Following many years of research, Vietnam’s ST 25 rice has been honoured for the first time as the world’s best. Many areas in Vietnam, including the Mekong Delta’s Bac Lieu province, have been actively promoting the production of this particular rice variety.

The ST 24 and ST 25 rice varieties are grown by many farmers around the country, not only in the Mekong Delta but also in central and northern provinces. The varieties have been adapted for the local climate and soil conditions and have found favour with their good quality.

The two varieties are now being grown on nearly 60,000 hectares in the province.

Bac Lieu’s location, closer to the Hau River than many other localities on the Ca Mau peninsula, is also an advantage in it growing the ST rice varieties./.

Macadamia development needs caution to avoid rapid growth

Macadamia nuts have proven to be a much better cash crop for many farmers in the Central Highlands over the last five years, but localities must exercise caution in developing planting areas to avoid unsustainable rapid growth.

Many households in Dak Lak and Dac Nong provinces in the Central Highlands have been growing macadamia nuts for more than a decade. With two crops a year, each tree yields an average of 30 kg of nuts. Planting macadamia trees is clearly more economical than coffee, not to mention that they need much less water.

Experts have said that many industries seek raw materials from macadamia trees, but specialist agencies have advised farmers to be cautious, because macadamia is a perennial tree and if planting is not done properly then the losses could be enormous.

Based on growth to date, it’s been tipped to become a billion-dollar industry./.

Kien Giang to focus on 16 agricultural products

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has identified 16 key products to focus on to increase the competitiveness of its agriculture.

Its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said they include rice, vegetables, mango, pineapple, sugarcane, high-value seafood, and livestock and poultry.

Do Minh Nhut, its deputy director, said: “The province develops key agricultural products in four sub-regions: the Long Xuyen Quadrangle, the western part of the Hau River, U Minh Thuong, and the sea and islands.”

It would zone crops, aquaculture and animal husbandry suitably in each sub-region and develop safe, sustainable and efficient production, he said.

To improve the yield, quality and value of key products, it has adopted advanced farming techniques and focused on environmental protection, he said.

It has more than 100,000ha of specialised farming areas with value chains in place for rice, vegetables, mango, pineapple, sugarcane, and some others since 2017.

The country’s largest rice producer has created 163 large-scaled rice fields with a total area of 47,680ha by pooling individual farmers’ holdings and involved 20 companies in it to guarantee demand for the participating farmers.

It has developed 300ha of shrimp farms that use advanced breeding technologies like semi-biofloc and biofloc and harvest 30-50 tonnes per hectare per crop.

It has also set up six two-stage industrial shrimp breeding sites for farmers to learn the model under which juvenile shrimp are bred in a nursery pond for a few weeks before being transferred to a main pond.

The pond beds are covered with plastic sheets and equipped with oxygenation facilities. Nets are hung above the water to protect the shrimp from sunlight and the inclement weather.

The model offers a yield of 26 tonnes, and wastewater is treated before being released into the environment.

The province has also developed models for breeding marine fish in floating cages based on Norwegian techniques off Phu Quoc Island.

Many areas it has zoned for farming rice, vegetables, pepper, and pineapple and breeding aquatic species meet good agricultural practices (GAP) standards./.

HCM City to connect all rooftop solar systems to power grid

The Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation plans to soon connect all rooftop solar power to the electricity grid.

Bui Trung Kien, its deputy general director, said that to incentivise individuals and commercial entities to invest in rooftop solar, the corporation (EVNHCMC) has put up on its website registration procedures and conditions for connection to the national grid, the list of substations and lines that have not reached full capacity, and details about how much rooftop solar power capacity can still be connected to the grid in each district. 

Now no substation faces an overload, and all of its 638 22kv lines can be linked with rooftop solar systems in the city to release the latter’s capacity rapidly.

EVNHCMC is speeding up the upgrade of its medium-voltage grid to 110KV to increase its capacity to encourage more people to invest in rooftop solar.

As of now the city has 9,568 rooftop solar power systems.

In 2020-25 the country is expected to face a power shortage, and so the corporation is seeking to encourage rooftop solar.

Soon the installed capacity is expected to increase, especially systems with a capacity of 1MWp or more, as people take advantage of the Government’s incentives for rooftop solar.

EVNHCMC said renewable energy now accounts for 2 percent of the city’s total capacity, but needs to be increased to meet the growing demand from socio-economic development and urbanisation.

The city has huge potential for solar power, especially rooftop, it said.

The World Bank estimated the city to have total potential of 6,300 MWp, and said rooftop solar could be developed rapidly with proper policies.  

As of the beginning of September, there were nearly 50,000 rooftop solar power systems in the country with a total capacity of nearly 1,200 MWp./.

Renewable energy firms rush to issue bonds

Renewable energy companies were becoming more active in the corporate bond market, according to brokerages.

Statistics from the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the national trade promotion office of Finland Finnpro and Techcombank Securities Co showed that among the 171 trillion VND (7.4 billion USD) of corporate bonds issued in the first half of this year, renewable energy companies accounted for 4 percent.

The average interest rate of energy bonds was 10.3 percent per year, only second after the real estate sector which stood at 10.6 percent per year.

The successful issuance rate in that period reached 92 percent, with an average term of 7.2 years.

Trungnam Group has mobilised up to 4.5 trillion from bonds so far this year, with an interest rate of 10.5 percent per year. Hong Phong 2 Energy JSC has also mobilised 1.6 trillion VND from 6-year bonds with an interest rate of 10 percent per year. Ea Sup 5 JSC collected 1.14 trillion VND with an interest rate of 11.3 percent per year and terms of 18 months to 9 years.

In August, My Son 1 Solar Power Co Ltd successfully issued 300 billion VND of three-year bonds with an interest rate of 10 percent per year.

Clean energy projects such as solar power and wind power are being promoted by the Government, with attractive electricity purchasing prices of 7.09 - 9.35 cents per kWh, tax exemptions for 4 years, and a reduction of 50 percent of tax payable for the next 9 years.

With the advantages of stable operations, low operating and maintenance costs, and high economic efficiency, bonds issued by clean energy companies have lower risks than other issuers in the fields of real estate and construction, while offering interest rates that are attractive to investors.

Clean energy bonds have a relatively long maturity, averaging 7.2 years, and most of them are issued privately, meaning they are sold to no more than 100 investors in the first year under current regulations.

However, from the second year onwards, these bonds can be traded by more than 100 investors, so there is no difference in buying or selling clean energy bonds compared to other bonds like real estate, which usually have a maturity of about 2-3 years.

Buyers of corporate bonds are often banks. Previously, banks focused on real estate bonds but clean energy is becoming increasingly more attractive./.

Hoi An celebrates opening of Tan Thanh fishing village market

Hoi An ancient town in central Quang Nam province is famous for its sustainable eco-tourism. As soon as the latest outbreak of COVID-19 was brought under control, it resumed tourism activities and launched a new cultural experience destination - Tan Thanh fishing village market.
 
Ms Xi is employed at a resort on An Bang Beach but every Saturday becomes a merchant at the Tan Thanh fishing village market. The market is a new local tourism product with the aim of creating a vibrant new image for Hoi An post-pandemic.

The Tan Thanh fishing village market is sponsored by the Tourism Association of Quang Nam Province, and will not only be a place for buying and selling goods but also a meeting point for cultural and culinary exchanges by people and businesses with tourists. Minimising plastic waste and protecting the environment receive particular focus.

Despite only being in operation for a few days, the market, on the beaches of Tan Thanh and An Bang, has attracted the participation of hundreds of business households and received special attention from the community as well as visitors.

From the idea of a unique community-based tourism product and to improve the operating situation of tourism and service businesses post-pandemic, the Tan Thanh fishing village market promises to be an attractive and peaceful new weekend destination in Hoi An./.

Da Nang City begins 1 million ‘green’ house projects

Central Da Nang City’s Department of Industry and Trade has launched a pilot project on the development of a million green roof-top solar power houses.

The first 45 households in the city would join the project on roof-top solar power with capacities from 1.8 kilowatt peak (Kwp) to 3KWp in 2020.

Each household with under 3KWp solar power system would receive 2 million VND (87 USD) support for each KWp from the project.

The project, which was jointly developed with the centre for Green Innovation Development (Green ID), aims to raise potential solar power in the city and reduce carbon emissions.

According to the city’s power corporation, more than 1,000 roof-top solar power projects, of which 52 percent are residential buildings, have been built in the city, supplying 1.7 million KWh to the city’s grid each year.

It said more new projects with a total capacity of 5,000 KWp would be built in the city by the end of this year./.

Thailand sees opportunities to boost rice exports to EU

Thailand’s premium rice products are having better chances for export to the EU after the bloc allowed zero-tariff rice imports of 24,883 tonnes for October.

According to Keerati Rushchano, director-general of Thailand’s Foreign Trade Department, the European Commission has recently announced that the remaining annual quota for rice (white rice, Thai hom mali rice, Thai fragrant rice and 100 percent parboiled rice) would have zero tariffs this month for up to 24,883 tonnes.

The EU has set annual rice import quota for 2020 at 630,000 tonnes.

The zero import tariff is a good opportunity for Thai rice exporters to raise their exports to the market, said Keerati. The EU normally collects an import tariff of 145 EUR per tonne.

The bloc has required importers to apply for import licences within the first 10 working days of October.

In the first eight months of 2020, Thailand exported 146,362 tonnes of rice worth 140 million USD to the EU.

Charoen Laothammatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said local rice exports to the EU are likely to drop from 2019 because of the COVID-19 impact, which weakened rice demand at restaurants and hotels./.

Bac Ninh targets 2,500 new enterprises a year

The northern province of Bac Ninh has set itself a target of 2,500 new enterprises each year in the period from 2020 to 2025, as part of its scheme to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Under the scheme, the provincial authorities will provide production ground for about 175 investment projects of SMES, in the form of leasing land or moving them into industrial parks and industrial cluster where infrastructure has been completed.

The province will also organise management training courses for 1,800 holders of managerial positions in enterprises, and vocational training for 15,000 workers.

Enterprises which are established during the 2020-2025 period will be provided with free-of-charge accounting and taxation software.

Relevant agencies will help local enterprises access fairs, exhibitions and workshops to seek business opportunities and new markets. They will also work to hold more events and programmes to provide local enterprises with accurate and up-to-date information on both the domestic and international markets, so as to help them decide directions for production and business activities.

In particular, the province will build an innovate start-up centre, which is tasked with connecting domestic and foreign resources to support local start-ups and develop the innovative start-up ecology in the province.

The scheme also aims to assist the development of the support industry, including enterprises supplying products and services for the Samsung complex and other foreign-invested enterprises in the province.

According to the Department of Planning and Investment, Bac Ninh granted business licences to 246 enterprises with total registered capital of over 4.34 trillion VND (187.46 million USD) in August this year. On average, each new enterprise has 17.65 billion VND in registered capital.

It is noteworthy that 99.24 percent of those new enterprises submitted their applications online, which is the third highest rate among localities in the country.

In the first eight months of 2020, Bac Ninh had 1,598 newly-established enterprises with total registered capital of nearly 15.6 trillion VND, representing increases of 4.3 percent in the number of enterprises and 1.94 percent in registered capital compared to 2019. Each new enterprise had 9.8 billion VND of registered capital on average.

In the same period, the province also granted licences to set up branches, representative offices and business venues for 483 affiliates, conducted dissolution procedures for 155 enterprises and 199 affiliates. Meanwhile, 550 enterprises and 88 affiliates suspended operation, and 310 enterprises and 41 affiliates resumed operation.

Bac Ninh so far counts 17,528 operational enterprises with combined registered capital amounting to over 281.34 trillion VND. Among them, there are 526 private enterprises, 9,615 single-member limited liability companies, 4,780 two-member limited liability companies, 2,606 joint stock companies and one partnership company.

Besides domestic enterprises, Bac Ninh has also paid attention to attracting foreign investors. Taking advantage of its geographical location just east of the capital Hanoi, the province has implemented reforms of its investment procedures and completed infrastructure projects, becoming an attractive destination for both domestic and foreign investors. These include major global corporations such as Samsung, Canon, Nokia, Foxconn and PepsiCo.

The province now has over 400 supporting industry enterprises including nearly 300 foreign-invested ones with total capital of about 3.1 billion USD. Bac Ninh has focused on three key industries: electronics and informatics; mechanical engineering; and processing of agricultural products, foodstuff and beverages. These three industries account for over 96 percent of the total provincial industrial production.

Bac Ninh has also promulgated a regulation on not only management of funding and development of supporting industry but also the specific expenditure level of supporting industry development activities in the province. In addition, the province plans to set up a research center for application development and technology transfer in supporting industries to serve as a focal point for organizing, connecting and implementing local supporting industry development.

In 2019, the province’s industrial production value reached over VND1 trillion and maintained the leading position in the country.

In order to continue creating momentum for industrial development, Bac Ninh will issue additional policies to attract enterprises and investors, especially to supporting industries in the fields of electronics, mechanics, information technology, and automation./.

HCM City lures 3.25 billion USD in FDI in nine months

Ho Chi Minh City lured 3.25 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first nine months of 2020, down 28 percent over the same period last year, reported the city Department of Planning and Investment.

According to the department, 407.4 million USD was poured into 719 newly-licenced projects, while 283.8 million USD was added into 163 underway projects, and 2.56 billion USD was invested in 2,911 share trading deals.

Trade was the leading sector in FDI attraction with more than 751 million USD, accounting for more than 23 percent of the total. It was followed by property sector with 726.8 million USD, and science-technology with 685.5 million USD.

The department revealed that in the future, the city will prioritise three areas to call for investment: smart city, highly interactive and innovative urban area to the East HCM City, and regional and international financial centre construction./.

Funds reports good performance in Q3

Investment funds have seen their net asset value (NAV) increase strongly during the third quarter of this year thanks to positive movements of the market.

The VN-Index gained 9.71 percent in the third quarter. The VN30-Index also increased by 11.42 percent in Q3. With these recoveries, the VN-Index and the VN30-Index were among the world’s top growing stock indices in the quarter.

Newly established domestic exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of VFMVN Diamond and SSIAM VNFin Lead had the best performance with a growth rate net asset value (NAV) of 16.6 percent. Pyn Elite Fund also performed positively with a NAV increase of 14.67 percent, far ahead of the rise of the VN30-Index and VN-Index.

Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited Fund (VEIL), run by Dragon Capital, also outperformed in the third quarter with a NAV growth of 13.15 percent.

The largest domestic ETF fund VFMVN30 ETF reported a growth of 12.04 percent, slightly higher than the growth of VN30 index.

Yurie Vietnam Alpha Securities reported the lowest growth among listed funds with a 6.95 percent increase.

Despite a positive performance in the third quarter, in the first nine months of the year, the VN-Index still fell 5.8 percent and the VN30 Index dropped 2.33 percent.

With less positive market movements, some funds also had negative growth in nine months such as VNM ETF, which was the fund with the worst performance as NAV growth was negative 7.18 percent.

The fund with the best performance so far this year was VOF VinaCapital with NAV growing by 7.78 percent.

The Pyn Elite Fund also reported a NAV growth of 2.4 percent./.

Quang Ninh targets double-digit GRDP growth in 2020

The northern coastal province of Quang Ninh targets double-digit growth in the gross regional domestic product (GRDP), and State budget collection of a 48 trillion VND (approximately 2 billion USD) in 2020, according to Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Ky.

Ky said the local authorities are striving to fulfil its socio-economic development goals in the year amid difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, the locality will focus on key measures such as supporting enterprises and investors, especially those operating in mining industry, processing and manufacturing, to address difficulties facing their production and business activities.

Attention will be also paid to reviewing the disbursement of public investment capital, and adjusting capital plans of projects that fail to meet the rate of progress of disbursement.

The coal industry continues to affirm its role as a driver to the local economic growth recovery.

Regarding the tourism sector, by focusing on stimulating domestic and local market demand, the province has set to welcome 3 million tourists in the fourth quarter.

Although affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the economic growth of Quang Ninh still reached 6.5 percent in the first nine months of 2020.

The industry – construction sector grew 8.9 percent, remaining the role as an important contributor to the local economic growth. Meanwhile, the service and agro-forestry-aquaculture sectors rose 3.5 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.

The State budget collection of the locality in the reviewed period was estimated at over 36.3 trillion VND, up 5.8 percent from the same period last year, in which, revenue from import and export activities reached an estimated 9.7 trillion VND and domestic revenue was about 26.6 trillion VND.

Along with promoting administrative reform and improving the business and investment environment, Quang Ninh focuses on the areas of planning, land, natural resources and environment.

It has also paid heed to accelerating land clearance and implementing key projects to create momentum for economic growth.

However, the number of tourists to Quang Ninh was only 52 percent of that in the same period last year.

Besides, preparations for public investment projects have remained limited, while the disbursement of public investment has seen changes but still slow compared to the requirement.

The number of newly-established enterprises was estimated to decrease by 15.9 percent over the same period last year, and local enterprises’ production and business have still faced difficulties.

Quang Ninh is viewed as a strategic destination in northern Vietnam and an important link in the northern economic growth triangle of Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh.

The province possesses major advantages from Van Don district planning to become a multi-sectoral maritime economic zone and entertainment centre with a casino and high-end sea-island tourism and services. It is also a gateway for international trade, creating unique, modern, and high-quality products that are internationally competitive.

Over the past five years, Quang Ninh has experienced high and sustainable growth, with an average annual growth rate of 10.7 percent.

It topped the PCI rankings for the third year in a row in 2019, according to the PCI 2019 report from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In addition to the PCI, Quang Ninh also led the country in the PAR Index for three consecutive years, in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The province has also been among the best performers in the SIPAS for many years and rose to the top in 2019.

It has also made great strides forward in improving governance and public administration capacity, moving from 62nd place in 2016 to third last year in Vietnam’s PAPI./.

Forum discusses business cooperation, connectivity in northern region

The 13th forum on cooperation – connectivity for the development of enterprises in the northern region took place in Hoa Binh on October 4.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung highlighted the importance of businesses to the Vietnamese economy.

Underscoring that the growth of the local business community in both terms of quantity and quality remains slow and they are facing difficulties in international connectivity, the minister called on participants of the forum to put forth measures to boost their capacity and competitiveness.

According to statistics from the organiser of the event – the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, due to COVID-19, in the first nine months of this year, more than 70,000 firms, mostly small- and medium-sized ones (SMEs) and business households, stopped operation, affecting over 31 million employees.

Participants focused on obstacles that have hindered the enforcement of the law on support for SMEs, while making recommendations on how to tackle hurdles faced by enterprises in production and trade hurdles and build links between big enterprises with their small and medium-sized counterparts.

Outcomes of the annual function were collected by competent agencies for submission to the Party, State, Government, and a number of ministries serving the making of laws and policies./.

Indonesia, RoK to open travel corridor

A travel corridor between Bali of Indonesia and the Republic of Korea (RoK) has been proposed to the Indonesian government by Angkasa Pura I LTD which operates the Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport.

According to President Director of Angkasa Pura I Faik Fahmi, the proposed programme, called the Safe Corridor Initiative (SCI), is a bilateral cooperation between Ngurah Rai Airport and Incheon Airport in the RoK.

The above proposal was made in the context that travel restriction between countries has caused the number of international visitors to Bali to drop seriously, greatly affecting Indonesia’s tourism industry.

This is considered as a good solution for both governments, Fahmi said.

The two sides have completed preparations for carrying out the programme, which is scheduled to start in late October 2020, he added.

Indonesia plans to replicate this model of cooperation with other countries if the programme is a success./.

Timor Leste starts negotiations for joining WTO

Timor Leste has kicked off official negotiations on join the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

According to Joaquim Amaral, Timor Leste's Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs, joining the WTO would accelerate growth and economic diversification in the Southeast Asian country.

WTO member countries have expressed their support and commended the work done so far by authorities in the capital city of Dili, he said.

The Timor Leste government was fully committed to implement structural, legislative and policy reforms to live up to WTO rules.

WTO accession procedures usually last several years given the complexity of modern trade and the need for consensus among members. The next meeting on Timor's case could take place early 2021.

Timor Leste separated from Indonesia in 2002 after a referendum in 1999, in which the majority of Timor Leste's people voted in favour of independence./.

Holidays slash Cambodia’s agriculture exports: Minister

Various holidays in the last two months prompted a decline in Cambodia’s exports of agricultural produce within the last two months, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon has said.

He made the remark while speaking to about 100 farmers and exporters during a recent contract-farming signing ceremony in Phnom Penh.

Rice exports for August and September fell nearly 30 percent each month, he said, explaining that Cambodian ports and customs are closed during holidays while other countries do not close theirs and imports and exports carry on as normal.

In August, Cambodia had a one-week holiday, a substitute for the postponed Khmer New Year break in April, which the government cancelled in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The country had another three days of holiday for its traditional Pchum Ben ceremony in September. Later this month, Cambodia will celebrate four more days of holiday for the annual water festival and the memorial day of the late King Norodom Sihanouk.

The Cambodian government reduced the number of public holidays to 22 days starting from 2020 from 28 days last year.

Public holidays in Vietnam for 2020 stand at 12 while there are 18 in Thailand. Meanwhile, Indonesia has 20, Malaysia has 20, Myanmar has 26, the Philippines has 18, and Singapore has 11./.

Hanoi a bright spot in FDI attraction

Hanoi has attracted around 25 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last five years, with priority given to quality and sustainable development, figures show.

The capital city took the lead nationwide in FDI attraction during the 2018 - 2019 period. Notably, it received some 3.28 billion USD in the first nine months of this year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It currently has 6,278 FDI projects worth over 47.7 billion USD, of which 28.5 billion USD has been disbursed.

According to Director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Manh Quyen, FDI accounts for 12.8 percent of the city’s total investment capital and 10.4 percent of the local budget.

Kyle Kelhofer, Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), pointed to Hanoi’s advantages that favour high-tech projects, especially infrastructure and high-quality human resources.

Forty-one percent of Japanese firms, meanwhile, have considered expanding their operations in Vietnam over the next three years, according to Takeo Nakajima, Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Hanoi.

Hanoi should therefore bring into full play its position as one of the top 10 localities nationwide in the provincial competitiveness index (PCI), he suggested, in order to attract even more Japanese investment.

Experts, however, have said the city must address issues such as the slow development of industrial zones and clusters, high land rentals, and small-scale support industry, to attract high-quality FDI projects.

According to the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, Hanoi expects to attract 30-40 billion USD in FDI during the 2011-2025 period, of which 20 billion USD - 30 billion USD will be disbursed.

The number of businesses using cutting-edge technologies and modern management and environmental protection methods is expected to increase by 50 percent by 2025 compared to 2018, while the rate of locally-made content is to reach 30 percent.

To that end, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Manh Quyen said Hanoi will continue to target quality projects, especially with partners such as Japan, the United States and Europe, to step up technology transfer.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that developing digital technology, precision mechanics, automation, and semi-conductor technology will push ahead with Hanoi’s industrialisation and modernisation.

He suggested the capital city develop a number of urban economic models, saying it is likely to become the country’s creative centre.

It is working to improve its business environment, devise a plan for the support industry by 2025, and complete industrial parks and clusters and transport infrastructure, while building e-government to make business registration and tax declarations and payments easier for enterprises.

Phan Duc Hieu, deputy head of the Central Institute for Economic Management at the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), said Hanoi should employ mechanisms that help promote links between domestic and foreign firms, encourage multi-national groups to invest in the city, and develop creative and innovation centres.

Local authorities have regularly held dialogue with investors and helped them seek development opportunities by removing difficulties.

The “Hanoi: Investment and Development Cooperation” conference, which is held annually with the participation of a large number of investors, confirms the city is a safe and attractive investment destination.

Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue pledged at a recent meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment that Hanoi will further create optimal conditions for investors by working with them and sharing their difficulties.

Attracting FDI will raise the city’s competitiveness and materialise its target of rapid, sustainable, and modern development, he emphasised./.

Vietnamese aviation on course for recovery

Vietnam’s aviation sector has served an increasing number of passengers following the resumption of domestic flights and certain international air routes disrupted by COVID-19.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said it now operates about 200 flights a day with nearly 40,000 passengers in total, compared to the 17,500 passengers it welcomed each day in August.

Budget carrier Vietjet Air has restored its 40 domestic routes, conducting 160 flights a day, up 60 percent against August, and with occupancy of over 60 percent, according to the airline’s Deputy General Director Nguyen Thanh Son.

Bamboo Airways, meanwhile, said it served only 5,000-6,000 passenger a day during the second COVID-19 outbreak, but the number reached 12,000-15,000 once the pandemic was contained.

Notably, occupancy on the Hanoi-Con Dao route, launched on September 29, has approached 100 percent.

To Tu Ha, Deputy Director of Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, said that passenger throughput at the airport has increased 15 percent a week since the beginning of September.

On weekends, the airport handles more than 250 flights with over 32,000 passengers each day, up nearly three-fold against August.

A Vietnam Airlines aircraft took off from Incheon International Airport in the Republic of Korea (RoK) for Noi Bai on September 25, marking the resumption of routine commercial flights between the two countries.

The resumption of flights received a warm welcome from Vietnamese citizens in the RoK as well as Koreans, especially businesspeople and investors.

Vo Huy Cuong, Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, said at the time it is not only the first international flight to Vietnam after COVID-19 but also a pilot flight reviewing the domestic aviation sector’s capacity to serve international tourists following the pandemic.

It marks the recovery of Vietnam’s aviation sector, he added, contributing to completing the dual goals of containing the pandemic and ensuring socio-economic development.

On September 30, Viejet Air also resumed international commercial flights, with flight VJ962 from Hanoi to Seoul and VJ862 from HCM City to Seoul. The latter route is to be reopened on October 7.

Representatives from Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, and Bamboo Airways said they all stand ready for the resumption of regular international flights.

Economists have said the resumption of flights from Vietnam to Japan and the RoK and then Guangzhou, Taiwan (China), Laos, and Cambodia is expected to help improve the carriers’ revenue post-COVID-19.

The domestic market is projected to recover by the end of this year and perhaps even surpass the number of passengers recorded in the same period last year.

Passenger traffic for Vietnamese carriers should rebound faster than in other Southeast Asian markets thanks to the low COVID-19 incidence in the country, a report from Fitch Ratings said.

The report estimates that the average revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) of Vietnamese airlines this year will reach 55 percent of last year’s figure.

RPK is an airline industry metric that expresses the number of kilometres travelled by paying passengers. The RPK of Vietnamese airlines was 77.9 billion last year, up more than 11 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The ratio of 55 percent forecast for local carriers this year is higher than the 35 percent estimated for most airlines in other ASEAN countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia.

The report also forecasts that, by 2021, Vietnamese carriers will record an average RPK that is 90 percent of the figure in 2019, compared to 60 percent in the aforementioned ASEAN countries, showing that the former will stage a faster recovery from the impact of the pandemic./.

Hanoi opens showrooms to promote local OCOP products

Hanoi has selected several locations for the introduction and sale of goods under the “One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme, and is planning to increase the number of such showrooms in the time to come to make local goods more popular among domestic consumers and foreign visitors.

According to the city’s coordinating office for the new-style countryside building programme, Hanoi will boost local districts and towns’ implementation of the OCOP programme and will assess and seek the municipal People’s Committee’s recognition of more than 700 OCOP products rated at least three stars by the end of this year.

In 2019, 301 products from 18 district-level localities in Hanoi were given three stars or higher in the OCOP programme. They included six given five stars and proposed to be named national OCOP products, 207 given four stars, and 88 others given three stars.

Based on this, Hanoi is looking to assess and rate about 800 - 1,000 products this year, with at least 500 to reach the municipal level (three or four stars) and 100 the national level (five stars).

The city’s Department of Industry and Trade surveyed locations for showcasing and selling local OCOP products, such as shops at train stations, Noi Bai International Airport, bus terminals, rest areas along expressways and national highways, shopping malls, supermarkets, markets, tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels, traditional craft villages, and exhibition venues.

Deputy Director of the department, Tran Thi Phuong Lan, said five sites were selected: the store of the Vun Art Cooperative and the Trieu Van Mao silk shop in Van Phuc ward, the Xuan Cuong Handicraft store at the Ngo Thi Nham auction site, the safe vegetable store at Ha Dong Market, and the OCOP showroom at the department’s industrial development centre.

She noted that goods displayed are all rated at least three stars, like silk, vegetables, and handicrafts, which are recognised as typical rural industrial products at the municipal and regional levels.

Via these sites, outstanding rural industrial products from Hanoi will have access to more consumers, providing a basis for cooperatives, businesses, producers, and farmers to continue improving goods’ quality and design to meet consumers’ increasing demand, Lan said, adding that the Department of Industry and Trade will also work with other cities and provinces nationwide to showcase their OCOP products at those showrooms.

The local coordinating office for the new-style countryside building programme will provide more training to personnel in the OCOP programme and upgrade the origin tracing system for OCOP products, she added.

Hanoi is expected to open 25 showrooms of OCOP products this year and raise the total to 60-70 in 2021.

The OCOP was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2008, based on Japan’s “One Village, One Product” and Thailand’s “One Town, One Product” programmes. It is an economic development programme for rural areas and focuses on increasing internal power and values, and is also to help with the national target programme on new-style rural area building.

The classifications of goods and services defined in the programme include food (fresh and processed farm produce); beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic); medicinal herbs (products made from herbal plants); fabric and textiles (products made from cotton and yarn); souvenirs, furniture, and decorations (products made from wood, fibres, rattan, metal, and ceramics); and rural tourism services and sales (services for sightseeing, tourism, study, and research).

The overall objective of the programme is to develop stable and sustainable forms of production for organisations and businesses, with priority given to developing cooperatives and small- and medium-sized enterprises, towards producing traditional products and improving services with high competitiveness on the domestic and international markets, thus promoting the rural economy and national agriculture industrialisation and modernisation./.

Vietnam’s solar farms attract Thai investors

WHA Utilities and Power (WHAUP), which provides utilities under WHA Corp, Thailand's biggest industrial land developer and operator, is planning to acquire three solar farms under its new asset acquisition plan in Vietnam.

Bangkok Post newspaper quoted WHAUP chief executive Niphon Bundechanan as saying that the company is approaching solar farm operators to negotiate deals to acquire their facilities for operations with capacities ranging from 50 to 250 MW.

He did not disclose the ownership proportion of the new assets, saying only that his company plans to be a majority shareholder or full owner. Investment value was not revealed. The company expects to close the deals early next year.

For the water business, WHAUP is planning the second-phase development of two tap-water supply facilities in Hanoi and in Cua Lo in the central province of Nghe An, which the company acquired last year./.