Day: March 9, 2024

Canberra: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a working session with leaders and members of the Vietnamese Business Association in Australia (VBAA) in Canberra on March 9 morning as part of his official visit to Australia.

The VBAA, established in 2010, currently groups about 500 members, including some 100 in Vietnam.

VBAA Chairman Tran Ba Phuc and other members expressed their delight that the homeland’s stature has been increasingly promoted and the two countries have elevated their ties to the highest level – comprehensive strategic partnership, which is a favourable condition for Vietnamese firms to do business in Australia and foster bilateral trade and investment.

Perceiving that opportunities are substantial after the upgrade of the bilateral relations, they put forth some proposals related to the facilitation of green transition, renewable energy, startups, innovation, foreign investment attraction, the utilisation of wisdom of Vietnamese students in Australia, the attraction of Australian tourists
, labour cooperation, and exports to Australia.

Appreciating the opinions, PM Chinh highly valued the VBAA’s recent business achievements, which, he said, have contributed to economic development in both countries and helped connect Vietnamese firms in Australia.

He noted that during his visit, Australian leaders spoke highly of the Vietnamese community here, and that he proposed the Australian side consider recognising the 350,000 Vietnamese people in the country as an ethnic minority group.

The PM highlighted the flourishing economic, trade, and investment ties, asking the VBAA and the Vietnamese businesses and entrepreneurs in Australia to bring into play their achievements and maximise the freshly established comprehensive strategic partnership to further develop bilateral economic links.

He called on the VBAA to continue playing its core role in connecting and supporting Vietnamese businesses and entrepreneurs while helping boost bilateral trade and investment partnerships. It should also connect wit
h Vietnamese business associations in the homeland and other countries, especially the US, Japan, and European nations.

The Government leader requested the VBAA, businesses, and entrepreneurs increase assistance for the Vietnamese community, especially vulnerably persons and those newly arriving in Australia, actively help persuade the Australian side to recognise the Vietnamese community as an ethnic minority group, promote the maintenance and learning of the Vietnamese language, uphold and popularise the Vietnamese culture, and step up cultural exchanges and tourism between the two countries.

He also asked the VBAA and Vietnamese businesses in Australia to keep promoting Australia’s cooperation and investment in the priority fields of the Southeast Asian nation like green economy, digital economy, exploitation and deep processing of essential minerals, labour, and education – training.

He affirmed that businesses’ rights and legitimate interests are always protected on the basis of law and under the mott
o of ‘harmonising interests, sharing risks’.

PM Chinh expressed his belief that the VBAA and Vietnamese businesses and entrepreneurs in Australia as well as around the world will develop strongly, practically help with the development of the Vietnamese community, and secure a growing stature, thereby contributing to the development of the host country, the bilateral relations, and the homeland./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The postal service revenue has experienced average growth of over 20% between 2019 and 2023, which has led to fierce competition on the market, raising concerns about the emergence of unhealthy competition.

The peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the rapid growth of online shopping activities, primarily through e-commerce platforms, helping it become a habitual and frequent necessity for consumers.

As a result, the postal market witnessed significant value growth, soaring from 28.3 trillion VND (1.15 billion USD) in 2019 to nearly 59 trillion VND in 2023. Also in the period, the number of parcels delivered by postal companies leapt to 2.5 billion from 715 million. In 2023, approximately 1.8 billion parcels from e-commerce were counted, accounting for some 75% of the total amount.

In tandem with the swift expansion of e-commerce, since 2020, many e-commerce platforms have followed a trend of developing their own integrated ecosystems, including postal services for delivery.

Postal enter
prises affiliated with e-commerce platforms experienced rapid growth, with many entering the top 10 firms having the largest market share of volume within 2-3 years of operations. Currently, the top 10 postal firms with the largest market shares are also engaged in transporting goods for e-commerce platforms.

According to Nguyen Truong Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Post Association, domestic postal enterprises are facing a wave of franchising and indirect investment to expand into the postal sector by e-commerce platforms and cross-border delivery companies.

Foreign-invested enterprises are continuously expanding their investment capital sources, reducing transport costs, and increasing discounts and promotions to compete for market share. While the short-term effectiveness of price competition cannot be denied, in the long run, this may lead to negative repercussions for the discounters, other enterprises in the same industry, and the Vietnamese postal market as a whole.

To ensure healthy competition, La
Hoang Trung, Director of the Department of Posts under the Ministry of Information and Communications, suggested that amendments should be made to the postal law, focusing on supplementing content regarding conditions for postal operation licensing as well as regulations specific to dominant enterprises and business groups in the market.

The government needs to regulate competition by establishing a legal basis from the highest legal documents, thereby issuing sanction regulations punishing enterprises for violations related to tariffs, promotions, and competition.

Moreover, it is essential to add conditions to ensure the safety of information and data of postal service users, he noted.

According to the official, the ministry will enhance supervision and inspection of compliance with regulations on tariffs and quality, then publicise the results of the 20 largest postal enterprises in the near future. Additionally, the body will rigorously handle and revoke the licences of firms that repeatedly violate reg
ulations or misuse postal licences./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency