Category: Business

Tokyo: The advantages and potential of Vietnam's northern border province of Lao Cai were introduced to Japanese firms at an investment and tourism promotion conference in Tokyo on April 23. Addressing the event, Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu stressed that Japan's investments in Vietnam have been on the rise over the past years, with over 74.4 billion USD poured into 5,304 projects as of March 2024, ranking third among the 143 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation. The diplomat expressed his belief that the conference will provide a panorama picture on Lao Cai, helping the locality attract more Japanese investments. Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Trinh Xuan Truong briefed the participants on Lao Cai's incentives to investors and cleared up questions raised by the Japanese enterprises. Tsukada Manabu, Senior Director for Global Strategy (Southeast Asia) at the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), highlighted Lao Cai's high growth rate as compared with others in the northern mountainous region, saying apart from agriculture and tourism, the locality boasts potential for biomass power generation and border trade with China. The conference featured the handover of memoranda of understanding between Lao Cai and Japanese firms, as well as between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: A seminar aimed at channeling overseas remittances into infrastructure took place in Ho Chi Minh City on April 23, given that remittances to the city reached 9.46 billion USD in 2023, nearly three times higher than foreign direct investment (FDI), according to official statistics. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, the figure set a new record, reaching nearly 2.9 billion USD, up 35.4% annually, said Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong at the event held by the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper. With a population exceeding 10 million, the megacity faces a constant demand for infrastructure development, spanning transportation networks, schools, hospitals, housing and green spaces, he said. According to him, the city is actively improving the business environment to create the most favourable conditions for overseas Vietnamese and their relatives to invest. Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu, Director of the Institute of Research and Development of Global Financial and Real Estate Markets, said Ho Chi Minh City needs to channel remittances into infrastructure through bond issuance. Regarding local bond issuance to attract remittances, Dr. Tran Du Lich pointed out two mobilisation channels, namely project bonds and infrastructure bonds. Additionally, the Ho Chi Minh City Finance and Investment State Owned Company (HFIC), as a State financial investment company, can establish an investment fund for each major project with various sources of funding, including remittances. Stressing the importance of channeling remittances through established institutions to ensure safety and transparency, he advocated for a leading role by the State and advised the municipal Committee for Overseas Vietnamese to propose pilot institutions, with HFIC acting as a pioneer./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Vietnam's tra fish export to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached more than 7 million USD in the first quarter of this year, a rise of 67% against the same period last year, statistics of the General Department of Customs showed. Tra fish export to the UAE increased impressively in January by 2.5 times to reach 4 million USD before a slowdown of 31% in February. In March, Vietnam exported tra fish to this market worth more than 2 million USD. The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said the UAE mainly exported frozen fillets from Vietnam, accounting for around 93% of the country's tra fish export to this market. The UAE is a net importer of seafood products and around 90% of all food consumed in the UAE is imported. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the UAE consumes around 220,000 tonnes of seafood products each year with a per capita consumption volume of 28.6 kilos, higher than the global average. The association said that there is significant room to expand tra fish export to the UAE, given this market's rising income and rapid urbanisation. The UAE Central Bank has lifted its forecast for the UAE economic growth rate to 5.7% from 4.3%. Each year, Vietnam exports about 22,000-24,000 tonnes of seafood products to the UAE, worth around 50-70 million USD. Frozen tra fish fillet is the most popular export product of Vietnam to the UAE. Vietnam's tra fish export was estimated at 1.8 billion USD in 2023 and expected to reach 2 billion USD this year./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Vietnam's economy is showing mixed signs of recovery in early 2024, with growth forecast to reach 5.5% in 2024 and gradually rise to 6.0% by 2025, according to the latest World Bank Taking Stock bi-annual economic update released on April 23. Addressing a press conference held by the WB on the same day, World Bank Lead Economist for Vietnam Andrea Coppola said the country's exports are recovering, and consumption and private domestic investment growing more gradually. Real exports are expected to grow by 3.5% in 2024, reflecting a gradual improvement in global demand. In addition, a turnaround in the real estate sector is anticipated later this year and next year, bolstering domestic demand as investors and consumers regain confidence, he said. Senior Economist at the WB in Vietnam Dorsati Madani said the forecast is based on the assumption that exports of manufactured industrial goods will recover significantly in 2024 thanks to a rebound growth of 8.5% compared to the same period last year in the fourth quarter of 2023 and a 17.2% increase year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024; and an improving global demand. Export of manufactured industrial commodities is expected to continue recovering in the next two years. The real estate market is predicted to transition towards an upward trend in late this year and early 2025, as the frozen bond market loosens and the Land Law takes effect from January 2025. Real total investment and private consumption are projected to increase by 5.5% and 5% in 2024, respectively. According to Dorsati, inflation is forecast to increase slightly to 3.5% in 2024 from an average of 3.2% last year, and then stabilise at around 3% in 2025 and 2026. This projection is based on expectations of stable energy and commodity prices. The economist also warned of potential downside risks both domestically and internationally that could negatively impact the economic outlook, saying that due to Vietnam's economic openness to the global economy, it could be vulnerable to effects of lower-than-expected global growth, such as with major trading partners including the US, the European Union, and China. She underscored the importance of sustained fiscal policy support to reinforce the recovery, and recommended expediting infrastructure investment projects financed by public resources, saying that this will help further stimulate the economy, with an additional potential 0.1 percentage point of GDP growth for every 1 percentage point increase in public investment as a share of GDP. According to Dorsati, continued weak revenue collection and increased spending, including the planned salary increases for civil servants and accelerated investment public investment, are expected to widen the fiscal deficit to 1.6% of GDP in 2024, before narrowing to 1.1% in 2025, in line with the country's Fiscal Strategy for 2021-2030. Ensuring the stability of the financial sector remains paramount, with a focus on managing potential risks associated with increasing bad debts, including due to declining ass et values in the real estate market. Capital buffers of commercial banks are relatively thin, and the real estate market's downturn could further depress their capital, she said. Dang Quang Vinh, Senior Private Sector Specialist at the WB, said the report presents several recommendations aimed at supporting innovative startups, thus contributing to Vietnam's productivity growth. He underlined the need to enhance the contribution by the academic and public research community through providing opportunities for universities and public research institutions to support startups. The public research sector can play a larger role by modernising the intellectual property and technology transfer framework, rewarding research efforts with commercialisation potential, and building the capacity of universities and research institutions to effectively transfer technology to startups, he went on./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Domestic construction companies will continue to face difficulties in the second quarter of this year with capital shortage top of their problems, a report has revealed. Up to 42.2% of surveyed firms said they met more difficulties in Q1; 41.5% said their business operation were stable and 16.3% experienced better business in Q1, according to a General Statistics Office report. In Q2, 27.1% anticipated their business operation would be more difficult; 40.7% expected stable business and 33.2% foresaw better business performance compared to Q1. Amid the current difficult context, 46.4% of enterprises called on capital support such as preferential loans, more convenient and faster loan procedures, and reduced lending interest rates. Meanwhile, 44.3% suggested assistance in raw materials such as ensuring supply and stabilising raw material prices; 38.3% expected that bidding information would be more open and transparent; and 32.9% emphasised the importance of speeding up administrative reforms. A Vie tnam Report survey also showed that 55.6% of construction enterprises encountered difficulties in terms of working capital. Bank credit had been expanded, and interest rates had decreased, but construction firms, especially small and medium-sized, still found difficulty in accessing loans as their financial conditions failed to meet commercial banks' requirements. Experts said that to ease the difficulties of the construction industry, it was necessary to solve some main problems such as reducing costs, improving the competitiveness of businesses and perfecting investment and business environment Creating the favourable conditions for the firms to get bank loans and facilitating their market access should be also included, they said. The nation's construction industry faced considerable challenges in 2023. Rising material prices, higher debt taken by builders, and dampened demand during the pandemic had all resulted in the downfall of hundreds of construction firms in the Vietnamese market in recent quarte rs. To spur economic growth and development in the country, the Government had been increasingly investing in transport infrastructure. Several projects were completed in the second half of 2023, with many more planned to be finished over the next 2-3 years. These projects were expected to keep supporting the recovery of the struggling industry in Vietnam over the short to medium term./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

An Giang: The Mekong Delta province of An Giang, billed as an economic centre that links Ho Chi Minh city, Can Tho city and Cambodia's Phnom Penh, has paid due attention to developing border trade and logistics infrastructure so as to tap its border economic potential. Sharing a borderline of more than 100 kilometres with Cambodia, the province has five international border gates, two main others and a sub one. There are 13 border markets and four sites for examination and supervision of the imports and exports recognised by the General Department of Vietnam Customs in five districts and townships. It has approved investment policies for 168 projects on border trade infrastructure development with over 29.8 trillion VND (1.17 billion USD) in total registered capital so far. Under a project to develop the province's border trade by 2025 with a vision to 2030, border trade is envisaged to become an important locomotive for the local economic growth, making An Giang become a key transshipment centre of the Me kong Delta region and the whole country. During the 2021-2025 period, the province targets trade revenue via border gates at 9 billion USD, up 15% from 2016-2020, with export turnover growing 10% per year on average to reach some 636.7 million USD by 2025. According to Director of the province's Trade and Investment Promotion Centre Le Trung Hieu, as border trade has an important role to play in the province's economic growth, An Giang organises an annual international trade fair in border areas, and arranged delegations to attend business matching events, exhibitions and fairs in Cambodia. They are the bold steps contributing to boosting trade exchanges between An Giang and Cambodian localities. Along with calling for large corporations to invest in border economic zones, the province is penning incentives to mobilise resources to build infrastructure at the areas, helping bolster the border economic development, he added. Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Le Hong Quang said under its master pl an during 2021-2023 with a vision to 2050, An Giang will focus on developing border economic zones and economic corridors in tandem with ensuring defence-security, while calling for investment to branch out transport, clean energy and logistics infrastructure, paving the way for the province to become a trade centre that connects the Mekong Delta region with the Cambodian market, and other ASEAN ones. Last year, the province's trade turnover via border gates was nearly 2.47 billion USD. In the first quarter of this year, the figure was some 520 million USD. Major exports are rice, fruits, vegetables, fertilisers, cement, steel and animal food, among others, while imports include rice, sand, mango and iron ores./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The volume of corporate bonds maturing in 2024, though lower than that in 2023, is till at a high level, mostly in industries with payment risks such as real estate and renewable energy, according to a report by the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The ministry said as of the end of 2023, the outstanding corporate bond debt stood at about 1 quadrillion VND (39.27 billion USD), issued by 432 businesses. Among them, the total value of bonds maturing in 2024 is 240.1 trillion VND (9.43 billion USD), lower than the 261.6 trillion VND recorded last year. Credit institutions had the largest outstanding bond debt by the end of 2023 with 357.2 trillion VND. The figure for real estate businesses was 351.4 trillion VND. The volume of real estate corporate bonds due in 2024 is 99.6 trillion VND, issued by 92 organisations. The MoF forecast that there will be difficulties for a number of businesses in paying corporate bond debt worth about 35.8 trillion VND, accounting for 35.9% of the volume of mature bonds of real estate businesses, and recommended real estate businesses continue to closely monitor their ability to repay bond debt. For the remaining group of businesses, the combined outstanding bond debt is about 300 trillion VND, accounting for 29.8% of the total outstanding debt, for bonds issued by 222 businesses. Their maturity volume in 2024 is 87.3 trillion VND for bonds issued by 102 organisations. According to the MoF, if interest rates will be maintained at the current low level, the capital mobilisation costs will be reduced, encouraging businesses to invest in business expansion, and improving their debt repayment ability. However, the ability of restoring production and ensuring debt repayment obligations depends on particular industry and economic situation at home and abroad, it said./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: A raft of measures to deal with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is included in the Government's freshly issued action programme as the country is striving to clamp down on illegal fishing, or else it will be hit by the European Commission (EC)'s warning card. Among the short-term measures carried out until May 2024 are improving public awareness of IUU fishing prevention through effective communications and training, and harmoniously and drastically implementing the fisheries law to manage fishing fleet. Besides, it is a must to comply with both Vietnamese and international laws on seafood traceability, while investigating, identifying and handling all acts related to illegal fishing. Regarding long-term measures, the Government resolves to complete policies and regulations on the fisheries, especially those to thrust on modernisation of the sector, improve fishermen's livelihoods and direct management of the fishery workers in accordance with both domestic and international labour regulations. Furthermore, it will encourage public-private cooperation to develop technical fishery infrastructure, improve the capacity and responsibility of the fisheries surveillance force and competent agencies, and push ahead with state-of-the-art technology application and digital transformation in aquaculture to set up a sustainable production chain and a comprehensive ecosystem towards the circular economy and green economy, deep integration into the global supply chain and response to climate change. Other highlights of the programme include enhanced international cooperation in the domain, negotiations on delimitation of the exclusive economic zones and continental shelves between Vietnam and foreign countries and settlement of sea disputes, and implementation of the international commitments and treaties on protection of the ocean resources and marine ecosystem. Right after receiving the EC's yellow card in 2017, Vietnam promptly enacted the Fisheries Law and established fishing vessel data cove ring registration and the issuance of fishing licences from central to local levels. Relevant ministries, agencies, and coastal provinces and cities of the country have ramped up IUU fishing prevention tasks and solutions in line with directives of the permanent members of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat, the Prime Minister, and the National Steering Committee on IUU Fishing Prevention./. Source: Vietnam News Agency