Australia has so far opened its market for four kinds of fresh fruit from Vietnam - dragon fruit, lychee, mango and longan, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vegetable and fruits register the highest growth rate among Vietnamese exports to Australia, only behind fishery products.

The ministry’s statistic revealed that export turnover to Australia increased at an annual average of 9% during 2009-2022.

However, experts said there is still a lot of work needed for Vietnamese agricultural products to secure a firm foothold in Australia, which has more stringent requirements than the US, EU on labeling, food safety and trace of origin.

Rice export prices on the rise

Vietnam’s rice export prices grew 9.2% year on year to 532 USD per tonne in the first quarter of 2023, raising the export value of 1.79 million tonnes during the period by 30.2% to 952 million USD, said the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

The price increase was attributed to a surge in the proportion of high-quality rice such as fragrant, glutinous, and specialty rice.

High-quality rice is accounting for 50% of the total export volume and sold at 600 - 1,000 USD per tonne at present.

Experts predicted that favourable conditions will remain for rice export and prices will stay good in the short term as the share of high-quality rice is increasing and global economic and political uncertainties are boosting food stockpiling demand.

Nearly 1.17 million SIM cards now two-way locked

Vietnam Telecommunications Authority said that approximately 498,000 mobile phone subscribers had verified their information, leaving nearly 1.17 million SIM cards two-way locked.

When the SIM cards are two-way locked, users are not able to verify their information through service providers’ applications and websites, but instead have to bring their personal identification documents to the carriers’ transaction points to complete the process.

The action follows a plan of the Ministry of Information and Communications to manage subscriptions and eradicate unverified SIM cards, spam calls and messages, while preventing risks to mobile phone users.

Subscribers with unverified information will have their mobile phone numbers withdrawn on May 15.

Vietnam facilitates operation of French investors: official

The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment will create all possible conditions for foreign investors, including those from France, to operate effectively and sustainably in Vietnam, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc has affirmed.

Addressing the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference, which took place in Hanoi from April 13-16, Ngoc noted that Vietnam has launched the national strategy on green growth and stepped up economic restructuring in tandem with growth model reform, environmental sustainability and social equality.

As a result, great potential and opportunities remain for Vietnam and France to boost their cooperation in the time ahead, she said.

Vietnam also encourages and prioritises quality, focused foreign investments, especially in high-tech, innovation, green energy, renewable energy, finance, banking, health care, high-quality personnel training, infrastructure, health care and pharmaceuticals.

They are the areas where France has strengths, and the two economies would be reciprocal, the official added.

Briefing the participants on Vietnam’s socio-economic development, Ngoc said it has been named among the top 20 countries in terms of FDI attraction and the 20 biggest economies worldwide.

Regarding the Vietnam-France relationship, Ngoc called trade, economic and investment ties as pillars of their strategic partnership and traditional friendship.

France ranks 16 out of the 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with more than 3.8 billion USD. Their two-way trade reached 5.33 billion USD last year, of which Vietnam’s export to the European nation was valued at 3.7 billion USD.

France is also one of Vietnam’s first and biggest official development assistance (ODA) suppliers in Europe, she said, stressing that Vietnam is an active, responsible member of ASEAN and Asia-Pacific, while France is a key member of the European Union, and both are members of the Francophone community and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

These are important foundations and premises for the two countries to expand cooperation and boost trade and investment ties between the two countries, Ngoc continued.

The official stressed that the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference has offered effective solutions to raise the role of localities in promoting investment links between the two countries.

Vietnam, Uruguay seek ways to boost cooperation

Trade ties between Vietnam and Uruguay have still not been commensurate with the potential of the two countries, delegates heard at the third meeting of the Vietnam - Uruguay Joint Committee for Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation held online recently in Hanoi and Montevideo.

Co-chairing the meeting, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and Uruguayan Deputy Foreign Minister Nicolás Albertoni emphasised that it is necessary to promote the Vietnam-Uruguay cooperation within bilateral and multilateral frameworks, diversify the structure of import and export products, and step up trade promotion activities, connect and support their business communities to understand the market and find business opportunities.

At the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on cooperation between Vietnam and Uruguay in the fields of economy, trade, investment, finance, agriculture, science, and technology, and reviewed the results they achieved since the second meeting of the joint committee held in October 2021.

They also discussed and proposed affairs to do in the coming time to promote the bilateral cooperation.

For agricultural cooperation, the two sides welcomed the establishment of direct contacts to continue exchanging views on technical issues in the licensing process for potential agricultural products into each other's markets.

In addition, many new cooperation contents have been proposed such as cooperation in food safety, customs, science and technology, software, wood exploitation, and processing.

At the end of the meeting, the two deputy ministers agreed to continue working closely to effectively implement the contents agreed at the meeting towards the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In 2022, the total import-export turnover between the two countries reached 190.5 million USD, a sharp increase of 106.5 % compared to 2021. Vietnam's exports to Uruguay raked in 102.9 million USD, up 76.7% while Vietnam's imports from Uruguay hit 87.6 million USD, up 157.2%.

VinFast to export 1,800 VF 8 electric cars to US, Canada

VinFast, a member of Vietnamese private conglomerate Vingroup on April 15 announced that a batch of its 1,800 VF 8 electric cars is now at MPC Port in the northern city of Hai Phong for export to the US and Canada.

The cars will be uploaded onto Silver Queen vessel which is expected to depart in the next few days.

As planned, the cars will be carried to and sold in the US market in May and in the Canadian market in June.

Previously, on November 25, 2022, VinFast exported the first batch of smart electric cars, including 999 units of VF 8 City Edition, to the international market by private charter ship Silver Queen of Panama. This was the first batch of cars exported to the international market among 65,000 orders for VinFast VF 8 and VF 9 electric cars globally.

On March 2, 2023, VinFast handed over the first 45 VF 8 City Edition cars to US customers at 9 VinFast stores.

According to VinFast, in the first three months of 2023, it handed over a total of 865 VF 8 units to customers in Vietnam.

VinFast’s VF 8 is also a model that GSM (Green - Smart - Mobility) Joint Stock Company uses for Xanh SM taxi service which was launched in Hanoi on April 14.

The taxi service using electric cars is expected to be available in HCM City within this month as well as in at least five provinces and cities by the end of this year.

Standard Chartered, MISA to provide financing to small businesses

Standard Chartered Bank has announced the launch of a strategic partnership with information technology company MISA JSC to offer unsecured invoice financing to small and medium-sized enterprises at competitive interest rates and straight-through processes.

The first partnership of its kind combines MISA’s pioneering use of cloud-based technologies to simplify and improve the efficiency of their clients’ processes and Standard Chartered’s global expertise in business banking and financing capabilities.

The programme’s target customers are SMEs in manufacturing, trading and services that require financing against e-invoices to meet their working capital requirements. Standard Chartered will use multiple data points and digital underwriting to set suitable credit limits. 

Insufficient transport connectivity hinders Southeastern region's development

Insufficient transport connectivity is hindering the development of the Southeastern region – a key economic region, an important exchange hub in the south of Vietnam, according to a Politburo resolution.

The Southeastern region includes Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Politburo Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW dated October 7, 2022 on socio-economic development, defence and security in the Southeastern region to 2030, with a vision to 2045 clearly states insufficient infrastructure, particularly in transport, causes "bottlenecks" that adversely impact the region's development.

Five axis motorways and three belt routes were planned to connect Ho Chi Minh City with other localities in the Southeastern region. However, at present, besides National Highway 1, Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway is in its first phase, Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway is receiving investment, while the remaining connecting motorways have not been upgraded and expanded according to the plan.

Parallel highway projects are implemented slowly. Ring roads No 2, No 3 and No 4 have not been built. The gateways and connecting axes between Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring localities are often congested, especially at rush hours.

According to Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Transport, the regional linkage mechanism fails, so each locality develops transport infrastructure without synchronisation. As a result, gateway roads are crowded, which hampers economic activity in each locality and the whole region.

In Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, Cai Mep - Thi Vai deep-water port cluster is among seaports with the fastest growth in the world, but its transportation system that connects the port with industrial zones and clusters in the region is woefully inadequate. National Highway 51 is currently the only road connecting Ba Ria - Vung Tau with other provinces and cities in the Southeastern region.

Although the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway project is being sped up to start work, it is still necessary to build a railway extending from Bien Hoa to Cai Mep.

Representatives of port authorities in major ports such as Cai Mep-Thi Vai International Container Terminal, Tan Cang Cai Mep, Gemalink also confirmed that traffic limitations are "bottlenecks" hindering the development of this deep-water port cluster.

Vietnam’s GDP growth forecast to rank second in ASEAN

Vietnam’s GDP is projected to grow 5.8% this year, sharing the second position with Cambodia in the region, only after the Philippines, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Notably, Vietnam’s public debt is expected to stay at the lowest as compared with eight other ASEAN member countries, the fund said.

The fund also forecast that Vietnam’s GDP growth will rebound to 6.9% in 2024, the highest in Southeast Asia, and its public debt will fall to 31.3% of the national GDP in 2028 from the record 47.5% in 2016. The debt-to-GDP ratio in 2028 will be the lowest within two decades.

In terms of inflation, the lender said it will reach 5% and 3% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Over the past time, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has constantly cut regulatory interest rates, paving the way for credit institutions to reduce their lending interest rates, thus spurring economic growth, said Dao Minh Tu, deputy governor of the SBV.

Experts described the central bank’s reductions as flexible and timely, and expected that 12-month deposit interest rates will hover around 7% and lending interest rates, 10%.

The bank has substantial room to further loosen monetary policy this year, they said, noting that it will continue to cut policy rates by 50 basis points in the second quarter of this year.

Experts from the Bao Viet Securities JSC shared the view that the biggest pressure on interest rates last year came from the US Federal Reserve's continuous rate hikes, making the USD soar to a 20-year high.

Meanwhile, those from the United Overseas Bank (UOB) said the Vietnam’s GDP growth of only 3.32% in the first three months of this year, down from 5.92% in the last quarter of 2022, will prompt the central bank to further cut regulatory interest rates, and that the bank is likely to further relax policies in the time ahead.

Viet Nam's shrimp industry faces many challenges in export this year

Viet Nam's shrimp exports face many challenges, especially in the term of price, said General Secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Truong Dinh Hoe.

In the first quarter of this year, the shrimp export value reduced by 40 per cent on year to $577 million, according to the association.

Shrimp prices in the world market have gradually decreased since the end of 2022. For instance, at the end of February 2023, the price of Indian shrimp was at VND110,000 (US$4.53) per kilo.

The prices will continue falling when the global shrimp supply increases to about 6 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, the price of raw shrimp on the domestic market has increased, making it difficult for export processing activities. The shrimp price in the Mekong Delta was nearly VND170,000 per kilo, Hoe said.

Experts said that the farming cost of shrimp is high because feed price accounts for over 65 per cent of the shrimp farming cost under the industrial model.

In addition, most shrimp seeds have to be imported, so the seed price is high. The producers have also spent more on solving the pollution of water farming shrimps.

According to Hoe, in recent years, shrimp seed production management has been loosened without standards and criteria for quality assessment, while shrimp production is still rampant.

Along with that, there is not enough quality shrimp seed to raise, leading to poor-quality shrimp material.

Those are difficulties of the Vietnamese shrimp industry against its competitors such as Ecuador and India.

Dr Tran Huu Loc, a shrimp expert from the Nong Lam University of HCM City, said that shrimp farmers should change their thinking from agricultural production to an agricultural economy.

Now, agriculture production is to produce goods competing with the same products on the global market. Therefore, the farm produce must have competitive price, high quality and transparent origin, Loc said.

He has proposed that Viet Nam's shrimp industry must choose a production model having production management, operation of the farming system, and treatment of shrimp waste and diseases.

In addition, shrimp farmers should optimise the use of capital, labour, farming area, water source and seed to increase output but reduce production costs and risks.

Managing shrimp seed to ensure quality is an important factor in determining efficiency in the production of the shrimp industry. It is also a solution to reduce the farming cost of Vietnamese shrimp, Loc said.

Le Van Quang, chairman of Minh Phu Group, has proposed to produce high-quality shrimp seeds with disease resistance and environmental adaptation. In addition, the farmers need to manage food for shrimp seeds, have a transparent production process, and develop low-cost shrimp farming processes.

The low-cost shrimp farming process includes planning large concentrated farming areas with separate water supply and drainage channels, completed infrastructure of transport, electricity and water, and digitisation application in shrimp farming to manage traceability and reduce labour costs.

Meanwhile, the businesses need to maintain the traditional market and continue to expand the easy markets, said Tran Cong Khoi, deputy head of the Aquaculture Department under the Directorate of Fisheries.

With the solutions, the shrimp industry is expected to overcome the challenges this year, gaining the target of 750,000 hectares in a farming area, an output of 1.08 million tonnes and an export value of about $4.3 billion.

Vietnamese shrimp has been exported to 100 countries, including major markets in Europe, the US, Japan, China and South Korea.

HCM City seeks to enhance trade ties with provinces in south central costal region

A conference intended to promote trade ties between HMC City and six provinces in the south-central coastal region was held in the central city of Nha Trang on Friday with the participation of 200 delegates.

The attendees were representatives from local state management agencies, suppliers and sales enterprises.

Six localities were Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen va Quang Ngai.

Chairman of Khanh Hoa People's Committee Nguyen Tan Tuan described HCM City as a place with large-scale goods manufacturers and distributors. The city was also the largest commodity consumption market in the country and an important gateway connecting trade with the region and the world.

In recent years, trade connection and promotion activities among HCM City and six provinces in the south-central coastal region have contributed to stabilising consumption of several products in the city market and in southern provinces and cities. That has helped promote consumption and stimulate consumer demand, accelerate the flow of goods and raise the value of typical products of localities.

At the same time, some large corporations in the city have opened branches in the provinces, creating a driving force for the development of local commercial infrastructure, Tuan said.

Khanh Hoa would always accompany and create the most favourable conditions for businesses in HCM City and other provinces to operate effectively in the locality, contributing to speeding up its socio-economic development, the chairman noted.

During the event, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan said if the city wanted to develop, it had to connect with other localities. HCM City last year recorded impressive positive growth thanks to its policy of expanding trade connections, Hoan said.

Market awaits Q1's business results

The stock market has been lifted by recent easing of pressure on exchange rates, inflation, and interest rates, but expected negative business results in the first quarter are likely to weigh on sentiment in the short term, said VNDirect Securities Company.

Last week, the VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) closed at 1,052.89 points, down 11.41 points, or 1.07 per cent. Meanwhile, on the northern bourse, the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index declined 2.59 points, or 1.23 per cent, to end the week at 207.25 points. 

Both benchmarks logged a weekly fall, of which the former dipped by 1.51 per cent and the latter by 2.1 per cent. 

The liquidity of the market decreased, while the breadth also was in negative territory as the short-term selling pressure mainly hit the real estate and securities groups after good rallies. 

For the week, the liquidity on HoSE dropped by 4.6 per cent in value to VND64 trillion (US$2.7 billion), equal to a fall of 9.91 per cent in trading volume. That of HNX was VND8.16 trillion, a decline of 0.7 per cent. 

Foreign investors were net sellers for the third week in a row, with a stronger increase in net selling value to over VND1.7 trillion.

According to VNDirect, large cash flows have not returned as capital did not improve significantly and was only focused on speculative stocks, which made the recent rallies short and not really strong.

Therefore, when the market lacks supportive information, it activates the profit-taking activities of short-term investors in recent hot stocks such as real estate and securities, causing the indices to correct.

The continuous net selling of foreign investors in recent weeks has also put considerable pressure on the market.

As a result, VNDirect thinks that the market may have a short correction to the support area of 1,030-1,040 points. However, the scenario of a steep correction will be unlikely thanks to recent easing pressure on the exchange rate, inflation, and interest rates.

The securities firm added that the short-term pressure on the market mainly comes from the expectedly negative business results of the first quarter of 2023.

However, the pressure is not going to be strong when the market's valuation is in a relatively high discount area compared to history. 

Assuming that the business results in the first quarter of 2023 continue to be less positive than in the fourth quarter of 2022, the market P/E may rise to around 12.5 times, which is not a high level compared to the historical data.

Therefore, VNDirect believes that investors can take advantage of the corrections to restructure their investment portfolio and consider increasing the proportion of stocks if the VN-Index returns to the support zone of 1,030 - 1,040 points. 

Investors should maintain a moderate proportion of stocks and limit the use of margin leverage when the market is in a correction, the company added.

On the macro front, the positive point is that Viet Nam’s interest rates are tending to decrease while the US Federal Reserve is heading to end its cycle of rate hikes, said Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS). 

The Government also actively offers solutions to ease difficulties in the corporate bond and real estate markets.

However, macro tangles still remain as the risks and difficulties of the bond and real estate markets cannot be resolved immediately, the global economy is facing risks of recession and instability in the US and Europe due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the banking system in the US, Switzerland, and Germany is facing liquidity risks. 

Therefore, in a mixed backgrounds, the accumulation trend is also reasonable, SHS said.

Many domestic air routes sold out for national holidays

Tickets for the coming Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labour Day (May 1) on many air routes have sold out.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), tickets on air routes from Hanoi to HCM City, Hue, Phu Yen and Dong Hoi and many other tourist destinations nationwide had sold very well as of April 14. No tickets are available on flights from Hanoi to Vinh, Hue or Tuy Hoa.  

Up to 90 percent of flights from Hanoi to Dong Hoi and Phu Cat airports have been sold.

Large numbers of flight bookings have been made on flights from HCM City to Tuy Hoa, Phu Quoc and Cam Ranh.

Ticket prices have been on a sharp rise due to higher demand. CAAV has asked domestic airlines to consider increasing the flight frequency from Hanoi/HCM City to Phu Quoc, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Nha Trang and Con Dao.

Vietnamese airlines will provide an additional number of 5,000 tickets per day to meet the demand on the coming Reunification Day on April 30, and International Labour Day on May 1.

The Ministry of Transport has urged airlines to take measures to mitigate flight cancellations and delays.

Airline punctuality falls

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) issued a report showing that the punctuality of Vietnamese airline flights between January 6 and February 5 which coincided with the Lunar New Year (Tet) dropped against the same period last year.

According to CAAV, Vietnamese airlines served around 10 million passengers during the Tet period, up 66.9 percent on-year and equal to the same phase of 2020 before the Covid-19 outbreak.

However, the punctuality of Vietnamese airlines from January 6 to February 5 only reached 80.6 percent compared to 86 percent of the corresponding phases of 2022 and 2020. 

Pacific Airlines had the worst punctuality rate of 59.12 percent. Other performers in ascending order were budget airline VietJet Air with 75.06 percent, Vietravel Airlines with 83.79 percent followed by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines with 84.87 percent.

Bamboo Airways topped the table during Tet with 92.81 percent.

The overall flight delay and a cancellation rate of Vietnamese airlines was 19.39 percent.

The top performers, with the lowest cancellations and delays were Bamboo Airways at 7.19 percent, Vietnam Airlines with 15.13 percent, and Vietravel Airlines at 16.21 percent.

The worst performers were Pacific Airlines with 40.88 percent, VietJet 24.94 percent, and Vietnam Air Service Company (VASCO) 19.56 percent.

Local airlines have planned to increase more flights to meet the rising demand in the coming time. Bamboo Airways will raise flight numbers by 15 percent and VietJet with 20 percent.

Tourist number in Da Nang recovers to pre-pandemic level

The number of tourists to the central city of Da Nang in the first three months of this year has recovered to the level recorded in the same period of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, according to Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association.

According to the mjunicipal Department of Tourism, in the first quarter of this year, the city received 1.4 million visitors, up 4.6% year on year, including 391,600 foreigners, 62 times higher than that in the same period last year.

The figures were similar to those recorded in the same time of 2019, showing the city’s strong performance in promoting its tourism development and tourism ecosystem, Dung said.

He noted that the staying duration of tourists also increased to 1.66 days per visitor on the average.

Dung attributed the result to the resumption of international air routes to the central city, noting that to date, Da Nang airport has been opened to 16 regular international routes operated by 20 airlines, with more than 280 flights per week carrying about 560,000 passengers.

Alongside, Da Nang has also received a large number of visitors coming by sea. In the first quarter of this year, the city welcomed nine cruise ships with 7,300 passengers.

However, Dung said that in the long run, Da Nang should seek more new tourism products to meet the increasing demands of tourists.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, Vice Director of the city Tourism Department said that in the time to come, the city will organise tourism promotion activities in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, while completing a plan to hold a summer festival in the city.

At the same time, the city will continue to design projects to develop tourism products, while proposing to the municipal People’s Committee a project to promote local cuisine into a tourism product in the 2023-2030 period, and coordinating with the People’s Committee of Son Tra district to build a plan to pilot night-time tourism at Nguyen Van Troi bridge and the park on the foot of the bridge. A pedestrians’ zone will also be organise along Bach Dang-Trang Hung Dao streets, he said.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes