Ottawa: Along with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Vietnamese garment and textile sector also needs a Vietnam-Canada free trade agreement or another bilateral deal to penetrate more deeply into the North American market, according to experts.

Currently, Vietnam is the third largest garment supplier to Canada with a market share of about 12%.

In a recent garment and textile exhibition in Canada, the Vietnam Export Garment Co., Ltd (VEG) became one of the two Vietnamese businesses capable of producing fabrics that satisfy CPTPP’s origin principles.

However, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Canada Tran Thu Quynh said that the rate of CPTPP exploitation through material localisation by domestic enterprises remains at only about 50%, adding her office is working to guide businesses to make clearer investment and logistics strategies so as to better utilise the deal.

Canada imports 13-15 billion USD worth of garment and textile products each year.

Executive D
irector of the Canadian Apparel Federation Bob Kirke said that regulations on garment and textile export stated in the CPTPP, which were adopted with the engagement of the US, a country that has left the pact, have shown many shortcomings. Therefore, members need bilateral free trade agreements to deal with this situation, said Kirke, noting that Canada has signed separate agreements with Chile and New Zealand to eliminate the material origin principles. Among the ASEAN countries, Canada currently has reached a similar agreement with Indonesia, he added.

Kirke held that the garment and textile industry of Vietnam and Canada should coordinate more closely to advise the two governments to reconsider the pact carefully to ensure benefits for both sides, or consider the signing of their own free trade deal, thus increasing the competitiveness of Vietnamese garment and textile products./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Quang Ngai: Craft villages in the central province of Quang Ngai are speeding up production to meet market demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival which falls on early February this year.

Families in Tri Binh village in Binh Son district began making traditional sesame cakes in the middle of December.

According to Vo Thi Kim Hoanh, she only makes around 2,000 cakes on normal days, but increases it to 5,000 as Tet approaches.

Making the cakes requires skill and meticulousness and involves many stages starting with grinding the rice, she said, adding that the most critical stage is drying them and coating them with caramel.

At Tam Bao baked green bean cake production facility in Quang Ngai city, the owner needs workers to work overtime to complete orders.

After being recognised as a 3-star OCOP product, its orders have increased, and now it produces over 300kg of cake, triple the normal rate.

The cakes used to be made completely by hand, but later on modern machinery and equipment such as
dryers, dough beaters and cake moulds are used to speed up the work and also improve hygiene and quality.

But some steps remain manual, and so the facility hires seven workers on a full-time basis.

Tet is an opportunity for them to earn extra incomes because of a jump in demand.

Bui Thi Yen Loan said she usually works as a farmer, but near Tet she works in local sesame cake factories to earn some extra money.

Customers are more interested in traditional cakes and candied products during Tet, especially Quang Ngai’s OCOP, thanks to its eye-catching designs. Each product has a barcode and QR code for traceability.

Nguyen Tien Hung in Quang Ngai city said since OCOP items have clear origins and reliable quality, he often buys them to gift business partners and employees during T?t.

Quang Ngai has around 5,500 rural facilities making agricultural products, and many are rated three- and four- star OCOP items and have seen improvements in design, quality and distribution.

According to Truong Thi Thu Huong, D
irector of Quang Tin Specialty Joint Stock Company, the company started promoting its products, designs and gift baskets on social media, sales channels and e-commerce platforms a few months ago in preparation for Lunar New Year.

The company also launched new high-quality products for customers looking for diet foodstuffs at reasonable prices./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) on January 16 launched its 15th annual Whitebook 2024, which offers insights on Vietnam’s business policy from the European business community.

Addressing the event, Head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam Ambassador Julien Guerrier highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts in realising the potential of the recommendations in the Whitebook.

‘By carefully considering the recommendations in this Whitebook, listening to each other’s opinions, and actively engaging in the implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and other EU-Vietnam initiatives, we can contribute to the growth and prosperity of our economies,’ he said.

EuroCham Chairman Gabor Fluit said that EuroCham is dedicated to open dialogue among all stakeholders, adding that it strongly believes in Vietnam’s capacity to guide its own growth and development and it stands ready to support and collaborate on this journey.

Although the global economy is in a complicated perio
d, Vietnam’s economy still shows a strong resilience. However, according to the Eurocham Chairman, 2024 will have its own difficulties, the economic environment is not as favourable as the period before the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted risks that Vietnam might face such as the slowing of trade, the complexity of supply chains, and other unforeseen difficulties. As Vietnam faces current challenges and opportunities, an adaptive policy will be the key factor, he continued.

In his speech, Fluit also revealed exciting details about the upcoming EuroCham Green Economy Forum and Exhibition (GEFE) 2024 which is scheduled to take place from October 21-23 in Ho Chi Minh City.

‘Building on our past achievements, GEFE will expand its scale and impact in 2024. By bringing together leaders across sectors and across governments for three days of dialogue, conference sessions and an exhibition, it will enable partnerships and dialogue to accelerate practical sustainability solutions across Vietnam,’ he said.

According
to Guerrier, since its first edition, the Whitebook has served as a practical barometer and a conduit for policy dialogue between the public sector and the European business community. Through its 15 editions, it has sparked numerous discussions and facilitated the joint development of many policies by the government and the business community.

The Whitebook is a collaborative compendium of recommendations for stimulating investment and trade priorities for Vietnam’s growth. It provides Vietnamese and European policymakers, businesses, academics, and other stakeholders practical perspective on key economic issues. The analysis and recommended policy updates seek to support bilateral dialogue on trends, challenges and opportunities in areas like sustainability, digitalisation, finance, and infrastructure. By informing discussions among diverse interest groups, the Whitebook plays an important role in shaping future initiatives and investment strategies between Vietnam and Europe./.

Source: Vietnam News Agen
cy

Davos: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presided over a dialogue with businesses on cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI), automobile industry, semiconductor chip and ecosystem development in Davos, Switzerland, on January 16 (local time), as part of his trip to attend the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The event saw the participation of leaders of many world-leading tech giants such as Google, Siemens, Mahindra, Ericsson, Visa Inc, Qualcomm, and others.

Talking about Vietnam’s development process and successes, the Government leader highlighted favourable conditions and platforms for businesses to invest and develop in the Southeast Asian country, including its 16 free trade agreements (FTA) with the world’s 60 largest economies, and ongoing implementation of three strategic breakthroughs in infrastructure, human resource training and administrative reform, and improvements in institutions.

Vietnam has mobilised all resources for rapid and sustainable development, relying on sc
ience, technology, and innovation, he said, adding that the nation aims to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030 and a developed country with high income by 2045.

The PM noted that Vietnam has developed and implemented a national strategy on AI research, development, and application, with a favourable environment created for many AI companies worldwide to develop in the country in various fields such as health, communications, education, cybersecurity, finance, smart factories, smart cities, and semiconductor technology.

Underscoring the country’s determination to pursue and develop the semiconductor industry and build an ecosystem for it, he unveiled that Vietnam plans to soon issue a strategy for its development and a project to train 50,000 engineers in the field. This aims to promote cooperation between domestic and foreign enterprises and improve Vietnamese firms’ human resources quality, PM Chinh said.

The leader went on to express his hope that businesses w
ill sustain their long-term, stable, and effective investments in Vietnam and join the nation in successfully achieving its set goals.

Representatives of participating enterprises said they highly appreciated Vietnam’s vision in the field of technology as well as its commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and promotion of green and sustainable economic development.

Pledging to further expanding investment and business operations in the nation, they hoped that the Vietnamese government will continue facilitating their collaboration with domestic peers, particularly in technology, innovation, semiconductor, AI, and strategic infrastructure./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: Many local products are favoured by customers and chosen for Tet gift hampers in Ho Chi Minh City.

Some regional specialties such as Binh Phuoc cashew nuts, Can Gio dried fish, Soc Trang sausage, Tra Vinh cylindric glutinous rice cake, Binh Thuan fish sauce, dried shrimp, macadamia nuts, and prawn cracker are the most popular products among customers this year.

According to many small retailers, this year customers have prioritised buying Tet gift hampers of regional specialities with mid-range prices instead of expensive gift hampers that have imported products and beautiful designs.

Many businesses and retailers in the city also promote promotional activities for consumers to shop early for Tet.

At Co.opmart supermarkets, the hampers are carefully selected to ensure quality.

From now until January 24, 2024, at Co.opmart supermarkets, there will be more than 2,000 Tet related products discounted by 50% or more, along with millions of Tet gifts delivered to member customers.

Co.opmart and Co.o
pXtra also launched 2024 Tet gift hampers with Co.op’s own products, along with many local products.

Nguyen Ngoc Thang, Director of Co.opmart and Marketing Director of Saigon Co.op, said that customers shopping for Tet 2024 at Co.opmart will experience many promotional activities and discounts.

Similarly, LOTTE Mart launches Tet gift hampers with affordable prices and variety of designs to reach every consumer’s demands.

Besides hampers, customers also want to buy individual items as gifts. Retailers are also offering free packaging to customers who want to choose products to put in gift hampers.

Shopping websites are also flooded with hampers these days, but experts said, as always, when buying online, buyers should be careful.

During the year-end period, retailers have been displaying many kinds of Tet (Lunar New Year) gift hampers to serve the shopping and gifting needs of consumers.

Gift baskets from supermarkets and enterprises include typical items for Tet such as confectionery, cooking oil, soft
drinks, instant coffee, wine, and Tet jams.

Their prices range from 200,000 VND to several million VND./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency