Category: Business

Hanoi: Chairman of Vietnamese private conglomerate Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong, at 4.8 billion USD, moved 252 places to rank 678th in the Hurun Global Rich List 2024.

According to the Shanghai-based Research Institute’s list, other Vietnamese billionaires also moved up the rankings, including Techcombank Chairman Ho Hung Anh (up 833 places to 1,787th with 2 billion USD), Chairman of steel maker Hoa Phat Tran Dinh Long (up 466 places to 1,855th with 1.9 billion USD), budget carrier Vietjet’s CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (up 153 places to 2,038th with 1.7 billion USD), and Chairman of Truong Hai Auto Tran Ba Duong (up 47 places to 2,573rd with 1.3 billion USD).

Tesla CEO Elon Musk held the crown as the world’s richest man with an estimated wealth of about 231 billion USD. This was the third time in four years he got the title, propelled by a surge in Tesla’s stock.

Founder of e-commerce giant Amazon Jeff Bezos rose to the second place with 185 billion USD as his wealth grew 57% driven by Amazon’s cloud computing
winning market share and making up for all his losses last year.

The list ranked 3,279 billionaires from 2,435 companies in 73 countries, up 5% from 3,112 last year./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vientiane: Many Vietnamese in Laos have shared the belief that the amended Land Law, passed by the National Assembly earlier this year, will significantly contribute to national socio-economic development.

They referred to the law’s stipulations allowing overseas Vietnamese (OVs) to own properties in Vietnam without any limit on quantity, just like their fellow citizens inside the country.

It will encourage OVs to do real estate business at home and attract a massive influx of investments from abroad, they said.

Moc Savanh Hongkham, Chairman of Phu Gia Steel Industry Co., Ltd., who has lived and worked in Laos for more than 20 years, expressed his joy at the new regulation as he always wishes to own real estate in the homeland.

The legal change has satisfied the aspirations of Vietnamese not only in Laos but also in other foreign countries, he said, adding that Vietnamese expats now can obtain real estate ownership and directly engage in the trading.

Chairman of the General Association of Vietnamese Peop
le in Laos Pham Van Hung stressed that the expansion of land use rights for OVs demonstrates the Party’s and the State’s attention to them.

The new regulation is necessary as more and more OVs return to Vietnam to do business or settle down. It helps OVs feel secure about the investment, and ease risks in the trading, and at the same time contributes to spurring the domestic real estate market, and luring more investments to Vietnam, he said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: Having identified its weakness in 2023, entering the first quarter of 2024, Vietnam’s shrimp industry has undergone a clear change, reflected through increases in exports to major markets.

According to statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, shrimp exports are estimated at 620 million USD during January-March, up 24% year-on-year. Notably, earnings from shipments to the US and Chinese markets are estimated to increase by 26% and 140%, respectively.

Regarding the Chinese market, Kim Thu from the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that China has reduced imports from Ecuador – its largest shrimp supplier, and increased imports from Vietnam. In this market, Vietnam has to compete in price with rival suppliers, however, many buyers in China consider Vietnamese shrimp to be of higher quality than those of Ecuador and India, so they accept higher prices.

For the US, shrimp industry experts say that sales of fresh and frozen seafood in this market are for
ecast to stabilise in 2024, after facing many difficulties in 2023 due to inflation and people’s tightening spending. Compared to some of the US’s main shrimp suppliers, which are India, Ecuador, and China, Vietnam is considered more promising, especially when diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the US are developing well.

According to a representative of the VASEP, value-added processed shrimp products account for 40% – 45% of the total annual shrimp export value. The processing level of Vietnamese shrimp enterprises is at a high level in the world and this is a competitive advantage of Vietnamese shrimp in the Japanese market.

However, the sector is advised to keep up its efforts, because the competition from other countries remains fierce.

According to former VASEP Chairman Ho Quoc Luc, Vietnamese shrimp products have a good quality, but their prices are at a high level.

Therefore, farmers and exporters are recommended to seek measures to maintain quality and reduce production costs./.

Source: V
ietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Vietnam is waiting for major high-tech and future technology projects registered in 2024, as many foreign big names in this field have expressed their interest in the domestic market.

A few days ago, China’s Hainan Drinda New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding on investing in a solar panel factory project at the Hoang Mai II Industrial Park in the central province of Nghe An, with investment capital of 450 million USD possibly in the first phase.

The US’s Lam Research Corporation recently came to Vietnam to seek investment opportunities. During a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Vice President and head of Global Operations at Lam Research Karthik Rammohan said that the corporation aims to expand its operations and diversify its supply chain in Asia.

He shared a plan to cooperate with the Republic of Korea’s Seojin company, which has factories located in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces, to develop a factory and supply chain for the semiconductor industry, wi
th an investment of 1-2 billion USD in the first phase. Even after this phase, Lam Research plans to invest directly and continue to expand operations in Vietnam.

Similarly, a joint venture between China’s Huadian Corporation and Vietnam’s Minh Quang company officially announced its plan to invest in a super project to produce green hydrogen in the central province of Quang Tri, with a total capital of around 2.4 billion USD.

Appreciating Vietnam’s desire to attract investment in advanced, new and future technology projects such as semiconductor, artificial intelligence (AI), and green hydrogen, President of Vietnam’s Association of Foreign-Invested Enterprises Nguyen Mai noted the biggest obstacle is that Vietnam does not have adequate institutions, policies, and mechanisms, and even the investment environment and administrative procedure issues still have many problems.

Therefore, he proposed giving priority to perfect institutions and laws, improving the internal strength, modernising socio-economic inf
rastructure, and speeding up administrative reform.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam attracted 6.17 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter of 2024, a year-on-year rise of 13.4%.

Specifically, in the period, 644 new projects with total registered capital of 4.77 billion USD were granted investment certificates, up 23.4% in the number of projects, and 57.9% in value year-on-year.

A total of 934.6 million USD was registered to be added to 248 existing projects and 466.2 million USD earmarked for stake purchase and capital contribution.

The disbursed foreign investment rose by 7.1% in the first quarter to reach 4.63 billion USD, a signal that the disbursement will continue the positive trend, the agency said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The price of SJC gold bars rose to nearly 81 million VND (3,266 USD) per tael (one tael is equivalent to 1.33 ounces) in the last trading session of the first quarter (March 30), up 8% from the outset of the quarter.

On March 30, SJC gold bars were sold for 80.82 million VND per tael, compared to over 75 million VND per tael at the beginning of the year.

In March alone, the gold price rose by 1.25%, peaking at 82.5 million VND per tael in the period from March 10-12.

The global gold prices rallied 9% in March, driven by expectations of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve this year and high demand on safe assets.

According to Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Pham Thanh Ha, despite the complex price fluctuation, the gold market remained stable, causing no pressure on the official foreign exchange market./

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Construction enterprises are bullish about the sector’s prospect in 2024, a recent survey by the Vietnam Report Joint Stock Company revealed.

Accordingly, 52.5% of the surveyed expect positive changes, 36.9% forecast the sector will remain unchanged as compared to 2023, while 10.5% believe the market could grow gloomier this year.

Although the construction market may not carve out robust results in 2024, enterprises expressed their hope that 2024 could be ‘the first brick’ that lays foundation for a recovery and new development circle.

Vietnam Report General Director Vu Dang Vinh said that enterprises expect their business will be backed by stable macroeconomy, ensured major balances, and brighter realty market with legal bottlenecks to be removed and better market confidence.

The State Bank of Vietnam has set a credit growth target of 15% this year, creating favourable conditions for credit institutions to provide sufficient capital for the market in a timely fashion, Vinh stressed, adding interes
t rates have cooled down, easing burden for construction firms.

Vinh described public investment as a pillar and locomotive for the Vietnamese economy at the moment and in both mid- and long-terms, saying investment in transport infrastructure development has been accelerated, and disbursement of public capital will be at its peak this year for key transport projects.

Some 677.3 trillion VND (29.29 billion USD) is set aside for public investment this year, and 95% of which must be disbursed under a Prime Minister’s decision. Of the total amount, up to 422 trillion VND is for transport infrastructure construction, which is expected to prop up the construction sector.

According to Vinh, the domestic construction market is expected to benefit from the FDI wave, with 36.6 billion USD funneled into the country in 2023, a year-on-year surge of 32.1% despite global economic uncertainties. Around 23.18 billion USD was disbursed in the year, up 3.5% year-on-year, and marking a record high thus far.

He said the str
ong foreign capital inflow has created a more exciting prospect for 2024 as Vietnam’s geopolitical and production position have been consolidated.

During January – February this year, 2.8 billion USD in foreign capital was disbursed, the highest figure recorded for the same time in the past five years, opening up numerous opportunities for the industrial construction sector.

Besides, enterprises’ positive sentiment also comes from their intrinsic strength with effective financial management capacity, successful application of digital transformation into management and operation, high-quality human resources, and improved prestige and brands, he added./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency