Category: Business

Hanoi: The Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People’s Committee of Tay Ho district are hosting an event to introduce products under the One Commune One Product Programme (OCOP) from localities across the country.

Addressing the opening ceremony on December 21, Vice Director of the department Ta Van Truong said the event offers a good chance for businesses and producers to enhance trade connections, promote brands and products, as well as connect the consumption of OCOP products through networks and distribution channels.

The five-day event features more than 100 booths showcasing over 2,000 OCOP products and regional specialties from Hanoi, 19 central and Central Highlands localities, and 17 others nationwide.

Notably, businesses from Hanoi arrange 45 pavilions at the event to introduce over 1,000 products, including typical products of the Vietnamese and Japanese cultures.

In the framework of the event, a Vietnam – Japan culture exchange programme is organised as part of the a
ctivities to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of the diplomatic ties between the two countries. It features various activities imbued with Vietnamese and Japanese cultures, along with art performances joined by artists from both nations./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Hanoi’s supporting industry sector has proactively carried out innovation and technology investment to further improve competitiveness and participate in the global supply chain.

Nguyen Dinh Thang, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, said the city had determined that the development of the supporting industry would be an important solution to have sustainable economic development, increase the ability to attract foreign direct investment, promote technology transfer, and boost the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

This would also be a motivation for domestic enterprises to participate further in the supply chain of foreign invested companies and the global value chain of multinational groups.

Among them, the production of components would be the key field to provide supporting industrial products for most key manufacturing industries, such as automobile and motorbike manufacturing, mechanical engineering, electricity and electronics.

In particular, enterp
rises in Vietnam, including Hanoi, had also taken all business opportunities, promoted digital transformation and linked with foreign partners to participate in the global supply chain.

Nam Phuong Company specialising in production of electric equipment located in Song Cung Industrial Park in Dan Phuong district of Hanoi, has cooperated with Intec GmbH, a group from Germany, to produce electrical cabinets and elevator controllers using leading technology from Intec, according to the company’s representative.

With this cooperation, the company has produced electrical cabinets and elevator controller products with quality recognised by Intec and much lower prices.

“This is a high-quality new technology elevator controller for all types of elevators, opening up opportunities for Vietnamese customers to use a modern, smart and safe elevator control system,” the representative said.

“The company’s goal is to become a leading enterprise in supplying controllers on the domestic market, and also to export to othe
r markets such as Malaysia and Singapore.”

Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Acting Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, said according to the orientation of developing supporting industries for the period 2021-2025 and a vision to 2030, Hanoi would deploy solutions to promote development of the supporting industry. That would help Hanoi become a city with a modern industrial sector, high technology and green industry.

The city enhanced promotion activities, online trade connection, and the application of virtual reality technology. It also had support for supporting industry enterprises to carry out advanced and modern technology transfer; and hire foreign experts for training human resources.

Hanoi built a website about its supporting industry to provide information and data relating to the supporting industry.

In the Hanoi Supporting Industry Development Programme until 2024, Hanoi set a goal for 2024 to have about 1,000 enterprises operating in the supporting industry, one year before the schedu
le. About 35-40% of supporting industry enterprises had production systems and products meeting international standards to supply to the global production network of multinational groups in Vietnam.

To achieve the set goals, the city would promote connection and support for supporting industry enterprises to become suppliers for domestic and foreign enterprises; and enhance attraction of foreign investment into this industry. In addition, the city would hire experts to help the supporting industry enterprises in Hanoi deploy smart factory models.

The city would organise two exhibitions on supporting industry in 2024 with the participation of foreign enterprises, including Japan, South Korea, China and Thailand. Those would create favourable conditions for the enterprises to seek opportunities and connect commercial transactions in manufacturing and supplying components.

At the same time, it would support them in the activities of research and development, and technology transfer and innovation in trial pro
duction of components, spare parts, raw materials and materials.

Up to now, Hanoi has more than 900 supporting industry enterprises, according to the department. Of which, about 320 enterprises have production systems and products meeting international standards, and entering the production and supply networks of multinational corporations.

However, the supporting industry’s products of Vietnam as well as Hanoi have medium and low technology. The localisation rate of those products is still low. The value of components imported into Vietnam for assembly and manufacturing of export goods annually reaches tens of billions of US dollars. Especially, the import value of components in the electronics and automobile industries stands at about $35-50 billion.

Besides that, according to the Hanoi Supporting Industries Business Association (HANSIBA), there are many difficulties in investment and development of the supporting industries in Hanoi due to increasing cost of production, labour and some other services./.
S
ource: Vietnam News Agency

Da Nang: Secretary of Da Nang’s Party Committee Nguyen Van Quang expressed his hope for stronger cooperation between the Vietnamese central city and Russia during his reception for Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Bezdetko Gennady Stepanovich on December 21.

The official briefed the ambassador on the socio-economic development of Da Nang, which has been projected to be the growth nucleus of the central key economic region.

Quang said Da Nang has enhanced foreign relations and international cooperation, adding it has established cooperative ties with 47 localities of 22 countries and territories worldwide.

The relationship between Vietnam and Russia is developing fruitfully, yet that between Da Nang and Russia remains limited given the potential and advantages of the two sides, he pointed out.

He suggested the ambassador pay more attention to investment, tourism and trade promotion, encourage investors to seek business opportunities in Da Nang, and promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges in the time a
head.

Quang also spoke highly of Russian projects in Da Nang, and noted his hope that the two sides will continue resolving difficulties facing investors.

For his part, Stepanovich lauded Da Nang’s role in Vietnam’s socio-economic development, and informed that there will be more Russian investors coming to the locality in the time ahead, suggesting local leaders facilitate their operations.

Da Nang has set up relations with a number of Russian localities like Yaroslavl, Nizhegorod and Briansk. It is now home to 10 FDI investment projects by Russia and its partners with total capital of about 3.7 million USD, mainly in lodging and catering services, and automobile production and assembly./.
Source:Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Malaysia’s digitalnewsasia.com on December 20 reported findings from consulting firm Oxford Economics’ recent research commissioned by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), saying that it offers a positive assessment of Vietnam’s economy in 2023 and forecasts a bright outlook for a medium term.

According to Oxford Economics, Vietnam has been a regional export outperformer this year, delivering a year-on-year GDP growth of 5.3% in the third quarter from 4.1% in the previous quarter. This was led by a strong recovery in the manufacturing sector thanks to rising export values amidst improvements in electronics exports, especially to China.

Carrying on from the Government’s increased public investment in the third quarter, there is still room to boost investment spending in the next quarter, it said.

About the Southeast Asia economy, it said economic momentum picked up in the third quarter, but there are concerns about potential headwinds in 2024, including slow global gro
wth, tourism bright spots losing their shine, and declining private consumption.

Southeast Asia has displayed resilient economic momentum in Q3, with improved trade conditions driving GDP growth to surpass expectations. Export growth in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam expanded from Q2 to Q3, with Singapore and Vietnam enjoying notable turnarounds with both markets having significant footholds in the electronics trades.

However, Southeast Asia’s exports will remain weighed down by a prolonged global weakness, particularly from US and China.

While inflation is likely to resume its decline further in the future, analysts are not expecting rate cuts until Q2 2024./.
Source:Vietnam News Agency

Hong Kong: Hong Kong and Vietnam have numerous areas in which they could closely cooperate with each other, especially in professional financial services, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong Christopher Hui said following his trip to Vietnam from December 13-15.

Speaking to a Vietnam News Agency reporter in Hong Kong, Hui said Vietnam is now Hong Kong’s seventh largest trade partner while Hong Kong is the fifth largest source of foreign direct investment in Vietnam.

He noted that the places he visited, such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, are vibrant economic areas with immense potential. He wished that economic cooperation between Hong Kong and Vietnam would become even closer in the future.

According to him, the Hong Kong authorities eased visa restrictions in late October for skilled workers from Vietnam and those coming for education, work and tourism purposes. The move is expected to improve people-to-people and business-to-business connectivity. For companies seeking capital
, he said companies could mobilise capital through stock listing or bond issuance, and Hong Kong is a reliable destination for Vietnamese firms to explore these opportunities.

About stock listing, he said there are more than 100 companies from ASEAN member countries listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKG), including two from Vietnam.

He hoped to see more Vietnamese firms listed on the HKG. Particularly, Hong Kong welcomes an increasing number of technology, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) joining the market.

Hui revealed that Hong Kong has been the largest centre for Asian enterprises to issue bonds with international advantages over the past seven years. Due to the high interest rates in USD, there has been a trend of issuing bonds in Chinese yuan (CNY). Therefore, Hong Kong wishes to attract more Vietnamese companies to issue bonds in CNY, even green bonds, as well as issue shares and list on the HKG.

In 2022, the total value of green bonds and credits issued in Hong Kong exceeded 80 bill
ion USD, up 40% from 2020, he said, adding that, Hong Kong welcomes and encourages the Vietnamese Government to leverage this advantage by issuing green bonds there, thus facilitating its economic green transition process.

Moreover, Hong Kong and Vietnam have embarked on an ambitious journey toward carbon neutrality for their respective economies by 2050. Hong Kong has a voluntary carbon credit trading platform called CoreCredit, which could be traded globally in USD, HKD and CNY. Therefore, Hong Kong welcomes increased collaboration with Vietnam in this area, especially as the Hanoi Stock Exchange is considering the launch of a voluntary carbon credit trading platform.

In his view, Hong Kong and Vietnam have the potential for collaboration at the government, business, and individual levels. The message from Hong Kong to the Vietnamese economy and people is a warm welcome to the talents and investments from Vietnam, he said./.
Source:Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: Amid economic uncertainties and fierce competition, improving connectivity between domestic and global logistics networks has become a pressing demand, experts said at a logistics forum with Asia-America 2023 held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in Ho Chi Minh City on December 21.

Speaking at the event, Director of the MoIT’s European-American Market Development Ta Hoang Linh said situated strategically in a rapidly evolving global centre known for its concentrated supply channels, Vietnam possesses ample advantages to boost manufacturing, export and expansion of logistics services.

Over the past years, Vietnam’s logistics sector has made considerable strides, with nearly 35,000 businesses now operating in the field, including around 5,000 professional enterprises.

According to the World Bank’s latest report 2023, Vietnam ranked 43rd in the Logistics Performance Index and among the top 5 countries in ASEAN. However, amid global economic challenges and a decline in global demand, the
industry is experiencing great pressure to optimise operations and vie for orders, he added.

As economies of Europe and America next year are projected to either decrease or increase marginally compared to 2023, he suggested optimising logistics costs and transport time, thereby improving competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses and their exports-imports.

In addition to competitive pressures on services, new international environment standards are prompting logistics enterprises to innovate and switch to eco-friendly practices to ensure sustainable development, he noted.

Nguyen Xuan Hung, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Railway Transport and Trading JSC (Ratraco), said transporting goods through Asia-Europe rail transport route that connects Vietnam, China, Central Asian countries, Russia and the EU is one of the optimal solutions for cost-effective logistics and ensuring the safety and quality of goods. In addition, businesses could explore the option of multimodal transport, combining both sea and
rail routes, to reduce transit time to more distant locations.

Sharing the same view, Managing Director of GEODIS Vietnam Chandler So described Vietnam as an important trading partner of Europe and America.

He noted that the European and American markets increasingly prioritise sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors, which extend beyond the manufacturing phase to include transport and post-logistics services. Therefore, logistics suppliers need to swiftly adjust their supply chain operations towards greener, more eco-friendly and sustainable practices to maintain long-term competitiveness, he suggested./.
Source:Vietnam News Agency