Since the start of the year, the MARD has received and handled 777 notices on food safety regulations from member countries of the World Trade Organisation and handled 58 European warnings.

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