Assessments of impact

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha (R) and a representative of HSBC Asia Pacific exchange a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the Environment, Social, and Governance agenda. (Photo: Vietnam+) Hanoi (VNA) - HSBC Bank (Vietnam) Ltd. and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) on November 8 exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda. The ceremony, a COP27 side event, was attended by Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha and Stephen Moss, Regional Chief Executive Officer – Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, HSBC Group, and witnessed by representatives of MONRE and HSBC Asia Pacific's delegation attending COP27. The MoU states that HSBC Vietnam will assist MoNRE in building a practical approach to realising its strategies in alignment with Vietnam's net zero emissions targets. It also aims to build a framework that unlocks … [Read more...] about HSBC helps Vietnam realise net zero emissions targets

The IMF said even limited fragmentation could shave 0.2% off of global GDP, but said more work was needed to assess the estimated costs to the international monetary system and the global financial safety net (GFSN). The note, released late Sunday, noted that the global flows of goods and capital had leveled off after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, and a surge in trade restrictions seen in subsequent years. "The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have further tested international relations and increased skepticism about the benefits of globalization," the staff report said. It said deepening trade ties had resulted in a large reduction in global poverty for years, while benefitting low-income consumers in advanced economies through lower prices. The unraveling of trade links "would most adversely impact low-income countries and less well-off consumers in advanced economies," it said. Restrictions on cross-border migration would deprive host … [Read more...] about IMF says fragmentation could cost global economy up to 7% of GDP

Photo: Shutterstock Hanoi College of Electro Mechanics (HCEM) is one of 45 training institutions that seeks to become a high-quality training school for Vietnam, approaching the advanced training level of the rest of the region and beyond. The school already boasts many students who have achieved high results in national, ASEAN, and global vocational skills exams. It currently offers training for 20 professions, of which seven key occupations are covered according to high-quality international-standard programmes, with the number of high-quality labourers entering the market standing at over 1,000 people per year. Despite possessing many achievements and experience in vocational training for more than 50 years, rector Dong Van Ngoc said that HCEM still faces many difficulties in enrolment, despite nowhere near reaching capacity. “We invest in modern facilities that are not inferior to many leading universities in Vietnam. While universities specialise in research training, … [Read more...] about Barriers broken down in vocational training

Vietcombank was the first bank with equity exceeding $4.26 billion by the end of 2021. In 2022, four more banks achieved this figure – Techcombank, Vietinbank, VPBank, and BIDV. In 2022, the charter capital of many banks saw a significant increase, with some banks even recording a vast increase in charter capital. At the same time, banks continue to improve their capital adequacy ratio and apply international standards in risk management. More than 20 banks have applied Basel II standards. Notably, many banks have successfully applied Basel III with more stringent requirements, such as TPBank, ACB, VPBank, SeABank, NamABank, and OCB. Some banks are also partially applying or piloting Basel III implementation, including VIB, HDBank, Techcombank, ABBank, MSB, and Sacombank. Besides the growth in scale, banks’ development in customer base is significantly greater, with digital transformation being an indispensable factor. While in the past, it typically took a traditional bank 20-30 … [Read more...] about Modest bank growth projected this year

In particular, here in Vietnam, we have witnessed challenges in the stock, property and corporate bond markets. All these factors have conspired to disrupt business as usual. This has caused many companies in Vietnam to be concerned about the impact this will have on their cashflows in 2023. Ross Macallister-Managing partner and head of Consulting, KPMG in Vietnam Even during buoyant times, having control is one of the biggest issues in managing cash faced by businesses here in Vietnam. Therefore, it is even more imperative that businesses place additional emphasis on cash and working capital management – a vital practice when the economic horizon darkens. Working capital management is more than just a matter of squeezing out cash. Working capital must be optimised across the organisation, not just minimised – too much inventory traps cash, but too little inventory can hamper the response to customer orders. Inventory levels and revenues may or may not move up and … [Read more...] about Managing working capital within a complex environment

On the websites of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and its affiliates, there are an increasing number of articles analysing the high power costs of several nations in the region and around the globe. The majority of information connects to the MoIT’s consideration of a proposal to raise the average retail price of energy as a means to assist EVN in rebalancing its finances after a $1.34 billion loss in 2022. There is a possibility of financial imbalance due to failure to change energy rates in a timely manner. Photo: Le Toan In December, EVN proposed to the MoIT that the selling price of electricity be raised in order to alleviate hardships and ensure financial balance in 2023 and subsequent years due to high fuel costs. EVN said that it is awaiting “a decision from the appropriate authorities”. EVN estimates that the average retail price of energy in 2022 was 8.2 US cents per kWh (excluding the exchange rate difference of the remaining power purchase … [Read more...] about Power price hike on the cards in Vietnam

Livestock firms will also have to compete with China again after its reopening, Photo: Le Toan In the first days of the new year, many husbandry companies revealed that 2022 business results were deeply affected by losses. “We earned no profit despite working hard the entire year. The husbandry sector has suffered from deep losses, while revenues and meagre profits in the animal feed sector cannot make up for it,” said a representative of Japfa Comfeed Vietnam. He further explained that cheap selling prices, high costs of importing animal feed material, and African swine fever (ASF) have blown profits away. “These issues have forced most farms to scale down their size. Demand for animal feed and bioproducts dropped sharply, and capacity of sector production dipped. Meanwhile, the more breeding we carried out, the more losses were thrust upon us,” he added. Being the leading player in the industry, business results for C.P. Vietnam in 2022 were seemingly less gloomy than … [Read more...] about Husbandry groups tackle profit dips

Businesses will be able to further promote their micro-insurance offerings, photo Le Toan According to the latest report from the Ministry of Finance, as of the end of 2022, there were 79 insurance businesses in the insurance market, with total assets seeing an increase of 14.51 per cent compared to 2021. An SSI Research industry report on insurance published on January 8 calculated that in the first nine months of 2022, insurance premium revenue was over $7.5 million, up 17 per cent over the same period, of which life and non-life insurance premium revenue increased 16 and 19 per cent, respectively. However, the growth rate slowed slightly at the end of the year, with total original premium revenue reaching almost $10.7 million as of December 12, 2022, up 15.1 per cent on-year. This is the slowest growth rate since 2013. Life insurance premium revenue growth was lower than expected. In the first nine months of 2022, new premium revenue increased by 6 per cent on-year, and … [Read more...] about Insurance groups take on legal switch

Price increases were large in sectors such as automobiles and transportation services, where pent-up demand picked up after reopening from the pandemic. On the supply side, shortages of key commodities, exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, contributed substantially to higher energy and food prices. Andrea Coppola, Lead economist, World Bank The higher share of food in consumer spending has caused inflation to accelerate more in low-income countries compared to other emerging markets and developing economies. Many countries experienced large currency depreciations that passed through into higher import, producer, and consumer prices. In contrast, long-term inflation expectations have been more stable, edging up only slightly in both advanced economies and emerging markets and developing economies since the onset of the pandemic – by around 0.15 percentage points. This greater stability possibly reflects the credibility of the commitment of most central banks to … [Read more...] about The implications of global uncertainty

A street in Hanoi is flooded after heavy rains. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Alongside urbanisation , flooding in cities of Vietnam, a country highly vulnerable to climate change, is getting complicated and needs concerted solutions, according to experts. There are more than 800 cities nationwide, including the two special municipalities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Big and populous cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Vinh of Nghe An province have frequently suffered from heavy losses caused by downpours and flooding. Nguyen Van Tien, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Vietnamese cities, especially major ones, are centres of economic, social, and cultural activities and also concentrations of infrastructure facilities and residential areas. They are exposed to many disaster risks, including flooding, which requires proactive preventive and timely response measures. … [Read more...] about Urban flooding needs concerted solutions