Day: March 11, 2024

Hanoi: Vietnam witnessed the establishment of 22,128 enterprises in the first two months of the year with combined registered capital of nearly 219 trillion VND (8.88 billion USD), according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Business Registration Management Agency.

The figures represented a year-on-year increase of 12.4% in the number of new businesses, and a rise of 32.8% in capital.

Industries with sharp increases in the number of newly-established enterprises included mining (up 28.8%), transport and warehouse (26.5%), and other services (21.5%).

Additionally, 18,969 companies resumed their operations in the January-February period, bringing the total number of newly-established firms and enterprises resuming operations to 41,097, a 8.5% rise from the same time in 2023.

Meanwhile, a total of 62,977 businesses withdrew from the market during January – February, up 22.5% year-on-year, demonstrating the fact that enterprises have been facing difficulties in business and production.

The S and P
Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) posted 50.4 in February, up from 50.3 in January, and above the 50.0 no-change mark for the second consecutive month.

Experts said the rate of improvement in the sector’s health signaled by the index remained only marginal; however, there was a rise in both employment and business confidence.

According the General Statistics Office, improving business climate should be prioritised with a view to promoting businesses’ fast and sustainable development. The focus should be placed on the removal of bottlenecks in legal procedures for investment and business activities.

Besides, the State Bank of Vietnam should continue measures to gear capital towards priority areas and growth driving forces, remove roadblocks to offer added-value tax refunds to tax payers in a timely manner, and improve the efficiency of the credit guarantee fund for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the fund for SMEs’ development.

Furthermore, businesses should be urg
ed to promote innovation, digital transformation and green transition towards sustainable development./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Wellington: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh joined New Zealand businesses in a seminar in Wellington on March 11 to learn about investment cooperation potential and demand between the two countries.

The event, part of his official visit to New Zealand, was held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnamese Embassy in New Zealand, and the ASEAN – New Zealand Business Council (ANZBC).

Local businesses expressed their interest in Vietnam’s investment attraction policy, particularly in infrastructure development.

They also presented their cooperation demand and capacity in the fields of education – training, science – technology, food import, training and supply of nurses caring for the elderly, climate change fight, green transportation, carbon emission reduction, energy transition, and sustainable agriculture.

Talking to New Zealand businesses, PM Chinh said that after nearly 50 years, the two countries’ relations have made great strides in multiple spheres, but there remains huge roo
m for cooperation, including in economy, trade, and investment.

He perceived that the biggest obstacle to bilateral ties now is the geographical distance, which should be addressed by opening direct air routes, boosting e-commerce, and developing new means of connection.

The visiting leader suggested the Government, associations, and businesses of New Zealand further promote economic, trade, and investment partnerships with Vietnam. He also asked for market opening to maximise bilateral trade agreements, cooperation frameworks, and new-generation free trade deals such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN – Australia – New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), to which both countries are parties.

Besides, he called for facilitating the access of goods to each other’s markets and considering the removal of non-tariff barriers to Vietnam
ese goods, especially agricultural and aquatic products.

PM Chinh recommended the New Zealand side improve the efficiency of the Inter-governmental Committee and the mechanisms of dialogue between the two countries’ governments and business communities, while stepping up connectivity with Vietnamese firms. Meanwhile, the ANZBC should further bring into play its role as a bridge linking the countries’ governments and business circles.

Affirming Vietnam’s foreign investment attraction policy of prioritising quality, effective, and sustainable investments applying science – technology and friendly to the environment, he asked New Zealand businesses to boost investment ties with Vietnam through programmes and projects in such sectors as green economy, digital economy, circular economy, knowledge-based economy, science – technology, innovation, electronics, electric vehicle, semiconductor, new energy, essential minerals, green finance, biotechnology, health care, high-tech agriculture, and training of high-quali
ty human resources.

There are about 15,000 Vietnamese people in New Zealand, and many work on trade and investment. Given this, the PM suggested the New Zealand side continue supporting and facilitating Vietnamese companies to operate fruitfully in the country so that they can further engage in global supply and production chains.

He expressed his hope that economic, investment, and trade cooperation will remain an important pillar of bilateral relations and an impulse for the two countries to surmount difficulties and challenges to develop further.

In the spirit of ‘interests harmonised, risks shared’, Vietnam always protects the rights and legitimate interests of businesses, PM Chinh stated, pledging support and the best possible conditions for foreign firms, including those from New Zealand, to invest and do business effectively and sustainably in the Southeast Asian nation./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The 2024 list of the top 500 fastest growing enterprises in Vietnam (FAST500) has been released by the Vietnam Report JSC.

The top 10 businesses consist of Binh Thuan Plastic Group JSC, HD Securities Corporation, Orient Securities Corporation, Imedia Technology and Services JSC, SOL E and C Construction Investment JSC, Vietnam Vitadairy Milk JSC, Taseco Land Investment JSC, Stellapharm J.V. Co. Ltd, CNC Technology Solutions JSC, and Bee Logistics Corporation.

The rankings were based on several criteria, including compound annual growth rates, total assets, equity, pre-tax profits, and media reputation.

Aside from releasing the FAST500 rankings, the Vietnam Report JSC also announced the results of a business survey.

Accordingly, 51.7% and 46.7% of the interviewed companies said they failed to achieve last year’s revenue and profit targets, respectively. Both the rates of companies reaching and surpassing the two targets were lower than in 2021 – 2022. Notably, the rates of those with declined revenu
e and profits increased almost twice and 1.5-fold compared to the same period of 2021 – 2022.

General Director of the Vietnam Report JSC Vu Dang Vinh said after a trying period, it is not easy to shore up market confidence, as well as business confidence. In particular, as difficulties still linger on, even staying afloat becomes a considerable challenge to enterprises.

He cited statistics showing that the number of companies withdrawing from the market in the first two months of 2024 was higher than the figure of firms entering the market and resuming operations. Among them, the number of enterprises suspending operations topped 49,000, up 27.1% year on year.

Vinh noted that though grey still dominates the panorama, it is encouraging that business optimism has improved in part. In the survey, conducted in January – February, businesses rated the economic prospect 3.5 out of 5 – higher than in 2023, and their own prospect 3.8.

Enterprise optimism can create a positive cycle, he said, adding that it also r
eflects their readiness to face challenges and seek opportunities in all circumstances, along with their confidence and adaptability in a challenging business environment./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: Ho Chi Minh City and the Chinese localities on the banks of the Yellow River boast much room for economic, trade, and investment cooperation thanks to cultural similarities and complementary goods structures, heard a conference held in the Vietnamese city on March 11.

Giving a brief introduction of his province, Vice Governor Song Junji said Shandong is an economically large province on the eastern coast of China and home to rich resources. Its economic size ranks third in China while its industrial production value is over 1 trillion CNY (nearly 139.2 billion USD) to top the country. It is the fifth biggest destination of foreign investment, accounting for 11% of the total in China.

Meanwhile, he noted, HCM City is the largest economic hub of Vietnam that posts fast-growing trade, information technology, culture, and tourism and holds considerable potential for extensive economic partnerships with the provinces in the Yellow River basin and China at large.

The goods structures of Vietnam and Chi
na are highly complementary to each other. For the past many years, China has continually been the biggest trading partner of Vietnam, which in turn respectively ranks fourth and first among trading partners of China in the world and ASEAN, according to Song.

He added that the conference, held by the People’s Government of Shandong, aimed to form a foundation for boosting trade ties between the Yellow River localities (including Shandong, Shanxi, and Qinghai) and HCM City to expand bilateral trade in farm produce, garment, footwear, and electronic products, among others.

Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Dung said his city attaches importance to the cooperation with Chinese localities.

China is currently one of the biggest trading partners of HCM City, and has invested over 303 million USD in 590 projects to rank 17th among the 122 countries and territories directly investing here, he said.

HCM City welcomes and wishes to enhance cooperation with Shandong and those on the banks o
f the Yellow River in the fields matching strength and demand of the two countries, such as construction, healthcare, education, culture, tourism, digital economy, and green economy, the official stated.

In addition, Dung went on, HCM City is working to become a smart city and build a regional logistics hub. During this process, apart from its own efforts, it hopes Shandong and the others will increase importing the goods HCM City is strong at, and encourage their businesses boasting science – technology and innovation advantages to invest in HCM City.

HCM City pledges to continue improving the local investment climate to provide the best possible conditions for foreign firms, including those from Shandong and those located besides the Yellow River, to make investment, the Vice Chairman remarked.

Wei Huaxiang, Chinese Consul General in HCM City, said Shandong has long maintained sound cooperation with southern localities of Vietnam, including HCM City.

Many renowned businesses of Shandong have invested in
HCM City while the number of direct flights between the city and the Yellow River localities has almost doubled, showing their huge cooperation potential expected to be expanded and benefit both sides, he added./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Tra Vinh: Departments and Tra Vinh University in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh signed cooperation agreements with partners from the Republic of Korea (RoK) in various fields on March 11.

At the signing ceremony held by the provincial People’s Committee, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), the province’s Department of Information and Communications, and Tra Vinh University signed a 5-year cooperation agreement on smart urban area development and smart transportation systems. Under the agreement, they will share information, exchange technology, and human resources, and cooperate in training. They will also carry out and support joint research on technologies used in smart cities and smart transportation systems. At the same time, they will provide and operate testing platforms for technology development and promote international cooperation projects in this field.

The RoK’s Dtonic Corporation which provides big data solutions and develops big data platforms, Tra V
inh province’s Department of Science and Technology, and Tra Vinh University signed a cooperation agreement to promote international exchange and joint research for five years.

The corporation, the university, and the province’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment signed a cooperation agreement to promote the K-City NetWork foreign pilot project in 2024. From March to December, the three parties will participate in building a groundwater saline intrusion monitoring system in the Mekong River basin.

At the signing ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Tra Vinh provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Quynh Thien said that the province has had many investment cooperation activities with the RoK in fields such as economics, education, and culture. The number of companies and total investment capital of Korean enterprises rank first among foreign companies investing in Tra Vinh.

He said the local authorities hope that the newly signed agreements will help Tra Vinh develop sustainably and attract more Korean b
usinesses and investors./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Quang Tri: Building the Lao Bao – Densavan joint cross-border economic and trade zone between Vietnam and Laos is one of the key projects that the central province of Quang Tri is implementing, according to Permanent Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Ha Sy Dong.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Dong said that on the 2,067km-long Vietnam – Laos border, there are currently eight pairs of international border gates, of which Quang Tri province alone has two – Lao Bao and La Lay.

Also along this borderline, only in the Lao Bao – Densavan border gate area, two symmetrical economic zones: Lao Bao Special Economic – Trade Zone and Densavan Border Trade Zone have been set up. This is a favourable condition for the two provinces of Quang Tri and Savannakhet to propose to the two governments to allow the pilot building of the Lao Bao – Densavan joint cross-border economic and trade zone, thereby opening up cooperation in many areas between Vietnam and Laos.

He said that in the dra
ft project on the zone, the two sides will build a model of “two countries, one economic zone”, which shares the same mechanisms, policies and operational management, and has special preferential policies with the principle of equality and mutual benefit, and respects each other’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Based on compliance with legal requirements of both sides and international practices, the zone will be unified in a common regional planning, organisation and operation. The area will have the same policies, rules and standards, and apply the highest preferential mechanisms and policies.

To prepare for the project, Quang Tri is mobilising and attracting investment to develop transport infrastructure connecting the delta area to Lao Bao International Border Gate, including the 56-km Cam Lo – Lao Bao expressway whose investment is estimated at nearly 14 trillion VND (568 million USD).

In the future, the province will also consider building the Dong Ha – Lao Bao railway to be lin
ked with the Densavan – Savannakhet railway of Laos, thereby forming a railway on the East West Economic Corridor (EWEC).

To complete the project, in mid-March, Quang Tri and Savannakhet provinces will jointly organise an international conference at the Lao Bao – Densavan International Border Gate to conduct field surveys with the participation of scientists, managers, leaders of ministries and sectors of the two countries, added Dong./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Tokyo: A delegation from the Finance Ministry led by Minister Ho Duc Phoc on March 11 had a working session with Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and representatives from Japanese partners to promote bilateral financial cooperation.

At the event, the two ministers expressed their delight to see the increasingly strong development of the two countries’ relations, especially the upgrade of the ties to the Vietnam – Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World last November.

They discussed the two countries’ financial cooperation in several areas, such as taxes, customs, loans, aid, and use of official development assistance (ODA), while sharing experience and solutions to improve management capacity and professional operations of functional units.

Phoc said that Vietnam’s public debt is currently about 37% of GDP, lower than the set target of 60%. This is an advantage for Vietnam to attract capital from foreign countries to invest in infrastructure as well
as socio-economic development.

The Vietnamese minister informed the host of Vietnam’s North-South high-speed railway project, that has an estimated investment of 67 billion USD and will be implemented in 2027. Vietnam expects to mobilise 30% of the investment from foreign capital. Therefore, Vietnam hopes that Japan will participate in providing capital for this project.

In addition, the two ministers expressed support for each other in multilateral financial cooperation such as within the ASEAN 3 framework, focusing on areas such as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) and Disaster Risk Finance (DRF) to enhance regional financial stability and resilience.

For his part, Japanese Minister Shunichi Suzuki highly appreciated the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in creating favourable conditions for Japanese businesses and banks to cooperate and invest in Vietnam. He also expressed his willingness to join the North-South High-Speed Railway project as well as other infrastructure projects that Vi
etnam is set to carry out.

On the same day, Minister Phoc and the Vietnamese delegation met with President and Chief Executive Officer of Mizuho Bank Masahiko Kato.

At the meeting, Phoc said Vietnam needs a huge amount of capital for development, including the mobilisation of domestic and foreign financial sources to achieve socioeconomic development goals, particularly the financial resources to realise its commitments to net-zero emissions by 2050.

Masahiko Kato said that Vietnam is one of Mizuho’s strategic markets through investment cooperation with Vietcombank. Currently, many Japanese businesses wish to expand their investment scale in Vietnam, and Mizuho always accompanies and supports capital for these businesses.

He also said that his bank stands ready and will work with Vietcombank so as to provide green credit according to environmental -social – governance (ESG) standards.

Earlier, Phoc and the delegation visited the Japan Exchange Group (JPX), and worked with the President of the Japan Finan
cial Services Agency (JFSA) and the President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Ca Mau Petroleum Fertiliser JSC (PVCFC) is preparing high-quality shipments to officially enter Australia and New Zealand, two of the world’s most demanding fertiliser markets.

According to a PVCFC representative, Australia and New Zealand are willing to pay premium prices for urea granular fertiliser, but they have stringent quality standards.

In response, PVCFC has gradually improved the quality of all stages from transportation to loading and unloading services since the onset of this year. The goal is to ensure that its urea shipments meet the highest quality standards and achieve superior loading and unloading speeds compared to the global average.

PVCFC also said it is completing the final procedures to get a license to export urea granular products to Australia.

In the first two months of this year, PVCFC’s urea equivalent production reached 165,220 tonnes, exceeding the plan by 8% and reflecting a 4% year-on-year increase. This strong production performance translated into impressive re
venue figures, estimated at over 1.4 trillion VND (56.8 million USD) in the first two months of this year, surpassing the plan by 15%.

As of late 2023, the Ca Mau Fertiliser products were present in over 18 countries worldwide. Currently, PVCFC is preparing a shipment of 35,000 tonnes for export to Mexico.

Last year, the company exported 344,000 tonnes of fertilisers, making up about 26% of its total sale, with export value reaching 136 million USD, representing some 25% of the revenue from fertiliser products. Cambodia emerged as the largest export market, contributing over 60% of both export volume and value./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency