Vietnamnet.vn
Podcast
The export of tra fish raked in 183 million USD, raising the ten-month export value to 2.06 billion USD, up 76.5 % from the same period last year, according to the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Meanwhile, shrimp exports fetched 444 million USD in October, bringing the ten-month value to 3.84 billion USD and up 20.3% year on year.
The top three import markets of Vietnam, including the US, Japan, and China, accounted for 50.1% of the Southeast Asian nation’s total aquatic product export value in the first nine months.
Vietnam’s aquatic product export value increased in almost markets, excluding Russia which saw a decrease of 11% in the first nine months of this year. The country witnessed the highest growth, at 85.2%, in exports to China.
Vietnam takes lead in internet economy in SEA: Report
Vietnam takes the lead and set to post a 31% growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) from 23 billion USD in 2022 to 49 billion USD in 2025, according to the "e-Conomy SEA 2022" report released by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company on October 27.
The report said South East Asia’s top digital economies grew faster than expected in 2022 and is set to reach 200 billion USD in total value of transactions made this year.
The six major economies covered in the report, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, will achieve the milestone of 200 billion USD by 2025 which is three years earlier than schedule.
The 2022 GMV rose by about 20% from 161 billion USD in 2021. “After years of acceleration, digital adoption growth is normalising,” said the report.
Southeast Asia continues to see growth in the number of internet users, with 20 million new users added in 2022, raising the total number of users to 460 million.
However, that growth is starting to slow, and was just 4% in 2022 compared to a year ago. That’s compared to a 10% year-on-year increase in 2021 and 11% growth in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Southeast Asia’s online economy is still on track to reach 1 trillion USD by 2030 as online shopping becomes the norm, according to the report.
“E-commerce continues to accelerate, food delivery and online media are returning to pre-pandemic growth levels, while travel and transport recovery to pre-COVID levels will take time,” the report said.
Another growth driver, digital financial services, which includes payments, remittances, lending, investments and insurance, have seen healthy growth from 2021 to 2022, thanks to offline-to-online behavior shifts post-pandemic, wrote the report.
Among these services, insurance recorded the highest, growing 31% year-on-year while lending grew 25% year-on-year.
All the six countries are set to post double-digit growth in GMV from 2022 to 2025. Overall, their Internet economy is predicted to reach 330 billion USD by 2025 if companies put a greater focus on profitability for the next three years.
Vietnamese firms attend agri-food tech, franchising expos in Singapore
Vietnamese businesses and brands are taking part in Agri-food Tech Expo Asia (AFTEA) and Franchising and Licensing Asia (FLA) underway in Singapore from October 26-29.
AFTEA and FLA gathering over 200 firms and more than 250 brands, respectively, are highlights of the Singapore International Agri-Food Week 2022. They offer opportunities for participating businesses to popularise their products, particularly environmentally friendly ones, and to seek partnerships.
The Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore has supported more than 20 businesses to promote their corporate trademarks and display nearly 50 processed food brands at the fairs. Many other companies from Vietnam like Global Mind, Napoli Coffee, and Sen Daiviet have also brought their goods to the events.
Cao Xuan Thang, representative of the trade office, said it will help bring Singapore business delegations to Vietnam attending local fairs, exhibitions and forming trade connection with Vietnamese enterprises to promote the export of Vietnamese goods to Singapore.
Resumption of Vietnam - China flights on negotiation table
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the international passenger market has only recovered by about 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels, while some key markets still face difficulties. Negotiations on reconnecting flights to China are therefore being actively carried out.
Regular commercial flights between Vietnam and China have been suspended since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020.
Vietnam Airlines has been allocated a number of flights to China each month, but not in the usual commercial form.
The CAAV also revealed that although some international markets have opened, travel demand remains low, and the recovery has not been as expected, with only the Indian market seeing positive passenger volumes with a number of new routes.
Vietnam’s export to America growing thanks to CPTPP
Vietnam’s export to America has made impressive growth after the three-year implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), heard a seminar held by the Industry and Trade Magazine on October 27.
Figures show that Vietnam is the only CPTPP member that has seen its market share in Canada and Mexico increasing, according to Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Director of the WTO and Integration Centre at the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
Vietnam’s market share in Canada rose from 0.9% in 2017 to 1.2 % in 2019 – the first year of CPTPP implementation – and 1.6% last year. Meanwhile, that in Mexico expanded from 0.9% in 2018 to 1.7% in 2021.
The figures reflect Vietnam’s successes in utilising tariff incentives under the deal to access America and increase its market share there, Trang noted.
Vo Hong Anh, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s European - American Market Department, said among the CPTPP member countries, four are from America - Canada, Mexico, Peru and Chile. Except from Chile with which Vietnam signed a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in 2014, this is the first time the Southeast Asian nation has reached an FTA with the remaining three.
Therefore, such tax incentives will bring about good opportunities for Vietnam to boost its export, Anh noted.
Vietnam’s export to Canada grew about 75% and to Mexico more than doubled in 2021 as compared with the period when the CPTPP had yet to take effect, she added.
Anh, however, pointed to obstacles to Vietnamese exporters in their access to America such as the long geographical distance that makes transportation consume much time and money.
Other roadblocks lie with market standards, especially in North America, and the language as most of the Latin American nations use Spanish in transactions, she continued.
The official affirmed that the MoIT has always paid attention to the implementation of the agreement to bring about the most pragmatic interests to businesses.
Last July, the ministry sent a delegation to the US, Canada and Mexico in an effort to promote trade with the countries, and the sides reached some consensus on orders on this occasion.
The ministry will continue to help businesses handle risks regarding trade barriers and remedies, Anh said, suggesting them establish showrooms and distribution centres in the region.
Vietnam's food businesses will likely have more opportunities to increase exports thanks to high world demand while leading agricultural-producing countries tend to curb exports.
According to Agriseco, the global food price index increased sharply in 2021 and the first half of 2022. However, during the same period, rice prices declined thanks to large inventories in rice-exporting countries.
However, India's recent curbs on rice exports and the extreme weather in China and many regions worldwide would shortly push global rice prices. That would significantly impact rice exporting countries, including Vietnam, Agriseco said.
Since India, the world's biggest rice exporter, banned exports of broken rice and slapped a 20% export tax on some non-basmati varieties, global rice prices have jumped more than 10%. Last month, the Food and Agriculture Organisation's global rice price index rose 2.2% to hit an 18-month high, Reuters reported.
They said Vietnam would benefit directly from India's export restriction policy, especially with broken rice products. In 2021, India exported 360 million USD worth of broken rice to China, accounting for the highest proportion with 38.6%. Thus, India's ban on broken rice exports would offer a great opportunity for Vietnamese businesses.
The General Statistics Office showed that Vietnam exported over 5.4 million tonnes of rice in the first nine months of this year, earning a turnover of 2.64 billion USD, up 19.3% in volume and 9.3% in value year-on-year.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Vietnam is expected to export 6.5-6.7 million tonnes of rice in 2022 for 3.3 billion USD.
Vietnam acknowledges GGGI's support in green, sustainable development
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc has delivered a speech recognising the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)’s positive contributions to Vietnam’s development, especially in promoting green and sustainable growth.
Ngoc made the speech at the GGGI Council’s plenary session at its headquarters in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, on October 27. The session was co-chaired by former UN Secretary-General and GGGI President Ban Ki-moon and GGGI Director General Frank Rijsberman, with the attendance of representatives from 45 member countries and observers.
According to the World Bank's Country Climate and Development Report for 2022, Vietnam will need an additional investments of about 254 billion USD for green growth and climate change and 114 billion USD for decarbonisation in such major emission sectors as energy, transport, agriculture and industry.
Hanoi: toy market bustling ahead of Halloween
The toy market ahead of the Halloween festival in Hanoi is becoming more bustling after two quiet years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toys, decorative products, accessories and costumes serving the festival are in a wide variety of designs and colours.
In recent years, the festival has been welcomed and responded by more and more Vietnamese people.
Shops in Hang Ma street attract a large number of customers. They are selling a variety of ornaments and toys to celebrate Halloween, including pumpkins, masks, and costumes.
Parents bring their children to buy toys every day, but the most crowded is on weekends, said an owner of a toy shop in Hang Ma street.
This year, prices of Halloween things have slightly increased compared to last year, ranging from 50,000 VND (2.01 USD) to 200,000 VND (8.06 USD) per product.
Vietnam’s e-commerce predicted to grow fastest in SEA by 2026
Vietnam’s e-commerce market will become the fastest-growing in Southeast Asia by 2026, head of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam Gijae Seong cited a recent report while addressing the launch of the Amazon Week in Hanoi on October 27.
Statistics show that global e-commerce is forecast to expand by 28.4% annually between 2020 and 2027. Meanwhile, revenue from business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce in Vietnam is also expected to increase by over 20% each year.
Notably, within 12 months (from September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2022), Vietnamese sellers recorded impressive growth on Amazon, with nearly 10 million “Made in Vietnam” products delivered to global buyers via Amazon, Seong went on, adding the number of Vietnamese sellers on this online marketplace also surged 80% from a year earlier.
He noted Amazon’s 2023 strategy for Vietnam will focus on continuing to improve the awareness and readiness for cross-border e-commerce in the country, helping build global brands for Vietnamese products, assisting logistics services to expand globally, improving seller experience, and contributing to startup development.
Lai Viet Anh, Deputy Director of the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said over the last 10 years, e-commerce in the country has continually grown by 25 - 30% while its size increased to 13.7 billion USD in 2021. It has made up over 7% of the total flows of consumer goods and services and become a critically important distribution channel aside traditional ones.
The Amazon Week is scheduled to take place in Hanoi on October 27 - 28 and in Ho Chi Minh City on October 31 - November 1. It will provide up-to-date and multidimensional information through roundtable discussions and workshops to help Vietnamese sellers explore export potential, expand their international market, and build up brands.
Techmart on medical equipment kicks off in HCM City
The technology and equipment fair (Techmart) on medical equipment opened in Ho Chi Minh City on October 27, attracting the participation of 100 technology companies and trade promotion agencies in the field of health care.
The event, which is organised by the Centre for Science and Technology Information (CESTI) under the municipal Department of Science and Technology (DoST), aims to facilitate technological application in the production and business activities of enterprises. It also offers an opportunity for start-ups to find partners to develop products, innovative ideas, and business development.
The fair is held in both face-to-face and virtual formats at http://techmart.techport.vn.
Honey exports gross US$41 million over nine-month period
Vietnam exported approximately 24,000 tonnes of honey worth roughly US$41 million during the past nine months of the year, according to figures given by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Dinh Quyet Tam, chairman of the Vietnam Beekeeping Association, said that although the US Department of Commerce (DOC) had imposed an anti-dumping tax of between 58.74% and 61.27% on Vietnamese honey, the country exported 11,000 tonnes of honey to the US market during the reviewed period, accounting for 44.5% of the country’s total export market share.
Furthermore, honey exports to the EU market reached 6,600 tonnes, making up between 27% and 28%, while exports to the UK market hit 2,129 tonnes, accounting for 9%. Exports to markets such as Taiwan (China), Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan made up 19%.
The US remains the major consumer of Vietnamese honey despite being subject to an anti-dumping tax of about 60%. In fact, this important market consumes nearly 90% of Vietnamese honey production, while 90% of the output of the local honey industry is specifically for exports.
The US will conduct a periodical investigation around March and April next year, hoping that the anti-dumping tax rate will continue to decrease, thereby promoting local honey exports to the fasdious market moving forward
Despite facing numerous difficulties in terms of export markets, Tam emphasized that the US market's demand for Vietnamese honey remains huge, adding that from now until the end of the year, the US is likely to import approximately 15,000 tonnes of honey from the Southeast Asian nation.
Conference looks to applicability of nuclear physics in different areas
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) and the Dubna Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Russia on October 27 jointly organised a conference and exhibition to introduce the applicability of nuclear physics in many science and technology areas.
Dr. Dmitry Kamanin, head of the JINR International Cooperation Department, briefed participants on the research and training activities of the institute as well as opportunities for Vietnamese scientists and students in the activities.
Director of Institute of Physics Dinh Van Trung said that in recent years, researchers from Vietnam – one of the founding member of the JINR, have regularly visited different laboratories of JINR to carry out a number of collaborative research projects, using research equipment at JINR in a short time.
Meanwhile, Director of the Institute of Geophysics Nguyen Xuan Anh said that in the coming time, the office wishes to cooperate with experts of the JINR in implementing geophysical observations, data analysis, modeling, and forecasting.
After the conference, participants visited an exhibition showcasing major scientific projects of JINR, including NICA accelerator complex, SuperHeavy Element Factory and BAIKAL-GVD neutrino telescope.
In addition, with support of virtual reality technology, visitors had an opportunity to visit JINR's laboratories, making them feel that they are participating in a real experiment.
Erosion has occurred on a total length of 26.7km along the banks of the Tien and Hau rivers, two tributaries of the Mekong River, in the province’s 19 communes, wards and towns so far this year, according to the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Mediation and arbitration better tools in dispute settlement
Although mediation and arbitration are more cost-efficient than litigation when it comes to commercial dispute settlement, they are less frequently used by firms in Vietnam, according to Hoang Minh Chien, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency.
Chien was speaking at the seminar on "Resolving commercial disputes by mediation and arbitration to promote trade" on October 26.
The deputy director general said Vietnam's international trade was rising steadily on grounds of multilateral agreements, including the CPTPP and EVFTA. Remarkable, its nine-month trade topped 558 billion USD, up 15.1% year-on-year.
As the country becomes more open to trade, so do its domestic firms to commercial disputes. Legally, three tools are available to the firms to resolve disputes out of court, which are negotiation, mediation and arbitration.
Pham Thi Giang Thu, Head of the Vietnam Trade & Investment Arbitration Center (VTIAC), said the arbitration process in Vietnam is regulated by the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010, which can be used to resolve three specific types of disputes.
Nguyen Thanh Nam, Director of the law firm GATTACA, said mediation is a form of dispute settlement in which a third party, the mediator, assists parties in conflict in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement.
Nguyen Minh Tuan, Lawyer of the HCM City Bar Association, spoke in favour of arbitration by pointing to its VTIAC advantages: Validity, Timely, Independent, Authority, and Confidentiality.
Hanoi hosts international trade fair for key industrial products
The Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade launched an international trade fair for key industrial products on October 27.
This is the first time such an international fair has been organised by Hanoi to promote trade connection, support key industrial enterprises and expand markets.
The fair has attracted about 250 booths of enterprises operating in Hanoi and 11 localities across the country that are displaying products in the fields of electricity, electronics, mechanical engineering, precision mechanics, high technology, food, plastics, garments, footwear, and handicraft making.
Exhibitors are large-scale enterprises that are highly competitive in the market and capable of participating in global production and supply chains.
The trade fair is scheduled to last three days.
Vietnam-RoK investment partnership thrives over three decades
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the cumulative registered FDI from the RoK in the period from 1988 – when the first Law on Foreign Investment of Vietnam was put in force - to September 2022 amounted to more than 80.5 billion USD with more than 9,400 valid projects, making the RoK the biggest investor in Vietnam so far. Since the Vietnam – Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) officially came into effect in 2015, the RoK’s registed FDI into Vietnam almost doubled.
A milestone was seen in 2014 when the RoK became the largest investor in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 7.32 billion USD. Statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that the registered FDI from the RoK hit a record of 8.49 billion USD in 2017 but slowed down to 7.2 billion USD in 2018 and 7.57 billion USD in 2019.
Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDI from the RoK dropped to 3.95 billion USD in 2020 but bounced back to 4.95 billion USD in 2021.
From January to September this year, the RoK registed 3.8 billion USD of FDI in Vietnam, a drop of 2.38% against the same period last year.
Although ranking second in terms of registered FDI value in the January-September period after Singapore, the RoK was the partner with the highest number of investors who showed interest and made new investment decisions in Vietnam in the period, the ministry’s report revealed.
The RoK is becoming an increasingly important investor in Vietnam, not only because of its huge capital value but also the compatibility of the investment to Vietnam’s FDI attraction policies. The presence of Korean enterprises in most of the economic sectors in Vietnam was contributing significantly to the country’s economic restructuring, export growth and job creation.
According to the MPI's Foreign Investment Agency, Korean investment was mainly poured into the processing and manufacturing industry (74% as of November 20, 2021) thanks to the heavy investment of high-profile investors such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and Posco, followed by the real estate business (13.1%) and construction (3.8%).
The strong FDI inflow from the RoK helped Vietnam upgrade its participation in the global value chain as well as change the export structure. Vietnam’s export structure was shifting from large percentage of low added value products like agro-forestry-fishery and raw materials to those with high technology content and high added value such as electronics. The presence of Korean investors such as Samsung, LG, Hyosung, Hanwha, Hyundai, CJ, Lotte, and Posco promoted the development of the supporting industry in Vietnam.
Notably, the network of local suppliers to Samsung increased to 254 as of the end of 2021, 51 of which were Tier-1, from just four in 2014.
HCM City needs large numbers of trained workers
Enterprises in HCM City will need to recruit around 70,000-77,000 people in the fourth quarter of this year with up to 85 percent being trained.
In terms of the vacancies that need to be filled between October and December, 16.8 percent are openings for university graduates, 24.7 percent are positions suitable for college degree holders and 28.6 percent are for holders of vocational training qualifications, according to the HCM City Centre of Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information.
In contrast, only 15 percent of the available positions are for manual workers.
Garment and textile companies and the service sector are among the largest industries seeking workers.
Tran Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Vocational Education Association of HCM City, said that the demand for skilled workers had been a trend, particularly in big cities like HCM City. Modern production technologies need trained people.
Report on implementation of mechanism experiment in Vietnam announced
A workshop to announce a research report on international experience in developing and implementing mechanism experiment in some fields and its applicability in Vietnam was held in Hanoi on October 28.
Jointly organised by the Central Institute for Economic Management, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the event was part of the Macroeconomic Reforms/Green Growth Programmes funded by the International Co-operation Agency of Germany (GIZ).
CIEM Director Tran Thi Hong Minh said Vietnam has frankly acknowledged difficulties, risks and challenges related to the risk of falling into the middle-income trap and aging population.
In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and speeding up economic recovery, Vietnam has paid attention to promoting institutional reform and expanding new economic models, besides focusing on fiscal-monetary solutions, she said.
According to statistics of the World Bank, by 2020, there were 57 countries around the world applying mechanism experiment.
Vietnam has embarked on research to build mechanism experiments, however the process of putting these mechanisms into practice still remains slow.
To promote the completion and application of mechanism experiment, head of the CIEM's General Research Department Nguyen Anh Duong said that Vietnam needs to determine the appropriate criteria for enterprises involved in mechanism experiment, and maintain consumer confidence in services and businesses that participate in the experiment.
The development status of Fintech and some outstanding circular economic models in Vietnam were introduced at the event. Participants also gave policy recommendations for developing, issuing and implementing polices on IT application.
Vietnam-Russia joint venture welcomes first oil flow from Ca Tam field's second rig
Vietnam-Russia oil and gas joint venture (Vietsovpetro) on October 28 welcomed the first flow of oil pumped up from Ca Tam 2 production platform (CTC-2) at Ca Tam oil field.
The oil field is located at block 09-3/12 on the continental shelf of Vietnam, about 160 km to the southeast of Vung Tau city in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau.
It is a small wellhead rig designed, manufactured, installed, and tested by Vietsovpetro. CTC-2 was built for oil and gas exploitation with 12 wells and a total construction weigh of about 2,380 tonnes.
Its construction began on January 22 this year and was completed on August 26. On September 15, its first production well was opened, beginning the drilling.
A total of nine wells are planned to be put into operation in 2022 and next year.
Labour market sees fast recovery: Minister
The workforce of Vietnam has recovered quickly and the labour supply chain was not cracked down, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung told the National Assembly (NA)’s fourth session on October 28.
The minister said that to date, Vietnam has 51.9 million labourers, 2.8 million higher than the figure recorded at the same time last year, while the rate of new labourers joining the labour market is 68.7%.
Currently, the unemployment rate is 2.28%, he said, underlining that Vietnam is among the countries with the lowest rate.
Regarding the implementation of support to people hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dung said that so far, 87 trillion VND (3.5 billion USD) has been provided as assistance to 56 million pandemic-affected labourers and more than 730,000 employers.
The policies have greatly contributed to the economic recovery and development, he said, citing statistics from the Statistics Office as showing that the average monthly income of labourers in the third quarter of this year was 7.6 million VND each, 1.6 million VND higher than that of 2021. In the service sector, the amount rose to over 8 million VND, he added.
The official also highlighted progress of the national target programme on sustainable poverty reduction, with the majority of criteria reached.
According to the minister, improvement has also been seen in vocational training activities in both scale and quality.
However, he pointed to a number of challenges in ensuring social welfare and poverty reduction. Currently, 2.4 million households are living under and near the poverty line, accounting for 9% of the total households.
The number of labourers in the informal sector remains high, he said, adding that the poverty reduction target of this year is likely to be completed but at a lowest level in many years.
Dung said that in the future, the ministry will continue to give advice to the Politburo and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat to issue a directive on the strengthening of the Party leadership to vocational training activities and the building of a flexible, modern, sustainable and developed labour market.
It will advise the Government to issue a resolution on labour market development, which focuses on the renovation and improvement of vocational training quality, the connection of labour demand and supply, and the enhancement of labour productivity.
At the session, Minister Dung also clarified a number of issues related to the providing of vocational training to students at secondary and high schools.
Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes
.svg){kind=icon}
