Vietnam targets exporting fruits worth over 5 billion USD by 2025 and roughly 6.5 billion USD by 2030, according to a project recently approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Accordingly, 14 types of key fruit trees have been chosen for intense cultivation. These include dragon fruit, mango, banana, lychee, longan fruit, orange, pomelo, pineapple, rambutan, durian, jackfruit, passion fruit, avocado and custard apple.

By 2025, the total fruit farming area nationwide will reach 1.2 million ha with an output of 14 million tonnes. Of which, the 14 kinds of fruits will be grown on 960,000 ha with an output of around 11-12 million tonnes.

By 2030, the country will have 1.3 million ha for fruit cultivation which will yield more than 16 million tonnes. There will be 1 million ha for growing the above fruits with some 13-14 million tonnes.

The MARD assigned the Plant Protection Department to work with localities to control fruit diseases, and instruct growers to build farming area codes. This helps to provide trace origin codes for products, making it easier to expand exports. This is especially important for markets in Japan, the US, Canada, the Republic of Korea, Russia, ASEAN, EU, Middle East and North Africa, apart from the traditional market of China.

The General Department of Customs reported that in eight months of this year, dragon fruit was the top currency earner among other fruits with nearly 463 million USD, followed by banana with 237 million USD and durian 158 million USD.

Vietnamese IT enterprise wins silver at Information Technology World Award 2022
     
As one of the few Vietnamese enterprises honoured at the IT World Award 2022, Rikkeisoft has once again proven that Viet Nam's technology quality and services are up to global standards.

Rikkeisoft officially won silver in Information Technology Products and Services category for Large Enterprises. The award is evaluated on the criteria of business operation and growth, the practical effectiveness of technology solutions, and the goal of international expansion.

Ta Son Tung, Chairman of Rikkeisoft, said this was a milestone showing the efforts of Rikkeisoft and Vietnamese IT enterprises, to bring the quality of Vietnamese digital products and services to the world.

In order to achieve its objective of speeding technology innovation for multinational corporations in the APAC area, Rikkeisoft aggressively operates in critical countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, enhancing Viet Nam's value chain in the global market.

Like many other Vietnamese IT enterprises, Rikkeisoft conducts research and development (R&D) and co-operates with global partners to provide digital platforms and solutions to serve many domestic and international businesses and users. Technology products and solutions have proven practical effectiveness when applied to the digital transformation roadmap.

Despite the growing desire for digital transformation, the lack of IT talents and high prices are preventing many businesses from implementing digital strategies. With a workforce of more than 1,500 experienced IT professionals and a top-notch IT infrastructure, Rikkeisoft hopes to fill this market vacancy.

The IT World Awards® is an award honouring quality IT businesses worldwide. The results are evaluated by more than 170 judges who are world-leading technology experts to find the most innovative and breakthrough products and solutions. Big technology corporations such as IBM, Samsung, and Cisco attended the award. 

International tourism market to become bustling during winter months

Along with tourists arriving from traditional markets, holidaymakers from India, Central Asia, South America, and Northern Europe have begun booking tours to Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh City is prepared to welcome back these travelers from the emerging markets.

Ho Chi Minh City – the largest locality and a major tourist destination in Vietnam - has recently chosen the event ITB Asia 2022 in Singapore to promote inbound tourism following a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The city has set a goal of attracting back a high influx of visitors from key markets both around the region and throughout the world,

Nguyen Ngoc Toan, general director of Images Travel & Events Company, said that in early November, the company welcomed a group of nearly 200 students from Uruguay who were keen to gain greater insights into the city’s historical and cultural landmarks.

He also revealed that groups of visitors comprising between 20 and 40 each from France are scheduled to arrive in the city in November as part of their trans-Vietnam tour.

According to details given by the Department of Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City, in October alone the southern metropolis welcomed more than 546,000 foreign visitors, bringing the number of international arrivals to the city in the 10-month period to more than 2.65 million, up 100% year on year.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that the department has worked out a plan to develop tourism products alongside the night economy in an effort to welcome international visitors back.

The department has also proposed a number of tours aimed at developing night tourism products to cater to visitor’s various tastes, said Hoa.

At present, relevant agencies are continuing to work alongside tourism experts and travel firms in order to conduct surveys and assessment of destinations nationwide, all of which are expected to be completed this November, Hoa added.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Ngoc Toan, general director of Images Travel & Events Company, noted that the international tourism market in the city still faces a number of obstacles, including high airfare, few flights, and unfavourable visa procedures.

Vietnamese travel website jumps in global rankings

Official Vietnamese travel website vietnam.travel jumped 291,565 notches to 166,985th place in the world rankings in 2022, according to statistics collected in September by similarweb.com. The Vietnamese website was ranked 458,550th in 2021.

Currently, it finishes fourth in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the improvement highlights the attractiveness of Vietnamese tourism in the eyes of international travelers, as well as the effectiveness of the communication campaign carried out by the country.

The website’s traffic over the first 10 months of the year hit four million, much higher than in both 2021, 1.9 million, and 2020, 1.7 million. Most notably, the website traffic in September reached 384,900, four times higher compared to the same period last year and almost equal to Thailand’s tourism website.

Site visits from international markets account for 88.25%, with the majority coming from the United States, India, Australia, and Canada.

Comprehensive measures needed in petrol management: NA delegates
     
Comprehensive measures for petrol management are needed, said NA delegates, as petrol supplies become a pressing issue with numerous stores reporting shortages.

In an interview on the sidelines of the 4th sitting of the 15th National Assembly (NA), the representative of Dong Nai Province Trinh Xuan An said: “In a country with an open economy, billion-dollar GDP and a huge demand for development, the shortage of petrol in major cities is unacceptable.

“People in Ha Noi and HCM City now line up for a whole hour to refuel their vehicles, that is impermissible.”

An believes that supply shortages and cost issues are only the tip of the iceberg.

The key matter to address was the operating mechanism, in which changes were needed in identifying clear responsibilities among ministries, departments and localities, he said.

He added that petrol was considered an essential and special good, and therefore needed to follow both State regulations and market rules.

Many NA delegates also called for a detailed assessment of current petrol management, An said, especially the responsibilities of the management body.

He said: “Personally, I think petrol management should be under the scope of work of the MoIT.

“Petrol is a good that relates to the whole market, export-import, and regulation. I believe the MoIT has the capacity, the structure and functions to perform this task.”

Petrol as a commodity was being co-managed by the MoIT and the Ministry of Finance (MoF). However, several shortcomings and inflexibility still remained, which called for a holistic revision, said An.

Earlier this week, petrol stations in major cities were either closed due to shortages or saw long queues of people waiting to refuel their motorbikes.

Meanwhile, in HCM City, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said that 108 petrol stations, equivalent to 20 per cent of the total, reported a shortage as of Tuesday.

Speaking on the matter, NA delegate Pham Van Hoa from Dong Thap Province said that many people were frustrated with the fluctuations in petrol prices, as well as the constant operational pauses among petrol stores.

Hoa believed that this situation might concern the changes in commissions. Many petrol retailers went further in debt the longer they operate, therefore, stores were shut down.

While this could only be a case at the local scale, the reason might concern scarcity or a broken link in the supply chain.

Hoa said that the petrol shortage would affect socio-economic recovery, and therefore required the MoIT to revise, inspect and identify the root causes, as well as necessary measures to address the problems. 

More reforms needed to facilitate trade
     
Further reforms should be carried out to enhance the efficiency of the national single window and simplify the procedures of specialised inspection for customs clearance, according to a survey about how businesses felt about the reform effort published on Thursday.

The survey was jointly carried out that the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the General Department of Customs on more than 3,000 enterprises.

VCCI’s Deputy Chairman Hoang Quang Phong said that it was important to carry out regular reviews and simplifications as well as implementing thorough digitisation measures to ensure a continuous problem-solving process.

A transparent information exchange mechanism was also needed to improve the efficiency of the national single window and simplify the procedures of specialised inspection, which would create benefits to trade.

The information and data sharing mechanism must also be built to ease the requirements for unnecessary information, Phong said.

The survey found that the reform effort in specialised checks helped create favourable conditions for businesses and facilitate trade, with the principle of risk management beginning to be applied at different levels, a number of procedures were electronic and overlaps in specialised inspections were removed.

Real estate market must be digitalised
     
Digital transformation is no longer an option but a mandatory trend for real estate enterprises to overcome difficulties and contribute to promoting the formation of a healthy, transparent, and sustainable market.

Nguyen Manh Ha, Deputy President of the Viet Nam Real Estate Association, said the digital transformation in the real estate market of Viet Nam was taking place slowly because not all market participants were fully aware of the importance of technology.

In construction, for example, the digital transformation was mainly used for energy saving and using green materials while the application of high technologies in development and operation remained modest, he said.

Hoang Mai Chung, chairman of Meey Land Group, said that many technology platforms were developed and helped solve several social problems. However, the real estate market had not yet seen such technology platforms.

He said that property technology (protech) was born to meet the three basic real estate market requirements, including providing information, supporting transactions and managing processes. However, protech in Viet Nam had not managed to develop user data which was big enough.

Many protech companies were forced to close while others struggled to survive. However, the market was potential, Chung said, adding that the difficulties mainly came from the human resources and technology capability.

Currently, each enterprise can only solve a narrow corner in the digital transformation of the real estate market. Technology application was still mainly concentrated in the rental segment and had not been applied much in other activities such as transactions and customer relations.

The slow application of technology in the real estate sector would result in a slow increase in labour productivity and slow revenue growth, Chung said, adding that, like other economic sectors, the real estate market needed more drastic measures to speed up the digitalisation process, including a comprehensive ecosystem and adequate capital resources to motivate enterprises to make breakthroughs.

Nguyen Tran Linh, general director of SSLAND Joint Stock Company, said technologies were comprehensively changing the operation of real estate businesses.

Linh expected that the digital transformation would help improve productivity, efficiency and value for customers with a more transparent market.

Bui Van Luat, general director of Gold Star Holding Asset Development Joint Stock Company, digital transformation was not an easy journey for businesses. He added that it would take time to change the habit and gain the customers' confidence.

Real estate businesses must speed up the digital transformation if they do not want to lose the opportunities, he said, adding that attention should be paid to the training to enhance the knowledge and skills of staff as well as analysis of customers' psychology to raise appropriate digital transformation strategy.

As technology developers in the real estate market struggled to find new directions, digital transformation was not simply a technological revolution. Still, it should also be a revolution in the institution.

The Government played a critical role in the success of digital transformation, Bui Van Doanh, Director of the Viet Nam Real Estate Research Institute, said.

The digital transformation for the real estate market was a long process, Doanh said, adding that developing an ecosystem was vital for the real estate market to follow the sustainable development trend.

Nguyen Cong Chinh, who was in charge of digital transformation at Dat Xanh Mien Bac Real Estate Service Joint Stock Company, said that there was no definite template for digital transformation. Digital transformation was a lengthy process, and the leaders' mindset was a significant factor.

Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute of Branding and Competition Strategy, highlighted four keys towards successful digital transformation in the real estate market.

The first was the vision and determination of leaders.

The second was that the digital transformation strategy must be closely linked with the enterprises' business strategy.

Third, digital transformation should be started from the very beginning and implemented in the best way.

Finally, enterprises should not try to handle everything alone. They should cooperate for mutual development, Thanh stressed.

Electric utility stocks remain attractive
     
After deep corrections, the stock market often witnesses short rallies to wait for new signals. However, as the market is now covered by many negative factors, especially soaring inflation and higher interest rates, defensive stocks, including electric utility stocks, become appealing assets for investors.

Even though many stocks in the industry have performed better when the general market experienced sharp declines, not every business in the defensive industry is defensive in nature.

During the recent fluctuation from early September to the beginning of October, many stocks have shown their defensive nature.

Despite the fact that stocks in the banking, securities, oil and gas industries fell by 15-25 per cent, and even many real estate stocks plunged 25-30 per cent within a month, defensive stocks posted smaller decreases than the market, with some even gaining points.

The water stocks were stable against the storm, while the pharmaceutical stocks and the electric utility stocks inched higher.

Specifically, PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 (HoSE: NT2) recorded an increase of nearly 2 per cent from September 5 to October 5 after hitting floor prices in three sessions. Matching volume on the stock exchange for NT2 averaged 2.3 million shares per session.

Meanwhile, other ticker symbols in the industry all saw smaller falls than the general market during the period, with a slide of 13.76 per cent, such as Candon HydroPower JSC (HoSE: SJD) down 5 per cent or Vinh Son - Song Hinh Hydropower (HoSE: VSH) down 10 per cent.

Previously, statistics showed that the market benchmark VN-Index also experienced strong volatility in the first half of the year, but defensive stocks, especially electric and water utilities stocks, still moved against the market headwinds with their market prices surging.

Optimistic outlook for power stocks

In the recent electricity industry report, Viet Nam Bank For Industry & Trade Securities JSC (CTS) said the industrial production and construction sectors always accounted for the highest proportion of the total electricity consumption of the whole system, nearly 96 per cent. Therefore, electricity demand is expected to continue to go up in the coming years as Viet Nam continuously attracts FDI inflows into the industrial production and construction sectors.

In addition, the updated report on the balance of electricity supply and demand shows that the country is likely to fall short of 27.7 billion kWh in 2025.

With favourable hydrological conditions that may last until the first half of 2023, the profits of power enterprises look extremely positive.

On the other hand, Viet Nam will keep importing coal, with coal demand rising to 94-127 million tonnes per year from now until 2035. Coal and gas prices will be stable once the geopolitical conflict is resolved.

In general, with the current uncertainties, defensive stocks and power stocks in particular are often chosen by investors. But once the market recovers and businesses expand, this group of stocks tends to be less volatile as they are considered safe-haven assets.

Output of assembled cars skyrockets, overwhelming imported cars
     
ore than 53,500 cars, including both locally assembled and imported cars were sold last month, up 11.7 per cent compared to September, reported the General Statistics Office.

Specifically, there were 14,500 CBU cars imported to Viet Nam, down more than 21 per cent compared to September, with an import value of about US$367 million.

The accumulated volume of imported CBU cars is estimated at 129,478 in the first 10 months of the year, equal to 94.9 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Total import turnover of CBU vehicles was $2.971 billion, a slight growth of 3.2 per cent over the same period last year. This increase was mainly due to the exchange rate difference.

Notably, domestically assembled cars tended to grow sharply, when 39,000 additional cars were added to the market, the number was 2.7 times higher than imported cars in the same month.

Accumulated in the first 10 months of this year, the number of domestically manufactured and assembled cars was estimated at 362,500 vehicles, up 16.4 per cent over the same period last year.

Thus, the production of assembled cars (362,500) was 2.8 times higher than the volume of imported cars (129,478).

The total number of imported and assembled cars in the whole market in our country reached 491,978 vehicles, about to exceed the consumption threshold of 500,000 vehicles per year.

Import data from the General Department of Customs show that the import turnover of auto parts and accessories in the first three quarters of this year was more than $4.3 billion, up 15.2 per cent year-on-year.

It is estimated that the import value of auto parts and accessories for the whole year will exceed $5 billion.

Oil refinery proposed offshore mud dumping

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Limited Liability Company in the northern central province of Thanh Hoa have proposed dumping around 1.40 million cubic metres of mud into the sea.

The proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration.
 
The mud is the result of dredging activities at Nghi Son Port.

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Limited Liability Company were twice previously turned down when proposing mud-dumping due to environmental concerns. The proposals included dumping seven million cubic metres in November last year and 1.8 million cubic metres in May this year. Since 2016, local authorities have allowed different units to dump around 5 million cubic metres of mud into the sea.

Digital transformation, inevitable trend of Vietnamese press: forum

Vietnam is in the process of digital transformation and the press is no exception. Whether the digital transformation is successful or not, comes from the efforts of the press agencies themselves.

The information was discussed at the Editor-in-Chief Forum 2022, under the theme “Digital transformation at Vietnamese press agencies: An inevitable trend or a temporary trend?”, held on November 4. The forum is within the framework of the 2022 Press Gala, organised by the Nha Bao va Cong Luan newspaper (Journalists and Public Opinions).

The forum featured the situation and trends of digital transformation at Vietnamese press agencies while making recommendations, solutions and a vision for 2025, following the National Digital Transformation Programme approved by the Government.

Member of the Party Central Committee (PCC) and Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper Le Quoc Minh, affirmed that Vietnam is currently in the process of digital transformation and the press is no exception.

Minh, who is also Deputy Head of the PCC Commission for Communication and Education and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association, emphasised that “We wish that digital transformation of the press is not only a trend but needs to be spread and implemented at press agencies from central to local levels. The successful digital transformation must come from the self-reliance of the press agencies themselves.”

He noted that digital transformation is not only a technology issue but also a story of mindset. Thus, it is necessary to change the mindset from the heads of press agencies to the entirety of press workers, for successful digital transformation.

However, the delegates all said that although digital transformation is an inevitable trend, press agencies are facing many challenges in implementing digital transformation due to difficulties in finance, technology as well as human resources.

Also at the forum, the delegates offered many solutions for the digital transformation of the press. Le Quoc Minh said that the combination of journalism and technology is considered a common trend around the world, following the Media-Tech or Tech-Media model.

He emphasised that whether small or large digital transformation, the goal is to bring content to serve readers. Besides, the press must also uphold the task of transmitting knowledge to readers but not let dozens of information pages dominate the public.

Luu Dinh Phuc, Director of the Department of Press under the Ministry of Information and Communications, also said that digital transformation must focus on content, taking content as the core to pursue.

Vietnam sees sharp increase in agricultural products exported to China

Vietnamese agricultural products exported to China through border gates in the Guangxi region have increased sharply in both volume and value in the first three quarters of 2022, after the effectiveness of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) (January 1, 2022).

Chinese media quoted information from Nanning Customs as saying that, China imported about 477,000 tonnes of Vietnamese agricultural products through the border gates of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with a total import value of 3.7 billion yuan in the first nine months of this year, up 77.3% over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, China exported 694,000 tonnes of agricultural products to Vietnam through the border gates of Guangxi, with a total value of 9.28 billion yuan in the first nine months of this year, up 33.7% over the same period last year.

Thus, the total volume and value of agricultural products shipped through the border gates of Guangxi reached 1.171 million tonnes and 12.98 billion yuan respectively, up 51.5% in volume and 43.8% in value over the same period last year.

China mainly imports Vietnamese agricultural products such as jackfruit, mango, and durian and exports to Vietnam vegetables and mushrooms, including canned mushrooms, onions, and potatoes.

Shipping firms report hefty profits in Jan-Sept

Many sea transport service providers booked huge profits between January and September, driven by the robust transport demand.

In the first nine months, PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation made over VND1 trillion in pretax profit, beating its full-year target by 72%. In the third quarter of the year alone, the firm posted VND390 billion in after-tax profit, a year-on-year increase of 2.5-fold.

Hai An Transport & Stevedoring JSC saw its after-tax profit jumping during the period by 2.7-fold year-on-year at VND270 billion, the local media reported.

Gemadept Corporation, another waterway transport giant, also enjoyed positive business results during the period, with its third-quarter profit surging 76% at some VND290 billion.

Vietnam Ocean Shipping JSC booked over VND566 billion in pretax profit from January to September, up 38% year-on-year, while Vietnam National Shipping Lines reported a pretax profit of VND2.7 trillion, rising by 30% year-on-year and exceeding this year’s target by 10%.

High demand and soaring shipping charges created a boom for the sea transport service sector.

According to Vietnam Ocean Shipping JSC, during the nine-month period, though the shipping market faced multiple complicated and messy moments, shipping charges remained stable.

Shipping charges went up following the surge in material prices, driving up shipping revenue, said PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation.

Data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam indicated that between January and September, goods transported by sea totaled over 77.8 million tons, up 27.5% year-on-year.

HSBC: Vietnam’s inflation looms large

Inflation has surpassed Vietnam’s target despite the country’s efforts to keep it under control, according to HSBC Global Research.

The State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank of the country, continued to hike discount and refinancing rates by 100 basis points to 4.5% and 6% on October 25 to head off inflation risks, in line with HSBC’s projections, HSBC Global Research said in its latest report.

The Vietnamese dong currency has lost 8% against the U.S. dollar, said the report.

Headline inflation in October advanced 4.3% year-on-year, in line with HSBC’s forecast, exceeding the country’s inflation target of 4%.

Food prices increased 5% over the same period in 2021, reflected in the impacts of storms and poor harvests.

Housing and construction materials also edged up 5.4% year-on-year, representing an upward trend in demand for rent and home repair services.

Freight charges contributed a minor part to the inflation rise as fuel prices remained low despite slight increases.

It forecast the central bank would continue to hike refinancing rates by 50 basis points in the first and second quarters of next year and increase interest rates to 7% in mid-2023.

Tan Phu-Bao Loc expy proposed

An inter-agency appraisal council has sent a report to the prime minister on investment policy for an expressway connecting Tan Phu District, Dong Nai Province, and Bao Loc City, Lam Dong Province.

The council has submitted the pre-feasibility study for the project to the PM, seeking approval to build the Tan Phu-Bao Loc expressway under the public-private partnership format.

The expressway will have a total length of 66 kilometers, with 11 kilometers in Dong Nai and 55 kilometers in Lam Dong.

In the first phase, the expressway would have four lanes, with shoulder lanes to be located four to five kilometers apart.

The final phase would widen the road from 17 meters to 22 meters, thus increasing the number of lanes to six, with two of them for emergency stops.

The total investment of the first phase is estimated at VND17,200 billion, of which VND6,500 billion would be funded by the State budget and the balance by the private sector.

Work on the project would begin within this year and be completed in 2026.

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